Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen

I dug this out of the bins after a ten year hiatus not having a copy...i miss music like this. Sincere, fun, sometimes poignant, but altogether music you can enjoy on a visceral as well as ephemeral level (christ i need to dumb it down!!). This kind of music used to be called "alternative" when that meant something. Not too polished despite Thomas Dolby producing, sounds fresh and well...real. This album takes me back to the rather awkward days of my teenage years, and i now get a warm, comforting feeling listening to it and recalling the angst of those days. Comfort music for the awkward soul, or something of that ilk. Musically charming without being overbearing, nice incorporation of piano, a few synth lines, some good old Johnny Marr style driving Rickenbacker rhythm lines, an altogether excellent muscial. Add in charming, poignant, and sometimes embarrasingly sophmoric lyrics (all the better for it), and there you have it.

This album is called "Two Wheels Good" on the american market. This is related to the fact, that Prefab Sprout got a copyright problem on the american market with the usage of the name of the actor "Steve McQueen". Both covers are identical and show the band on a motorcycle. "Two Wheels Good" is a parody on the old motorcycle and has it's roots in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" saying "Two legs good - four legs better".