Water Fountains

The bounciness of the Pale Fountains went penalized in the days of Echo and the Bunnymen and the Smiths. “Optimism—yuck.” Michael Head’s stylistic hopscotch and wide-eyed sunnyness might have translated better in the late ’90s, had he stuck with that program for his later band, Shack. If the band had set their sights on one or two areas of their record collections for inspiration instead of darn near everything, Pacific Street might not have been so out of place when it was released. Bold indeed, the expanded version of Pacific Street (issued by Virgin with four bonus tracks) veers from every angle of ’70s AM soft rock, stylish soul pop à la Orange Juice (but not as effective), Bacharach / David, and Brazilian jazz.

Collected and released when Head was on the verge of a new level of appreciation via Shack, Longshot for Your Love – compiling radio sessions, unreleased tracks, and various other obscurities – made for an appreciative peek back at his early-'80s days with the Pale Fountains. The opening liner notes in the booklet from Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzicato Five are perfectly appropriate. There's a clear sense throughout this enjoyable disc how Head's first outfit provided a bridge between swinging '60s pop and the efforts of a later generation, not merely with Pizzicato Five but Belle & Sebastian or any number of Burt Bacharach-loving acts of the '90s.

Recorded at the Piper Club Roma 06/05/1968.