The last 15 years has seen a 1000 Sarah Records revivalist acts joined by 100 actual Sarah Records reunion acts. OK I exaggerate. However, as is always the way, these days everyone seems so immensely prepared to proffer cult status upon a yesteryear they largely ignored at the time.

One such reunion act and arguably the best, is The Orchids, whose Lyceum album of 1989 fights Snowball by The Field Mice as ‘the Sarah all time great’. The ‘best’ accolade is not offered lightly, as there were some great bands on their roster, however The Orchids were not only slightly different to the jangly / fuzzy sweetness of the era the first time around, but have since stubbornly resisted stagnation by appreciating modern jangled stylistic variation, rather than just regurgitating their previous sound.

As such Limitless#1 (Joy), I Never Thought I Was Clever and I Should Have Thought slather a jangly Wild Nothing chill groove aesthetic through subtle lyrical emotionality. Similar modernity is heard in the under-produced lo-fi of What Have I Got To Do and Isn’t It Easy. All are jangly nuances that never really appeared on their previous works as they continue to be one of the few re-union acts who mix their yesteryear vibe with a definitive sound of today.

When they do move towards their original sound it all still works and so it should considering they were always decades ahead of their time and someting of an outlier to the general Sarah Records feel, in the same way Even As We Speak were. Here the best of the release is heard in the superlative stand-outs of Didn’t We Love You and Something Missing with their Rod Frame scottish guitar pop inflections being juxtaposed with the slight sophistication of today’s various Micheal Head projects.

Another truly great release. Grab yourself a vinyl or CD copy whilst stock last from Skep Wax.

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