Truckload Of Trouble

A COMPILATION of eight years worth of The Pastels' singles, b-sides, odds, sods, cover versions and fiddly instrumental bits, Truckload Of Trouble proves that The Pastels are, in one sense at least, a remarkable group.

None of them, not drummer Katrina, nor bassist Aggi, and certainly not guitarist/chief vocalist Stephen, could carry a tune if you gave them a purpose-built wheelbarrow. Rock and roll history has proved that being a technically proficient singer isn't everything. Lou Reed, Nico, Morrissey, the god-like Simon Le Bon, Lawrence from Denim. . . they've all got their little vocal quirks, but, that said, there's at least three moments on The Pastels' stab at 'Different Drum' alone, when the sound of nails screeching down a blackboard would come as light relief.

If you can overlook the tunelessness - and the amount of tunelessness that can be crammed onto an eighteen-track double LP does take a hefty amount of overlooking - then there are many compensations. The early singles 'Comin' Through', 'Truck Train Tractor' and 'Crawl Babies' are wonderful, slovenly pop songs, while the recent releases included here, like 'Thank You For Being You', 'Dark Side Of Your World' or 'Sometimes I Think About You' are more muted. Their interesting attempt at 'Speeding Motorcycle', meanwhile, doesn't so much speed, as keep threatening to disintegrate into a rusty heap before it's even out of the garage.

Stephen Pastel informs us sniffily in the sleeve-notes that he doesn't like the term 'indie band', but The Pastels embody some of the very best qualities of indie-dom; dodgy guitars, complete absence of ostentation, sentimental lyrics, and tunes to fall in love with.

The crap vocals and bad haircuts are an extra they could have done without.

* Lorraine Freeney