WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Debut LP Pop Said was 1 of our favourites of 1989 and The Darling Buds return with their 1st new album for 34 years at the end of next month.

• Read on for reasons including everything we know about the new album

What we loved about the band’s sound was its route-1, often carefree pop chanelling influences as diverse as Blondie, The Beatles and The Monkees producing joyous, tambourine-waving indie pop we revelled in seeing them at venues including London’s ULU, Reading’s Majestic Ballroom and Windsor Old Trout while contemporaries including Transvision Vamp also dominated Top Of The Pops.

The Buds, who’d formed in Caerleon near Newport, South Wales, in 1986, had less success with 2nd and 3rd albums Crawdaddy and Erotica and new single Intruder is more awkward, dark and interesting than the material of this band’s that we most love.

Lead singer Andrea Lewis is now known as Andrea Lewis Jarvis and clearly has something invading her thoughts as she sings ominously: ‘There’s a box in the basement Sealed up from when we moved The label fades each year I don’t need to know what’s inside.’

She could be referencing rediscovering this band that’s been away for so long as muscular guitars add menace to the vibe.

Singles Burst and Hit The Ground may have very much been our sounds of 1988/89 but we’ve seen them live in London decades later and before writing this blog at The Borderline and The Lexington and their live proposition is much stronger now

They play summer gigs from 4 July including The Garage in London on 4 September and new single Lost Time is out Friday (26 June) with the Same Sun/Same Sky LP following 31 July.

These Buds are blooming all summer.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy The Darling Buds Tickets
• Have you seen The Darling Buds before and what did you think of them? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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