Felt: Bubblegum Perfume – review

In the wake of BBC4's recent Creation Records night and the London film festival screening of Lawrence of Belgravia, the documentary about Felt's eccentric leader, now's as good a time as any to review this reissued compilation of the band's Creation years. The opener, I Will Die With My Head in Flames – all 86 seconds of it – and the closer, Ballad of the Band, would be enough to make a case for Felt's greatness, with Martin Duffy's tumbling organ lines making Lawrence's self-pity sound thrilling. What comes in between is more of a problem, for Bubblegum Perfume highlights one catastrophic weakness of both Felt and Creation: the willingness to put out anything in order to keep cash flowing. So we are treated to an overgenerous selection of Duffy's instrumental themes and some second-tier B-sides. Still, we do get two killer singles: the disjointed, Rock On-style sexless funk of Space Blues and The Final Resting of the Ark, in which Lawrence lists the components of his world before this indiest of groups unleashes that least indie of things: a sax solo.