Giant
	Produced by Bob Sargeant
	Released on July 1986
	UK CHART POSITION #35
	Find it at GEMM
BFC 40468 cover [high resolution photo]

L adies and gentleman, I give you the mythic Giant, the sleeping Giant, the Giant that calls us from the mountains and forests to come adventuring. Let me explain. I’d never heard of The Woodentops until I read about them in Trouser Press. There, they used words like “truly innovative pop music” and “literally defy categorization” to describe them (sort of). TP goes on to single out Giant as “an incredible first album” with “a bright handful of pop gems.” And so Giant came calling for me. Then another voice, this time from the workaday world of AMG, chimed in that “if you like bouncy pop, you’ll love this album.” But I do and I didn’t. That’s right, I don’t love this album. My expectations had been tuned for something different: The Cure, The Smiths, Split Enz, XTC. I tend to reserve my superlatives for those bands because they’ve earned my loyalty. The Woodentops may have my head but they’ll never have my heart. The songs on Giant are the very definition of good: “Last Time,” “Love Affair With Everday Livin’,” “History,” “Hear Me James,” etc. Everything on here is good but none of it’s great, and a band needs to make that leap or lose the listener’s faith. I won’t send you in search of Giant or The Woodentops, because you’ll be left looking for something that isn’t there. After two listens, invariably, something on a Cure, Smiths, Split Enz or XTC album has hooked me. After ten-plus listens, I’m still looking for Giant’s hook. I had the same trouble with The Golden Palominos and The Bears, two other bands with Trouser’s blessings, proving that even the best of us get “pantsed” sometimes. In the annals of BBYNHO (best band you’ve never heard of) are stories of skewed perspectives like this; upon closer inspection, Giant wasn’t so large as I was led to believe. A good record, maybe a very good record, but I don’t have any trouble slapping a label on this that says “Imagine if The Smiths went to college” and moving on.

BFC 40468 back cover	BFC 40468 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. GET IT ON    3:17
2. GOOD THING    3:45
3. GIVE IT TIME    3:48
4. LOVE TRAIN    3:04
5. HEAR ME JAMES    3:38
6. LOVE AFFAIR WITH EVERYDAY LIVIN'    3:50
7. SO GOOD TODAY    2:59
8. SHOUT    2:08
9. HISTORY    3:22
10. TRAVELLING MAN    3:14
11. LAST TIME    4:08
12. EVERYTHING BREAKS    4:51
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks
    
13. IT WILL COME
14. SPECIAL FRIEND
15. PLUTONIUM ROCK
16. WELL WELL WELL
    
    Written and directed by Rolo
    

CREDITS

FRANK DE FREITAS -- bass, voice
SIMON MAWBY -- guitar, voice
ROLO McGINTY -- voice, acoustics
BENNY STAPLES -- drums, voice
ALICE THOMPSON -- keyboards, voice
Jack Emblow -- accordion
Chucho Merchan -- double bass
Bob Sargeant -- marimbas
Danny Shogger -- strings
Steve Sidwell -- trumpet
John Gallen -- engineer
Panni Charrington -- sleeve

return to THE WOODENTOPS discography

For more discographies visit...

© 2009 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.