Drop Out – 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition East Village SKU: HVNLP3X Barcode: 5400863119904 28.00 £28.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Heavenly Released Date: 12th January 2024 Buying Format: 1LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info An autumnal treasure, East Village’s Drop Out has spent the past thirty years finding new ears to bewitch and new hearts to melt. The only album from this British four-piece, recorded and released in the early nineties, it’s long been considered one of the hidden jewels of its time, and is talked of with hushed reverence by people who know. Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne once called it “an elegy for a particular brand of eighties guitar music, sweet minor chords and Dylanesque lyrics”, which captures what makes it so special; in summarising its era, though, it also effortlessly transcends it. Like all great guitar gangs, East Village fell together as a four-piece; having relocated from High Wycombe to London in mid ‘80s, brothers Martin and Paul Kelly on bass and guitar, set on forming a group together, were joined by John Wood (guitar) and Spencer Smith (drums). Wood and the Kellys shared writing and vocal duties; it was an ideal combination, and one of the many charms of East Village is their various song writing voices, a tip of the hat, seemingly, to the 60s folk-rock groups who influenced them. Originally influenced by garage-rock and freakbeat, the band eventually came through via the same scene as groups like Felt, The Go-Betweens, The Weather Prophets, and Primal Scream. They’d formed as Episode Four, releasing an EP, Strike Up Matches, in 1986, which has gone on to become one of most sought after releases of the C86 era. Their first two singles as East Village, ‘Cubans In The Bluefields’ (1987) and ‘Back Between Places’ (1988), were released on Jeff Barrett’s Sub Aqua label. When it came time to record Drop Out, East Village found a supporter in Bob Stanley, who bankrolled the album sessions until Barrett re-signed the band to his new imprint Heavenly Recordings in 1990. The album that took shape is dusky, heartfelt, lamplit, full of chiming minor chords, close harmonies, rattling organs, all buoyed by a rhythm section that moves as one, steady and elegant. There’s melancholy here, certainly, on songs like ‘What Kind Of Friend Is This’, but also pleasure and freedom, on ‘When I Wake Tomorrow’ and ‘Silver Train’. The group were obsessed with Dylan’s Eat The Document at the time, and the album’s rich with references to the film; Drop Out’s character is also somehow close to the thin wild mercury sound of Blonde On Blonde, and the lambent light of the Byrds’ Notorious Byrd Brothers. In one of life’s gentler surprises, ‘Silver Train’ became an unexpected radio hit in Australia when released there as a single in 1993. The story of East Village seems marked by such unexpected turns and surprising events. None was more surprising for their fans at the time, though, than their onstage split in 1991, leaving an unreleased album in the can. Encouraged by Jeff Barrett the band revisited the tapes two years on and while mixing the album for its posthumous release in 1993 invited Debsey Wykes (Dolly Mixture, Coming Up Roses, Saint Etienne, Birdie) to sing the quietly devastating album closer, “Everybody Knows”, a perfect, sad-eyed sign-off. Listening now to Drop Out, its timelessness is clear. It could have been recorded by young folk-pop hopefuls in the late sixties, taking their shot at the big time; but it could just as easily have been recorded yesterday, by a group that’s both reverent to music’s past, but forward looking in spirit and temperament. It’s that kind of album. Drop Out’s pop poetry is fully formed, with a singular charm that takes in wistfulness, romance, and good times, and a clutch of deeply moving songs that are overflowing with melody and gracefulness. It’s pretty much everything you’d want from a guitar pop record. It’s also an album that’s slowly accrued its own legend. From its stunning cover art, photographed by Juergen Teller originally for a Katherine Hammett campaign, to the ten perfectly formed songs within, Drop Out’s significance in the scheme of things is such that, a decade ago, it was given a rare 10/10 rating in Uncut magazine, who called the album “the lost classic of its era”. Drop Out comes round every decade or so, each edition introducing new fans to its understated beauty, and this latest reissue is its most elegant and deluxe yet. The 30th anniversary edition of Drop Out lands in two formats: an LP with tip-on style jacket and four-page insert, designed to partner with the 2019 vinyl reissue of their singles and rarities compilation, Hot Rod Hotel; and a double CD, featuring an extra disc compiling the group’s early singles and alternative versions. This CD edition previously has only been available in Japan, though it now features a new, superior mix of their second single, ‘Back Between Places’. Both feature new, typically eloquent liner notes from writer Jon Savage. The members of East Village have all gone on to do inspired things: Martin Kelly joined Jeff Barrett at Heavenly and has managed label mainstays Saint Etienne