The Farm
A: Stepping Stone
(Produce 1990)
I don't anything about the history of The Farm, but if any artist screams "We're jumping on to indie/dance (Baggy) Bandwagon" more loudly then I can't think of then.* Just look at that record sleeve - surely even the designer is taking the mickey: its a sheep! A sheep wearing the silly hat, baggy jeans, and trainers uniform of the baggy crowd. Just in case you're thinking, but they're called The Farm, and it's a sheep - surely that's reasonable? Just go and find the album cover - it's designed to look like generic brand washing powder - it's basically saying here's some more similar product to go on the shelves.
Let's not worry about that now; what else do I know about this band. Not much except I can tell you they made one good record and one famous one - this record is neither...
You may recognise that name - Stepping Stone - it's that song beloved of many a garage band in the late 60's. Most famously recorded by both The Monkees and The Sex Pistols. The songs starts off with some fake phone call samples a twang of bass, and then a twang of guitar - and sounds quite promising, then the drums break into a slouchy shuffling rhythm that persists throughout the song. At the same time an insistent bell-like ringing noise kicks in and just doesn't stop - it's like rhythmic tinnitus. Once the band is locked into this lolloping groove it's not too bad, until the singer starts up. You may be familiar this song - lyrically it can be interpreted as arrogant and aggressive, or alternatively, painfully self-delusional. The Farm have decided to interpret is as boredom - because there's no energy or passion in the singing, just "Ho, Hum - you're using me then, fair enough". I'm a big fan of taking an old song and doing something new or different to it - but this feel more like nicking someone else's lyrics and sticking them to your own tune out of sheer laziness.
It's a double a-side, this time, and on the other a-side is Family of Man. This starts off with some house-style piano, and a pretty good, if slightly generic baggy groove gets going, and then, as before, the singer starts up, and the whole thing falls a bit flat. The overall effect is dullness. I kind of stopped listening until a few seconds before the end when from out of nowhere, this screaming hard-rock style guitar solo bursts in all very showy and completely incongruous. Just, NO!
It's not the worst record in my collection, and I was rather fond of it back in the day, but that fondness has diminished over time, and now it's one of those records that commits the cardinal sin of being a bit dull really.
*Yes, I can actually - it's Northside (eventually to be covered in a later blog)
Next time a bit of obscure pop-punk/new wave from the turn of the 70's...
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