Delgados - Girls Of Valour

(Chemikal Underground, 2005)

The final Delgados album, Universal Audio, is something of a return to basics after the head-spinning Fridmann excess of Hate, but these peppier, “stripped down” songs still clearly show off the considerable growth the band had gone through over the course of its recent records. “Girls of Valour” is bouncy pop-rock sweetened by sunny synths and some three-part Beach Boys-style vocals in the chorus, a happy compromise between the Delgados’ early and mid-period styles. Hummable pop sophistication.

A pair of covers from two radio sessions (both of which are included on the Complete BBC Peel Sessions compilation) fill up the reverse: a ho-hum duet on “Ballad of Accounting” (2004), and a Peel-requested “Last Rose of Summer” (2002) that serves as a vocal showcase for Pollock. Neither bare-bones recording makes a very compelling case for the Delgados as a live band; the application of studio gunk-layerage seems to have been a vital aspect of their sound. And that, of course, is nothing to be ashamed of, in light of how successfully they pulled it all off through most of their career.

Delgados - Under Canvas Under Wraps

(Chemikal Underground, 1996)

The rock action is a lot more streamlined this time around, and we’re definitely the worse for it. On “Under Canvas Under Wraps” and “Een Telf,” the band goes for an overdriven, Breeders-style alterna-pop that lacks the innocently over-thunk off-kilter charm of the previous singles, and not even Emma Pollock’s surprisingly tuff-ass singing can save these bland, sorta-hooky rawk-out sleepwalks. Even on the decidedly Pavement-y “Bear Cub,” whose lackadaisical vox and guitar groove are pretty much straight stylistic rips of our Modesto buddies, the Delgados sound uncharacteristically faceless and bored/boring. A bum single for sure, but let’s give them a pass on it cuz far better things were soon to come with The Great Eastern and Hate. Shoot, with tearjerk, sucker-punch, kitchen-sink records like those, I just can’t stay mad at these bozos; I’m both a pushover and a chump.

Delgados - Lazarwalker E.P.

(Radar, 1995)

This early Delgados EP offers only the faintest hints – primarily in “Lazarwalker’s” semi-lush vocal harmonies – of the hyper-arranged bombast that would characterize the group’s later records. Mostly, the band just sounds very, well, young, with turned-up guitars and crashing drums that situate the songs comfortably in a mid-’90s American indie-rock context (despite being products of Scotland). A fair comparison would be a straighter, pop-minded Pavement, as all four tracks are built around catchy hooks and winning vocals, while retaining their noisiness and throwing up a few mild surprises in their tempo and chord changes. A good start for these oddly underrated folks; harmless pop fun with some crunch.