Think I went along to see Spectrum in Liverpool in 2008, went with a mate not knowing anything about the music, he played to about 50 people and it was just this incredible noise. He played revolution, which led me to seek out Spacemen 3. Devoured everything I could find from them after that. That blend of psyche, gospel, spaced out, transportative music just really hits the spot for me.
Playing with Fire is their masterpiece but their the whole back catalogue is really strong.
I remember finding out S3 were from Rugby which was really surprising to me (i grew up in a smaller town 10 miles away). I then found out I went to same school as Pierce (and Will Carruthers) which blew my mind a bit. Iād left home by that point but no-one I knew ever spoke about them.
Musically it was incredibly dull growing up around there and my misconception was it had always been that way, not so. This blog (later turned into a book) is excellent and charts the early years of S3 and the scene around Rugby/Northampton at that time, people might be familiar with the Jazz Butcher from the same period:
Found out my mates dad was in one of the bands mentioned and he had a few stories about playing gigs, The Black Lion, supporting The Fall etc.
Spiritualizedā¦ I really like but donāt love, Ladies and Gentlemen is brilliant and there are moments on their other records that are truly great but it has never quite clicked the same as Spacemen 3 for me.
Similar to midnightpunk, itās a 5 for the Spacemen, but gonna up it to a 4 for Spiritualized.