since 1993; Paul Kelly formed Birdie with Debsey Wykes, and is now a renowned film director and graphic designer; both Paul and Spencer Smith played in Saint Etienne’s live band; John Wood moved to China to teach, and released a lovely, understated folk album, Quiet Storm, in Japan in 2006. But with the hazy perfection of Drop Out, they’ve all already etched their names in the firmament. Artist East Village Genre Rock And Pop Label Heavenly Buying Options 1LP Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings Silver Train Shipwrecked Here It Comes Freeze Out Circles When I Wake Tomorrow Way Back Home What Kind of Friend Is This Black Autumn Everybody Knows Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from East Village and more from Rock And Pop Paul's picks View Product Quick View East Village Hotrod Hotel Rock And Pop | Slumberland Records | 1LP Released 24th January 2020 £22.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders East Village Hotrod Hotel £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Slumberland Records SKU: LPSLR241 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 24th January 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Marisa Anderson & William Tyler Lost Futures Rock And Pop | Thrill Jockey | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 27th August 2021 £26.00 - £29.00 Select options Marisa Anderson & William Tyler Lost Futures £26.00 - £29.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Thrill Jockey Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 27th August 2021 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Connan Mockasin Jassbusters Two Rock And Pop | Mexican Summer | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Poster Released 5th November 2021 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Connan Mockasin Jassbusters Two £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Mexican Summer SKU: MEX2880 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Poster Released Date: 5th November 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Embrace Out Of Nothing Rock And Pop | UMC | 180g, 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released 30th October 2020 £18.00 - £20.00 Select options Embrace Out Of Nothing £18.00 - £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMC Formats: 180g, 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released Date: 30th October 2020 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul Topical Dancer Rock And Pop | Deewee | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released 4th March 2022 £24.00 - £26.00 Select options Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul Topical Dancer £24.00 - £26.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Deewee Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released Date: 4th March 2022 Read More Select options View Product Quick View School, The Wasting Away And Wondering Rock And Pop | Elefant | 1LP Released 4th September 2015 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders School, The Wasting Away And Wondering £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Elefant SKU: ER1201LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 4th September 2015 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Batmobile Big Bat Rock And Pop | Music On Vinyl | 10", EP/Mini Album, Single Released 23rd February 2024 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Batmobile Big Bat £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Music On Vinyl SKU: MOV10033T Formats: 10", EP/Mini Album, Single Released Date: 23rd February 2024 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Robert Forster Beautiful Hearts Rock And Pop | Needle Mythology | 1LP, Includes 7" Released 2nd February 2024 £32.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Robert Forster Beautiful Hearts £32.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Needle Mythology SKU: NEMYLP014 Formats: 1LP, Includes 7" Released Date: 2nd February 2024 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders On Sale View Product Quick View Marianne Faithfull Rich Kid Blues Rock And Pop | Demon Records | 180g, 1LP Released 27th July 2018 £12.99 £22.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Marianne Faithfull Rich Kid Blues £12.99 £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Demon Records SKU: DEMREC295 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 27th July 2018 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Zomby Dedication Electronica | 4AD | 2LP Released 14th October 2011 £23.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Zomby Dedication £23.00 Genre: Electronica Label: 4AD SKU: CAD3119 Formats: 2LP Released Date: 14th October 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Sherlocks, The Under Your Sky Rock And Pop | BMG Records | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 4th October 2019 £19.00 - £22.00 Select options Sherlocks, The Under Your Sky £19.00 - £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: BMG Records Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 4th October 2019 Read More Select options See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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