Standard Fare - Out Of Sight, Out Of Town

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5...according to our Brian on Fri 20 Jan, 2012.

I have really loved this band since their début single. They're the most natural sounding indie outfit in the UK to my mind. It's a scene I always imagine I'm tiring of, having followed it passionately since 1987 - there's so many people in bands peddling dreary third-rate derivative shit that I feel a bit jaded - but all it takes is to amp up a record by this Sheffield three piece and everything you ever adored about all that dinky rattly euphoric guitar pop that Uncle John used to play is here in spades. There's one elder stateswoman who seems to be carrying the lantern for the style that I always especially liked and it's Emma Pollock from the Delgados and I can feel her spirit in many of these heartfelt spirited songs. But Standard Fare also posses a special distinctive Northern English sound; spare and melodic; propulsive and airy; intimate and joyous, that recalls over 25 years of classic indie pop, a homely and sensual way with a song that almost brings a tear to my eye. I heard a comment through the wall in the office that they were doing "nothing new" but the whole point of this is that bands such as Standard Fare are there precisely to fill the gap when previous practitioners of a this timeless genre have gone to seed or let egos get in the way. With fresh, breezy songs peppered with little plumes of brass and a such breathless air-punching positivity and earthy contemplation, you're left with the feeling that maybe the idiots aren't winning after all.

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*4/5 REVIEW IN Q: “STANDARD FARE'S SECOND ALBUM IS AN ACCOMPLISHED SET OF INTELLIGENT,
SPARKY OLD SCHOOL INDIE-POP WITH NODS TO THE DELGADOS, KENICKIE AND CAMERA OBSCURA.”

"A riot of hormones, cut-to-the-chase lyrics, bolshie girl-boy vocals ...the Sheffield trio distils all the best and
most loveable aspects of indie guitar music" - The Sunday Times

* Limbo. It’s a funny place to be, but it provided inspiration for the second album from Standard Fare, the Sheffield-based
indie-pop power trio who debuted with 2010’s The Noyelle Beat, their lovelorn, melodic songs and male/female vocals
making them the new darlings of the indie-pop scene.

* These 12 tracks, then, concern subject matter as varied as the Holocaust (recent single Suitcase, written about a
survivor and friend of Emma’s family who recently passed away), bitterness (Kicking Puddles), frustration (Dead Future),
divided families (Half Sister) and unfaithfulness (Early That Night). With the widening lyrical scope, the album’s texture
has become more diverse too, with a greater contrast between heavy and light, fast and slow, dancefloor and bedroom.
The guitars are beefed up, the melodies are unbeatable and the words are flecked with wicked humour.

* Recorded with producer Alan Smyth at 2fly in Sheffield, the album represents a years worth of writing and 11 days of
recording, which, compared to the whistle-stop weeklong session of their debut, is practically a marathon. In addition to
the tight power trio of guitar-bass-drums, the band are augmented this time by a trumpet player (Brad San Martin from
Boston’s One Happy Island) and violinist (Emily Gunn from Sheffield’s ‘Nat Johnson & the Figureheads’), adding an extra
dimension to their raw sound.

* Standard Fare met when Dan (from Buxton) and Emma (from New Mills) were playing in other groups as teenagers.
When those projects fell apart, the pair resolved to work together, and poached drummer Andy Beswick from Dan’s
brother’s band. Early practices were held in Andy’s loft in Buxton, “and then in his Nan's living room when we got too
loud.” Music is a family business for two of their number – Emma’s mother was in ‘80s anarcho-punks Poison Girls and
now plays Jewish folk music and organises jams in pubs and on trains. Dan’s family band plays old Motown and Rock n
Roll. Outside of the band, the three-some have far ranging interests: Emma is studying for a PhD, and has an allotment
and a penchant for cycling; Andy is a graphic designer, loves riding motorbikes and has dived 20metres in the Indian
Ocean; and Dan is a black belt in karate.

Tracklisting:

1.The Look Of Lust
2.05-11-07
3.Suitcase
4.Dead Future
5.Kicking Puddles
6.Darth Vader
7.Bad Temper
8.Older Women
9.Call Me Up
10.Half Sister
11. Early That Night
12.Crystal Palatial

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