MONOCHROME SET - Strange Boutique LP

Highly recommended.

The Monochrome Set were undone by their album covers, which paints them as akin to Crispy Ambulance or Joy Division. Instead we get a fresh dose of English whimsy, courtesy an Indian prince (?) and his entourage.

Lester Square's chiming guitar deserves special notice. It is akin to several bands from the time. He shares a love for spaghetti Western slap-back with Tim Lever of Modern Eon. The clever articulation recalls Max Eider of The Jazz Butcher. And of course it sets the template for Johnny Marr's work in the morose and far-inferior Smiths.

Why is The Monochrome Set so overlooked? Almost everyone knows The Smiths and Joy Division? Well, as with all rhetorical questions, here is the answer: They never had a hit single.

RIYL: The Feelies, The Smiths, Postcard Records, Soft Boys, Velvet Underground