Gettin' Dirty

Personnel: Sujala Punn (soprano); John Miller (baritone); Drew Hamill (pedal steel guitar); David McClusky (zither); Frances Pryce, Michael Kellel (violin); Pat Field (viola); Stephen Adam (cello); Sean O'Rourke (flute); Jill Byrne (whistle); Brian McAlpine (accordion); John McCrory (alto saxophone); Yvonne Christie (trumpet); Norman Blake (hand claps); Kirk Richardson (percussion).
Audio Remasterer: Andy Pearce.
Liner Note Author: Duglas T. Stewart.
Recording information: Riverside Studios, Busby, Scotland.
The fourth BMX Bandits album, 1995's Gettin' Dirty, breaks with tradition by finally establishing a fully fledged band who contributes to every track instead of gathering a nebulous collection of friends surrounding singer/songwriter Duglas T. Stewart. As a result, Gettin' Dirty is the first BMX Bandits album with a consistent sound and feel. Stewart and guitarist Francis McDonald (moonlighting from his regular gig in Teenage Fanclub) wrote most of the songs together, with Stewart's lyrics complemented nicely by McDonald's Big Star-derived melodic sense. While none of the tunes are as completely swell as "Serious Drugs," the highlight from the previous year's Life Goes On, there's also a refreshing lack of the half-baked filler that marred previous BMX Bandits efforts. Highlights include the title track, a downright sweet reverie about the joys of showering with your significant other, and the Phil Spector homage "Come out of the Shadows," but Teenage Fanclub fans will be most intrigued by the McDonald-penned "No Future," which is a companion song to "Tears" from Teenage Fanclub's Grand Prix: the two songs are musically identical, with two sets of lyrics written from opposing viewpoints of the same romantic situation, an interesting conceit that also works as a pair of great pop songs. ~ Stewart Mason