"A Little More Time With…The Senior Service" with guest vocalist Rachel Lowrie. Ms Sheringham-Boom reviews the new 10" Vinyl E.P. out now on Damaged Goods Records

"Instrumentalists find their voice" by Ms Sheringham-Boom (January 2022)

Happy 2022 anyone, anyone? This year has gotten off to a shaky start, and like everyone else, I am totally over this pandemic. It is however shaping up in one respect due to the release of some much-anticipated new music. Hopefully more widespread live events going ahead will follow across the UK and further afield in the not-too-distant future. Hat’s off to the fortunate ones who have managed to continue with their music throughout this time. There is a very welcome return to one band who managed to do just that at Ranscombe Studios in June last year. They are of course our favourite instrumentalists, The Senior Service (who feature Medway musicians Graham Day, Wolf Howard, Darryl Hartley and Jon Barker) whose much anticipated mini-LP is due for release on the Damaged Goods label this Friday 14th January. The band cordially invite us to spend "A Little More Time With…" Don’t mind if I do. But wait, there are vocals you say? 

The story goes that around year ago, The Senior Service (on a drunken night out) decided that they wanted to add a ‘little more’ to their instrumental sound. Enter Rachel Lowrie a local singer/songwriter who has previously recorded with a fair few fellow Medway stalwarts. Cited as their best work to date, four of the tracks on "A Little More Time With…" were written with Rachel in mind, and in a recent interview with Glenn Prangnell for the Groovy Uncle Podcast she declared that it’s ‘probably the best recording I’ve ever done.’ Who are we, readers, to argue with that? So, I put the question to Rachel about the collaboration 

Q: How did you feel about being approached by the band to sing vocals for them? 

Rachel: We were at Mr Unswitchable’s Open Mic night at Rochester Social Club in 2019 and I sang "24 Hours from Tulsa" (me and my ukulele) with some level of intensity. Jon Barker approached me about singing on their album that evening. I wasn’t sure the recording would happen until it had. And it’s a thing because they have made instrumental music and now vocals. I wondered what the songs would be like. I felt like I got a sneak preview.

Q: Were you familiar with the band’s sound, the individual band members, and their musical heritage?
Rachel: Yes of course, but I’m lazy with the details. I have grown up and lived in Medway most of my life, so I knew their names and band names. I’ve been to various gigs over the years, Graham Day & The Forefathers, The Daggermen, The Buff Medways, and The Senior Service etc.

Q: What was it like to be part of the recording process?
Rachel: I got the tracks and lyrics and turned up and sang to be honest, and it was all quite nice. As a bunch they were kind and welcoming and they laughed a lot - they have been mates for years so it felt like a relaxed space to come into. I was excited-nervous of course. I really like the songs they wrote. And I enjoy being at Jim’s studio (Jim Riley, Ranscombe Studios).

Q: What can we expect from you at the launch at the end of January, are you excited about it?
Rachel: I’m just looking forward to singing the songs live, should be fun.

Then there’s Darryl Hartley. As well as playing bass he also designed the fabulously evocative artwork for the cover sleeve. I asked him about his inspiration for this… 

Darryl: The sleeve artwork follows the previous designs we’ve had. I really like the Saul Bass posters of the sixties, so we’ve adopted that look as we believe it suits the music. I think with this record we were going for a jazz/lounge type feel to the whole package, so it ties in nicely with that too. It’s important that the artwork compliments the music and the 10" format also helps with this.

…and whilst he was there, I asked him about his song, the cool and collected "Just A Little Time".

Darryl: "Just A Little Time’ was written some years ago when I was going through a bit of a Bacharach phase or at least trying to go a bit Bacharach (I’d never claim that I’d ever reach those lofty heights). Years later when we decided we were going to do this record I remembered the song and thought it would work well with a female vocal. I had in my head a Dusty Springfield big ballad type of thing, a bit of brass, a dramatic chorus. It has come out pretty successfully. There are some unintentionally Carole King elements to it, which I’m not going to complain about!

Indeed. In fact, each band member has contributed to the writing of the songs on this EP, and it is difficult to choose a favourite, so I won’t. As well as the originals the band have included two covers of more obscure instrumentals: John Schroeder’s "Lovin' You Girl" and "Mysterious Land" by The Chris Lamb Orchestra. With this mini-LP you can expect the sublime, the nonchalant, and music of cinematic proportions; Hammond draped around brass, a sometimes-explosive guitar complimented by a driving rhythm section, and the stirring voice of a cool chanteuse.

