Alvin Purple provided their own Brit-Pop anthems, fusing 60s British pop, melodious post punk and a smattering of blue-eyed soul. Starting life as Disney Firetruck; an indie power pop quartet that crashed onto the scene in the early 90s, equipped with an arsenal of sweaty and energetic catchy tunes that helped them build up a sizeable local following of devoted 'Disney-heads'. Several gigs and a couple of demo tapes later, the Trucks trimmed down to a lean and punchy 3-piece and changed their name to Alvin Purple, whilst refining their song-writing skills along the way. It wasn't long before the band and it's songs caught the attention of NME scribe Simon Williams who included a demo of 'Billie' on 'Return to Splendour' -- a 7 compilation EP on his own Fierce Panda label; the EP also included The Bluetones amongst others. This helped garner more interest and the band was soon signed to small independent label 'La La Land', the initial home of Irish indie noise popsters, Ash. Alvin Purple cut two tracks with legendary music production duo Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, Dexy's, Morrissey). The first, 'Headcase', was released in 1995 on La La Land shortly after, just before the label sadly dissolved, leaving the second song, a meatier re-do of Billie, lingering in extended limbo. Flash forward many years and Billie is now finally receiving its well overdue airing, now on Spinout Nuggets. Completing the package, this 45 is backed with two more pieces of perfect Purple pop: 'Sunny Garden Weather' and 'Straight Through the Nose', which showcase the band's knack with a killer melody wrapped up in a quintessentially British aesthetic. Enjoy!
