ze dels

Kinda strange that I should start a blog with a post on Del Amitri. There aren't that many Del fans I know. In fact, in my vicinity, there are none, unless one of my superiors or colleagues turn out to be closet listeners of Some Other Sucker's Parade. By the looks of it, that seems unlikely.
Anyway, to get down to business. The title of this particular blog isn't terribly imaginative, but I hope it serves the purpose. It is for me and you to write what you feel about music that you like or don't. Mind that — not anatomical, cold reviews — but what it makes you feel. Few people know of the Dels, and the band name comes across some kind of Italian author's to most I have mentioned them to. That doesn't stop me from loving them: they're one of my favourite adult alternative (or whatever you call them) rock bands with a flair for bluesy hooks that just seems missing from on-air radio or music television. And,they're VERY catchy. Oh, they're also Scottish. No, they don't have a Seattle connection, though their music can be melancholic. As Currie puts it..."We are pragmatic, cynical Scottish people, we just don't buy into any of that shit". I like that. My first Dels record was Change Everything. In spite of the funny, seemingly uncool band name — my friends shunned the band and some great music to opt for, let's say, Faith No More — I stuck with them. Not that I mind: the Dels play very personal music, with some very personal subjects. I had faith in them.Can You Do Me Good was picked up in 2002, and quite for a lark. I had almost given up on new Dels releases, since it had been over five years without any studio cut.Again, it took two days for this record to sink in: the muted piano-organ and cascade-guitar of Just Before You Leave isn't any rocking album opener. Then again, the words are what got me. Like a lot of Del songs, this song was about a break-up. But it isn't so simple: here, Justin Currie (vocals, bass) imagines how his former lover might feel like just before she leaves her present fiance. Er, "off-kilter", you say? Well, he also talks of specific situations: 'Do you still storm away, do you slap him just to see/ If he hits you back or backs away,/ Or panics, just like me?' And then some: 'Don't you always fall in love again just before you leave?'I was talking to a musician friend of mine about how every Del Song is a finely-crafted story, at times, even a movie script, frame by frame.This song is a great example: except that it's in flashback.The Les Paul lines come back with Cash & Prizes. Surprisingly, few reviews mention this track, and I'm a little irked by that. It's an askance look at a celebrity millionaire who longs for fulfilment: and it's a brilliant look. And what a guitar line. Iain Harvie is the bluesman for this band, and in all likelihood, this is his line.