You can hear a song from the new E.P. in our latest episode of Retrosonic Podcast.

Retrosonic Podcast · Episode 45 "Waking Up The Band"

"A Little More Time With…The Senior Service" the new 10" Vinyl E.P. with guest vocalist Rachel Lowrie is available to order from Damaged Goods Records here. For more info on The Senior Service please check out their Facebook page here. With thanks to Ms Sheringham-Boom. Ms Sheringham-Boom is the bassist in Edinburgh's premier purveyors of Garage Rock, Thee Girl Fridays.

Groovy Uncle "Meanwhile Back In Medieval Britain" - Amy K-B reviews Glenn Prangnell's Collective's latest Album

"Meanwhile Back in Medieval Britain" is the 7th studio album from singer and songwriter Glenn Prangnell's musical collective Groovy Uncle. Recorded at Ranscombe Studios and released on Glenn's own label Trouserphonic Records, MBIMB (bit of a mouthful but there you go) is unique in Groovy Uncle releases in that it includes tracks written by people other than Glenn, and as well as featuring GU favourites Suzi Chunk and Miss Modus it also showcases the vocal talents of Ani Graves and Rachel Lowrie. Arriving scarcely a year after "A Clip Round the Ear", the cartoon cover (artwork by Darryl Hartley) hints of the whimsical humour we've come to expect from Groovy Uncle, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. "A Clip Round The Ear" was very much a nostalgic album, but MBIMB is firmly in the present and full of current references; Brexit, #metoo and the rather Donald Trump-esque Howard Eno ('got the greatest, biggest button in his tiny hands') and whilst a lot of the songs have a very sixties flavour to them there is a striking originality and freshness to the album; clearly there is no danger of Groovy Uncle running out of material any time soon. There is little continuity of style between tracks, but who wants that? If you don't like one song (and I can't imagine that you wouldn't) there's another one along in a minute to grab you by the collar and ensure your full attention. I asked Glenn how the idea of a more collaborative album came about, and he told me that it was something he'd already been considering when he was approached separately by Jon Barker (The Senior Service), Darryl Hartley (The Senior Service) and Andy Morten (Bronco Bullfrog) with the idea of using songs they'd written. Although the five non-Glenn penned tracks do stand out as being different (as indeed they should), they fit beautifully into the overall feel of the album, particularly the title track (by Darryl Hartley) with its mixture of snippy political commentary and sunny optimism. "Astronauts" (also by Darryl) is a Divine Comedy-esque epic, laden with strings and unapologetically theatrical. I was unfamiliar with Bronco Bullfrog until I started doing the research for this review (yes, I do research) and it's a band I'm delighted to have found; "She'll Never Be Mine" by Andy Morten puts a Groovy Uncle spin on the Bronco Bullfrog brand of 'sunshine pop'. Witty, wistful and 'poptimistic' (apologies to Andy for stealing that), its a great track.

Glenn with Suzi Chunk

I'm more familiar with Jon Barker's instrumental writings with The Senior Service but his contributions "Days Like This" and "You Think Too Much of Me" prove that he's an incredibly versatile songwriter. "Days Like This" (featuring Graham Day on guitar) is an immediate stand out track, and the Hammond led "You Think Too Much of Me" is unbelievably catchy. Glenn told me that he prefers writing for other singers than for himself, and MBIMB showcases some great examples of his long term collaboration with Suzi Chunk; "20/20 Hindsight" and "Reading Between the Lines" are classic Suzi songs, showing off her amazingly powerful and passionate voice, and "Lie to You" is drowsily gorgeous and proves that the inimitable Ms Chunk can indeed do both. Many Groovy Uncle fans will have been eagerly awaiting the return of Miss Modus, and her blistering rendition of "Good Child" is a definite high point. GU newcomers Ani Graves and Rachel Lowrie are sweetly haunting on the folky "It Wasn't Me It Was Yesterday", and their voices are a beautiful compliment to each other despite them not having met until the day of recording. As always Glenn is accompanied by a supporting cast of amazing musicians, this time including Mole, Wolf Howard, Nick Rice and Anna and Paul Jordanous. Most Groovy Uncle articles and interviews tend to touch on the subject of whether these are songs we will ever heard played live, something that Glenn has always said is very unlikely, due to the numbers of people involved, and the geographical difficulties, but wonderful though I'm sure a live Groovy Uncle gig would be, there is something special about the little bubble of perfection that this recording project has become. MBIMB is a perfectly polished wall of sound; in short, flipping excellent.

