THE HEPBURNS A capricious guitar pop act from Wales that appeared briefly with Cherry Red at the tail end of the 80s to the bafflement of the UK press of the day (who weren't ready for a band that claimed Bacharach, Barry and Morricone as influences). The Magic of the Hepburns was not lost overseas, however, where the band left a lasting impression on younger fans from Grimsby Fishmarket in Sweden to the Siesta crew in Spain, as well as on the future boss of Radio Khartoum. But there was a hitch (not to mention a lost album), and no one—not even John Peel (who reportedly wondered aloud on air)—knew what had become of the band in the decade that followed. By some miracle, a neighbor of band leader Matt Jones was referred to Radio Khartoum in 1999 and a pact was quickly struck. Jones and co. quickly found their stride, producing a series of albums each better than the last, and much faster than the slow RK machinery can release them. Look for the albums Where the Missing Words Live, Insomniac's Lullaby and How the Fallen are Mighty in this space over the coming 12 months or so.

A few samples from the forthcoming albums:
My Brother the Submariner (from Where the Missing Words Live) full.mp3
Writer Friend (from How the Fallen are Mighty) full.mp3

live mp3: Matt Jones and Anthony Rochester live on Gull's Window Circus (WZBC Boston) 13 Nov 2007. Five string guitar and chauffeur service courtesy Dmitry Elentuck. Recording courtesy Patrick Rands. (24 minutes)
Songs:
1. My Brother the Submariner
2. Something Worth Stealing
3. If I Was a Hairdresser
4. Lipscombe Larder
5. Emotional Song No. 1

A few bits of live video:
Matt Jones with Anthony Rochester at KRETS, Malmö, 21 Dec 2007 youtube video
Matt Jones with Anthony Rochester, Preview Festival, Göteborg, 16 Dec 2007 video

For fans of: él Records, The Lucksmiths, The Monochrome Set, The Smiths, The Specials, Momus and Jake Thackray.
 

Something Worth Stealing
khz107 - CD album: $12 - buy
Probably the Hepburns' lightest album, Something Worth Stealing was written as a romantic fling with no skeletons in the closet...well, unusually few skeletons by Hepburns standards, discounting the up-tempo duet with the dead guy who comes back to woo a former lover, the ghostly coal mine choir in the jazzy shadows on the ditty about the strongman's cape, and, perhaps, the ode to Scooby-Doo's Velma. This album is more a celebration of joyrides, spring storms, dinosaur incisors, winter fashions, boho wannabes, humdrum and conundrum, the occasional poisoned dart, and the use of the word "penultimate."

SWS showcases the blossoming of the Hepburns' association with White & White (brass and flute, respectively) which started halfway through the sessions for the last album. In addition to the Hepburns' trademark organ and vibraphone riff-laden, jazz- and ska-tinged jangle, topped with words that could have only been penned by Matt "all Welshmen are Liars" Jones, the new album features the song everyone has been waiting to hear since the last album: "The Last Thing I Saw Before I Said Goodbye."

Digipak with 24 page booklet with lyrics, liner notes by Matt Jones (Japanese translations by Jun Kurihara) and graphic commentaries by Bügelfrei.
   

Deciphering Linear A
mhz103 - 7" vinyl + 3" CD combo: $6 - buy
Never intended as a taster for any album, this single is just a bit of magic that happened when no one was looking. "What If Everyone Got What They Wanted," The Hepburns' whimsical ode to letting it slip through your fingers, is pure A-side, a song that begged to be released on its own. A single, a song heard in isolation, the kind of tune that justifies the pause between songs to stop the turntable and flip the record. Matt Jones claims to have recorded the song in all of 10 minutes but the resulting first take is timeless (and could never be duplicated on subsequent trips to the studio). The flipside features two manic slices of jaunty, quirky guitar pop as only the errant Hepburns know how.

Another packaging splurge, this time in the form of a glossy, full color gatefold sleeve featuring a stunning meditation in lines, halftones and moires on "substance and nothingness (by way of Venice)" by designer Bügelfrei. More liner notes by Jones (plus Japanese translations by Jun Kurihara). Oh, and did we forget to mention that the package includes both 7" vinyl and 3" CD? All tracks non-album.
 

On this outing there were two new faces aboard the Hepburns charabanc: Jen and James White, a flautist and trumpet player, respectively.

Packaging splurge: Tactile and tasteful digipack as always, plus a 28 page booklet with lyrics, song-by-song prose commentary by Matt Jones (Japanese translation by Jun Kurihara), and graphical commentary by Bügelfrei.
 

Champagne Reception
khz200 - 3" CD $7 - buy
mhz200 - 10" vinyl $7 - buy available again!
First release in a decade, and the dawn of the new Hepburns era. The philosophy of The Hepburns is intact and shining: character sketches inimitably drawn (presumably from the pages of Clinker, Matt's novel in progress), and a knack for precisely arranged guitars and backing vocal flourishes which speak pure caprice. The cinematic sensibility which was lost on the UK press ten years earlier is still there, and quite possibly stronger than ever. A soundtrack for a film set in a village of dilapidated buildings, obsolete soda pop machines, and gardens, haunted with the ghosts of boxers, Disney's pirates, Nick Drake, and Jackie Onassis.
 

The Girl Who Lost Interest in Everything
uhf203 - Poster $20 - buy
Design: Bügelfrei
Dimensions: 18" x 24" (approx. 46 x 61 cm)
2 colors, hand screened on white, acid-free stock
Edition: 100 numbered prints

The text reads:
'Detail, "The Girl Who Lost Interest in Everything," one of 14 new songs by The Hepburns featured on the Radio Khartoum release The Last Thing I Saw Before I Said Goodbye (cat. no. KHZ203).'

Ships in tube. For a larger view, click here.