The Boo Radleys, February 1991

A Planet X gig, and a cute cacophony.

Feb 16, 2024

Black and white promo pic of the Boo Radleys, with faces in close up.

It would be a few years before the Boo Radleys became actual pop stars with "Wake Up Boo!", but it seems from this review that they were already outgrowing the grassroots venues where they started.

According to a 2019 interview: “We played endless gigs in Liverpool in 1990 – mostly at Planet X.”

The club seems to have loomed large in their life. I’ve just come across an interview I did with guitarist Martin Carr in 1995 in which he says: “The reason we moved to Liverpool in the first place is we went to Planet X and got too drunk to go back to Wallasey.”

THE BOO RADLEYS

PLANET X, LIVERPOOL

MELODY MAKER. February 16, 1991

LET nobody tell you that pop music is just about what you hear. Seeing is half the experience. And if The Boo Radleys are an experience and a half, you can’t help feeling sorry when crowds and architecture conspire to blur your vision on this totally unsuitable but nonetheless special occasion.

Seeing The Boo Radleys in the place they made their name gives you buckets of ambience but not much in the way of visuals. You just have to imagine what you would see if you could. Close your eyes and drift away... sunlight through stormclouds? Too corny. This might not be new but it’s not cliched. They’re the grinding jaws of a machine, smiling: a pop video in a war zone (are we allowed to mention war?): waves breaking on a shore littered with jukeboxes all playing at once: listening to a dentist’s drill with the radio on in the corridor.

lf you open your eyes, you can see sardines dancing and a girl screaming with pop-concert joy. If you crawl and crane you can see bubblegum grins which puts a new dimension on the whole thing. It’s really rather a cute cacophony. There are tunes, there is dancing, there are drums, there's a precise, pretty noise.

The drummer makes every sound count. The rest make every sound count as one. There are moments of relief and beauty, short and sweeter for it. Tunes and a beat fight it out with noise and both sides are winning.

Some bands live are just like listening to the record, even when you can see them. Visible or not, the presence of The Boo Radleys is in no danger of doubt.

Boo Radleys memorabilia

This press release from Creation Records dates to 1992 (probably around the same time as the promo pic at the top of this page). It’s written by Bob Stanley.

Boo Radleys biography from Creation Records, written by Bob Stanley. The text reads: The Boo Radleys were invented one day in late 1933. Originally sons of The Wirral, the four lads made their way to Liverpool as teenagers, settling in a house on Huskisson Street that was once home to Stu Sutcliffe and had been decorated by John Lennon. There they avidly read Smash Hits and planned how one day they would storm the cover with a marriage of Beatlepop, dream drones and pure white noise. Soon they were playing every possible club in Liverpool, causing a rumpus with their bristling set that never lasted more than half an hour - o yeah, here was a genuine POP group. In 1990, folk outside of Merseyside were alerted to the beauty of The Boo Radleys via a mini LP called "lchabod And I", released on the tiny Preston based label, Action. It was raw and untreated, peppered with distortion pedals but played with passion and it was loaded with some of the most melodious melancholy this side of Gene Clark. Within a month the initial pressing was sold out, and Rough Trade literally leapt at the chance to sign the young mavericks. Within seconds, the AR Kane-produced 'kaleidoscope EP' (1990) and the 'Every Heaven EP' C'91) had become Melody Maker singles of the week, and the latter crashed the indie charts at no.1. Now they were virtually household names. There was Sice, the perfectly gorgeous singer with the voice of a whispering choirboy; Martin who wrote the songs, played the guitar as if it was a hoover, and looked every bit the "artiste"; Tin, the gentle giant with the low slung bass and the biggest hair; and Rob who liked to drum and sleep. And while 1991 became the year of Ride, Slowdive, and the post My Bloody Valentine generation, the Boo Radleys effortlessly glided through with ths scary, elegant noise of the 'Boo Up EP', another independent chart moneyspinner and an NME single of the week to boot. When the backlash came, The Boo Radleys were several steps ahead of the duvet brigade. Meantime they toured with The Wedding Present, upsetting their hosts by clambering up a stage curtain and waving to the audience during The Wedding Present's set. The BOD Radleys can be seen on stage again during their Joint headline tour of the U.K. with the Pale Saints, in March and April this year. Before that comes 'Adrenalin', their finest EP to date and their debut for Creation, which stars one of THE 90 second pop bursts, 'Lazy Day', and the quite beautiful summer haze 'Vegas', The 14 track 'Everythings Alright Forever' LP will make them world famous shortly afterwards.

Listen to the Boo Radleys

Watching this video feels a bit like the way the gig was described in my review. It’s from around the same time.

Thank you for reading Penny Kiley's music writing. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Penny Kiley's music writing

The Boo Radleys, February 1991

A Planet X gig, and a cute cacophony.

THE BOO RADLEYS

Boo Radleys memorabilia

Listen to the Boo Radleys

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