A best-of compilation from the Bolshoi appeared in 1999, but Friends is the real deal. Friends is the group's 1986 debut album, and it summarizes all of the band's strengths. Although not as goth-inflected as the Bolshoi's Giant EP, Friends is still very dark. Trevor Tanner's lyrics unflinchingly relate tales of hypocrisy in "A Way" and "Sunday Morning." In "A Way," a family tries to hide that they once forced their daughter to work as a prostitute: "Money's scarce/But family honor/Brings it home, brings it home/And down the shop, the tongues they snicker," Tanner sings with empathy. "Sunday Morning," like XTC's "Dear God ," is a scathing attack on organized religion. However, Tanner's target isn't God; it's going to church. "I remember when I was young/Feeling sick on Sunday morning," Tanner reminisces. While it may seem blasphemous to some, "Sunday Morning" offers a realistic perspective; Tanner sounds like a bitter former altar boy, disillusioned by the façade of innocence of the people around him. Paul Clark's moody, nostalgic piano paints the images described by Tanner's words. "Romeo in Clover" and "Books on the Bonfire" revisit the glum, whirling guitars of the Bolshoi's past, echoing the Psychedelic Furs and Bauhaus. While Friends is far from a perfect record — the Bolshoi were too derivative to make anything that was flawless — it's certainly much sharper than 1987's uneven Lindy's Party or Away...Best of the Bolshoi, the latter featuring an emasculated version of "Sunday Morning." If Friends/Giant, the CD combining Friends with the Giant EP, isn't within reach, this is the Bolshoi LP to get.
In keeping with Beggars Banquet's overall excellent job in the late '90s and beyond with reissues, this hour-long retrospective gets a great treatment. Besides a full remastering job and detailing "what came from where" liner notes, lead guitarist/singer Trevor Tanner pens a brief essay reflecting on the band's days and what everyone has done since then. The range of selections on the collection itself is interesting — it doesn't follow chronological order or any other immediately obvious arrangement, but it does cherry pick from all over the group's career. Besides the expected choices such as "Happy Boy," "Sunday Morning," and the title cut often turning up in their single mixes, a slew of album and B-side cuts also surface as well, including such winners as "Foxes." Musically, the Bolshoi were more inspired-by than inspiring, and Away doesn't do much to change that impression. Still, there are a few worthy cuts for those interested in U.K. post-punk of the '80s on both the epic and calmer, moodier tip. "Books on the Bonfire" actually manages the neat trick of out-Missioning the Mission in its loud-drumming, electric folk way, while not being anywhere as over the top, thanks to Tanner's better singing voice and a great chorus. "Lindy's Party" is a neat dance-pop into rock beat gem, with Paul Clark's keyboard parts adding a gentle brass and strings swell to the proceedings, while "Sunday Morning" and "Someone's Daughter" are both enjoyable, solid listens. In an unexpected touch, meanwhile, two cuts from Tanner's 1999 solo album Master of the World fill out the collection, both of which follow on in the general Bolshoi style. "Mary" is a nice, acoustic-based tune with some reasonable electric soloing and good vocals, while "Master of the World" itself is a similar-sounding, easygoing number with more than a little hint of Oasis' "Supersonic."
Jan Kalicki | Trevor Tanner | Paul Clark | Nick Chown
The Bolshoi formed in Leeds, England in 1983. Founding members Trevor Tanner (guitar/vocals) and Jan Kalicki (drums) soon recruited Nick Chown (bass) and by 1984 they found themselves opening for such acts as The Cult, Lords Of The New Church and Wall Of Voodoo. On the merits of these performances and the success of their first independently released single, "Sob Story", they were soon signed to I.R.S. Records.
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The Bolshoi - Sunday Morning
Their debut IRS release was the EP Giants in early 1986, which included the song "Happy Boy". Critics responded positively to The Bolshoi, saying, "Strong on broody melodies, driven along by forceful rhythms and crashing splinters of trebly guitar, all showing enough fire and ambition to crash through the dark undergrowth of the post-punk jungle... admirable stuff." And, "The Bolshoi have vision and lyrical flair - a refreshing alternative to some of the rancid pap that currently clogs up the charts." That appeal they had with critics, unfortuantley did not translate to the music-buying public. Bands such as The Bolshoi that were trying to fill the gap between the fading "Punk/New Wave" culture and the rising "Grunge" movement were hard pressed to find an audience.
Later in 1986 the trio expanded into a quartet adding Paul Clark on keyboards and recording their first full-length LP, Friends. The lead tune, "A Way" became a critical success and even managed some chart action. The accompanying video was also put in heavy rotation on MTV's 120 Minutes. Trevor Tanner's mesmerising stage presence combined with his superior writing skills revealed a dark and pensive tone in his compositions, touching on subjects most would otherwise choose not to explore. They succeeded in doing this by mixing dark subjects with moderately amusing melodies, memorable choruses and a clearly danceable beat.
Despite critical success in the music press, the MTV exposure and the minor success of "A Way" sales of the LP were lacklustre and IRS let The Bolshoi go. A year later they put out their final album (on RCA), Lindy's Party. Soon after the band split up. Trevor Tanner continues to have the occaisional independent project, but The Bolshoi are now part of post-punk music history, a bright spot in the otherwise vapid "Goth" movement of the late 1980s.
FRIENDS
IRS 5814(Released 1986) Produced & Engineered by Mick Glossop for the Smoothside Organisation Assisted by Noel Harris, Richard Whaley and Damien Askeo-Brown Recorded at Townhouse Three Mixed at The Good Earth (cuts 1 & 7 Mixed at The Garden Master Rock) Sleeve by The Cream Group Photos by Alan King, Royston Mastered by Frank DeLuna at A&M, Los Angeles
Musicians:
Trevor Tanner Vocals & Guitar
Nick Chown Bass
Paul Clark Keyboards
Jan Kalicki Drums Track Listing:
