The Monochrome Set - The Independent Singles Collection

Suave; debonair; sophisticated. Haughty, perhaps, for those who favour the pejorative. Aristocratic in more than one sense, ‘classy’ in at least as many. The Monochrome Set were effortlessly inventive, literate, poised and immaculate of tuneage, possessed of an internal dialogue as a band that allowed them to surf their own narrative. They were just unlike anything else, in layman’s terms.

Instead, their sound harked back to a golden era of British pop songwriters. But there was nothing retrogressive about their endeavours. Instead they wrote songs that recreated the drama and promise of a Pearl & Dean interval theme, veering from lullaby to mambo to harmonic pop, accompanied by lush melodies and irresistibly playful lyrics that embraced morbidity at one extreme, and pitch-perfect satire at another. Because they could.

1.    HE’S FRANK
2.    ALPHAVILLE
3.    EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS
4.    LESTER LEAPS IN
5.    THE MONOCHROME SET
6.    MR BIZZARO
7.    HE’S FRANK (SLIGHT RETURN)
8.    SILICON CARNE
9.    FALLOUT
10.    THE MATING GAME
11.    J.D.H.A.N.E.Y.
12.    CAST A LONG SHADOW
13.    THE BRIDGE
14.    JET SET JUNTA
15.    LOVE GOES DOWN THE DRAIN
16.    KILLING DAVE
17.    HOUSE OF GOD (LIVE)
18.    SWEET DEATH
19.    FOREVER YOUNG
20.    HURTING YOU
21.    LITTLE NOISES
22.    I LOVE LAMBETH
23.    KISSY KISSY
24.    ALL OVER
25.    CLOSING TIME

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