The Bevis Frond - An Introduction to The Bevis Frond

 Fruits de Mer Records (intro 3)

 

The Bevis Frond from the UK has been one of my favourite bands for 30 years, so all new releases by Nick Saloman & co. are always a big deal for me! Fruits de Mer Records are celebrating their 15th year of existence this year and launched a new series of introductory compilation releases of some of the most well-known and best artists they have worked with along the years. These are actually CD-R's, so not real CD's and unfortunately no vinyl releases of these exist at all. But these are great way to put together many of the tracks by the artists that have been released on Fruits de Mer albums and singles plus some! This time we also get three previously unreleased Bevis demos which of course make this album a must-have for all Bevis fans out there. But I have to say that even without those this is a one killer compilation!

The album includes 16 tracks in total including six covers and 10 Saloman originals. The longest one is the almost 24-minute guitar freak-out "China" from Sideways compilation, other covers include Sky Saxon song "Creepin' Aroun" and "Glass Onion" by The Beatles.  Besides the three unreleased demos the only ones I did not have before were "Condition Blues" and "Not Until I feel It", both from the rare Friends of the Fish III 7" lathe-cut that was only sold at The 19th Dream of Doctor Sardonicus Festival in Wales this year. The only goddam Bevis Frond single along with the previous Bevis 7" from the 2019 festival I'm missing from my collection... So I'm definitely happy to have the tracks here! Cool, rocking home demos, I love them. I used to be able to get all the Fruits de Mer Records (and The Bevis Frond too) releases but with these festival-only rarities it has been impossible for several years which is sort of sad... Well, on the other hand it is maybe healthy to just realize your collector ambitions can't be fulfilled anymore, maybe it's time to focus on other things! Sorry, I seem to be rambling here... Anyway, this is a great compilation for both die-hard fans and maybe even those new to the sounds of The Bevis Frond so just go and order it! Shiny Beast is your place in the EU, in UK Fruits de Mer still delivers the goods. Oh by the way, if you happen to be in Germany this week, The Bevis Frond plays at Cairo, Würtzburg on Saturday.

bevisfrond.bandcamp.com/