Rosemary's Children : Kings and Princes EP (Cherry Red)

When the holiday season brings a lull in the release of new pop gems to discover, what better way to spend one's time then to rummage through one's record collection and rediscover almost forgotten pop classics like the "kings and princes" mini-album by Rosemary's Children.

Rosemary's Children was the moniker of a foursome from Slough who first came to my attention through the release of their first rather mysterious ep on the ever wonderful El records label. While that first ep showed lots of promise marrying the melancholy beauty of early Felt with a little literate pop in the vein of early Lloyd Cole, nothing could prepare us for the brilliance that was their "kings and princes" mini-album on Cherry Red records. "Kings and princes" was a royal treat spiced with exotic soundscapes, folky follies and direct Englishness. It contains five melodic songs, sometimes trashy (the title track with its almost Buzzcockian overtones) but more often wistful (the utterly gorgeous "visiting a house" like a more downbeat cousin of that other almost forgotten gem "if she doesn't smile ..." by Fantastic Something, or the tragic tale of "the lighthouse song"), and all with a groovy jingle-jangle that could lead the Children to be termed "psychedelic" if one felt so inclined.

At the time of the release of "kings and princes" there was talk of a debut album which was promised to be "absolutely brilliant" by the band themselves, but alas to my knowledge that set was never released and Rosemary's Children were lost to the mists of time and never heard of again.
Don't let them be forgotten. The "kings and princes" ep can now be bought in download format only (sadly) from the Cherry Red record label.

==> Rosemary's Children : "Visiting a House"

Bart