"That's her handwriting / that's the way she writes / from the first letter I got to this / her 'bill of rights'…"
"Part Company"
The Go-Betweens
It's fitting that Trembling Blue Stars came to be one of the bands participating in our tribute to Grant. After all, Trembling Blue Stars chose to call their debut album "Her Handwriting" in homage to Robert Forster's masterful pop composition from 1984 (one of the sharpest break-up songs ever recorded). Naturally, it made our day when Bobby and Beth agreed to record for us. I've got vivid memories of Bobby Wratten's life with Sarah Records' The Field Mice, playing live in Japan when I was an exchange student in Tokyo. Harvey Williams, the man behind Another Sunny Day, was there wearing a Field Mice t-shirt; after seeing my disappointment at learning from him that there was no merch for sale at the show, he literally gave me the Field Mice t-shirt off his back …quite a gracious gesture. Given the light rain falling across Shinjuku that night, I gave him my shirt in return. The Field Mice played an insane set that night and just shredded through a version of "Sensitive" – a goldrush gush of guitars that I wished would've lasted for an hour…
Trembling Blue Stars – exiles from mainstream. They've always been on the verge of something akin to a happy ending. The lush guitar music, often mixed in with synth and seductive beats, fuse into a dancepop sensibility that effectively counters—and complements—Wratten's painfully frank lyrics. (Much the same way Grant and Robert countered and complemented each other for decades as The Go Betweens.) And TBS was never even meant to be a "real" band; the plan seems to have been to just release one album as mostly a solo project for Bobby Wratten, with some help from Annemari and a few others, on the heels of Northern Picture Library's demise (Northern Picture Library were engaging, determined to challenge convention rather than stoop to conquer common denominators). But after the success of Her Handwriting, Bobby put a band together, went touring, and began work on a second album. There have been multiple line up changes since TBS' 1995 debut, with only Bobby and producer Ian remaining constants. The current lineup, including Beth Arzy of 90s Los Angeles band Aberdeen, continues to remind us that good art and "success" don't necessarily coexist….but they might, yet.
Trembling Blue Stars chose to cover one of Grant's solo recordings, the evocotive "Coming Up For Air" – released on the acclaimed Horsebreaker Star album, which interestingly Grant recorded in Athens, GA. There are so many good songs on the Horsebreaker Star record, and this one is rendered gorgeously. The line about "those LA freaks" shows a glimpse of greatness, and the pulsating music itself has fleeting moments of rapture. Yes! It's a prime example of a band effortlessly conveying their love for Grant's music – they make this song breathe, take it somewhere else, remembering that you never lose for loving. Ever.
/davidjames
Rare Victory!