- AKB, September 2018

Thanks to Amy for the great review. MBIMB will be released on October 1st and is available on 180g Vinyl with download code, numbered lyric sheet and sticker and it will also be released as a Digipack CD. You can order from the band's web-site here and also hear a track from the album in our latest episode of Retrosonic Podcast which can streamed/downloaded for free below:

DJ Lee Grimshaw Talks to Amy KB about the New Sergeants Mess 7" Single, his Debut Release on Spinout Nuggets Label

DJ Lee Grimshaw

Amy KB: Tell me about Spinout Nuggets, what inspired you to start your own label?

Lee Grimshaw: From a very young age, I dreamed of running a record label, owning a record shop and managing a music venue. Like many, I spent hours hunting for and buying records and I was lucky to have two older brothers who also shared the same love. We were regularly taking the train up to London together on Saturdays for record shopping or attending gigs and club nights all over the South East. The old TVS studios in Gillingham (which sat on our route to the train station) was always the place that my brothers and I pictured to be the venue that we would one day conquer and convert into a hub for all the above. Unfortunately, that plan never came to be, and it eventually became the site for yet another Lidl outlet. We had by then already relocated to Newquay, but the dream was still vibrant! Supporting record labels such as Detour, Damaged Goods, State, Crocodile, Heavy Soul, Vacilando ‘68 and many others over the years opened my eyes a little to how a passion and a dream could be combined and maybe become a reality.

I remember listening to the Retro Man Blog Podcast interview with Ian at Damaged Goods a few years back and felt inspired by Ian’s passion for pressing up the Slaughter and the Dogs reissue back in ’88. He even went along to actually witness the manufacturing at the pressing plant. At this time, my dream was still just that, a dream. Years later in 2017, I was lucky enough to be accepted for voluntary redundancy, following twenty-three years’ service, allowing me to have some investment cash for a few ongoing projects, including the label. I also experienced a life changing moment (losing a cherished family member too early in life), which gave me a little boot up the bum! So, the dream started to look a little more likely. The label was actually set up due to some unreleased tracks that were put my way (more on this later), and I’m really pleased with the whole thing. There was already a ‘Spinout Records’ in operation, so I needed to tag something different to the ‘Spinout’ name, and after many hours deep in thought, Nuggets felt good. I asked Darryl Hartley to help out with the logo, based on his mighty fine long line of sterling artwork.

AKB: What drew you to Sergeants Mess for the first release?

LG: While all the dreaming and redundancy affair was going on, Johnny Barker from the band kindly sent me a copy of the first Sergeants Mess EP, which was produced by Billy Childish back in 2002, to play on the Spinout Show. He’d hinted that they had further unreleased tracks available, recorded with the mighty Mole at Sandgate Studios in 2013, and he asked if I knew anyone who’d be up for getting it out. Well, I originally thought my time had come, but just didn’t know how to get the ball rolling. Jon sent the tracks through, and I got a one-off carved up in order to play during my DJ set down at the colossal Beatwave Weekender 2017. I played it on the show too, and there was some great interest in it. I made a few enquiries but it wasn’t the right time for other labels to get it out, due to other planned releases.

So, following an ad-hoc meeting with Jon in a Rochester boozer, I felt it was the right time, and what better release to start with than the Mess quartet. With the help and guidance from Mole at State Records (did someone say ‘State Records?!’) and Russell at Crocodile Records, I managed to get the ball rolling. Big thanks to those fellas for their time and support. Jon had already put the sleeve artwork together, and I added a few bits on, including the numbering, which I’ve always loved (it took me a whole evening to hand number these) and Jon printed them up too. It’s a real buzz to have such a collection of respected musicians for the first label release, just check out their collective musical journeys – Senior Service, CTMF, Buff Medways, Goodchilde, Daggermen, Phaze etc - their names appear on a fair few records in my collection, and I’m most certainly happy that it's a Medway band too! Plus the fact that the band share their name with the much remembered army surplus outlet in Chatham (don’t know if it’s still there or not, but I’m going back to the late 80’s on this one). Also, using Graham at Cyclone Music in Rochester for the whole pressing operation felt just right too, and the service was perfect.

"Sergeants Mess "Well That's Another Fine Mess" - On this hand-numbered limited edition 7” vinyl release of 300 copies, the Mess provide two stormers, each in it’s own parallel universe. "Couldn’t I Be Yours" gives a respectful nod to the Garage output of the 60s, and "Back In The Bag" is an experi-mental, yet very well constructed and funked up Kinks vs Gorillaz-esque wonder".

AKB: What can we expect to hear next on Spinout Nuggets?

LG: The label is no way intended to be something major or competition to anyone else but there are a few potential ideas for future releases. I would love to continue with it and roll out some real gems, and a few bands have already showed an interest in working on it. Hopefully, we may put one of our very own recordings out soon, either as Little Miss Mojo, or in a band offering, but I’m also up for any good offers. There’s also stuff I like that hasn’t been available on vinyl format up until now and I may work on trying to help arrange a release. Who knows, let’s see how it goes.

The Spinout Gang by Darryl Hartley

AKB: The Spinout Empire seems to be growing all the time! As we’ve discussed, you have the label, and the radio show but what else do you have planned for the future?

LG: Spinout Productions is the overall tag and it allows integration into other affairs, whether it’s flyer/graphic/design, entertainment assistance, whatever really. As a collective, we are really pleased with how things are going, and spending less time at a day job has allowed me to spend more time in all musical things (including the continued search for records). I’ve also managed recently to set up the new Spinout Productions website with the guidance of my brother Darren (thanks!), and I quite enjoyed the whole process, including the ecommerce shop side too. I’m hoping this may grow into a community-based hub for all our fave friends too. We totally appreciate all the support to date. For the Spinout Show, we’ll continue to run a live weekly one as much as we can (Wednesdays, 6-8pm, at ncbradio, with various guests. We’ve had some great additions, including some very special guests, our good friends Rick and Amy, the State Records take-over and our regular guests, brother Dave Grimshaw and Stevie Junk Wax. We’re always on the lookout for new music too, so send it to us!

The Spinout Revue continues to flourish, and we are lucky to be able to take this to various weekenders, festivals and venues throughout the year, in addition to our own organised affairs. We have only just returned from performing at the High Rollers Weekender in Las Vegas, under The Spinout Revue outlet, with live vocals from Little Miss Mojo, and we are pleased to have been part of it. What a weekend! We flew out with The Len Price 3 too, and they tore the roof off the place the night before us. We will certainly return to this great weekend, it was so well-organised (good work Eric, John, Patrick and the team), full of real nice people with such a good vibe. The whole ‘Revue’ idea was always going to include various performers, and we will continue to include as many as we can, whether it being DJ’s, a band, some poetry, dancers, visuals, whatever, and we’re hoping to get some more acts down to Cornwall too.

The record shop dream may still become a reality, along with running a music venue (in order to put on all what we like), and I’m working on these, combining the two would be ace and we’re on the hunt for a venue. In the meantime, I’m using the Spinout Shop on the website to sell some specially picked releases to share. We really do appreciate the continued support, bookings, socialising, laffs, friendships, beers, and of course, the events we are able to attend (including the mighty fine Retro Man nights). I’d also like to take this moment to thank ‘the Mess’ (Jon, Darryl, Wolf and Chris) and all that have sailed in her (or bought the 7”…!). Graham Semark, all our Spinout show listeners worldwide, Mole and Lois, Russell Crocodile, Dave Grimshaw, Russ Wilkins, Adam Cooper, Adrian Gibson, Jordan Cinco, John Manion and Steve from Retro Man Blog for all their continued help, support and services to all Spinout affairs. All the bands and promoters that put so much effort in to what they do, and of course, my partner in musical crime, the one and only Little Miss Mojo (Emma), who I’ve had the pleasure (and support) to build this all with.

Check out the Spinout Productions new web-site here for further information on all the Spinout news and happenings and how to order the new 7" single by Sergeants Mess. You can hear one side of the Single in Episode 29 of Retrosonic Podcast. With thanks to Amy and Lee.