Brontosaurus - These People (Bandcamp Name Your Price)

I was a big fan of Colin's Godson and sad to see them call it a day. It was such fun with the comic strip 80's Video Game themes. You can read the IDHAS review of the album, The Timely Demise Of Colin's Godson here. The Bandcamp site is still active and I urge you to go and listen to their archive there.

So on discovering that main man Joe Greatorex had formed Brontosaurus, I excitedly ran to find out more and I'm so glad that I did. Greatorex has lost none of the trademark Colin's Godson wit, in fact the songs have got even more cutting and dry. The man has a way with words.






What is different is the emphasis is far more on straight ahead Pop, gloriously lo fi, but the songs stand up wonderfully. These People is very very Housemartins, the jolly singalong tunes accompanied by the everyday tales of banal everyday life.

One look at the song titles will give you more than a hint of what to expect, but these lyrical side swipes never undermine the great Pop of the album. Blogger is the stand out song, cruel but splendid, but all the rest of the album comes close to its greatness.






Powerpop By Numbers is great Power Pop and Band Of The Week is great Brit Pop Pop Rock. A Do-It-All Dad's Denim Dream like so much here is fun packed and Heaton-esque. Soundman is in The Supernaturals territory, hardly surprising since James McColl helps out on the album with Backing Vocals and an assortment of instruments including Saxophone and Flute.

At other times, I'm reminded of Brian Bordello if he were the lead singer in a Power Pop band. But all in all this is a fantastic album. I'm so glad that Joe Greatorex is back, he's been missed. Anyone who can make me laugh in these hard times is worth listening to. Highly Recommended!






You can listen to and buy the album here.


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Colin's Godson - The Timely Demise Of Colin's Godson

Glasgow's Colin's Godson inhabit their own strange, yet wonderfully fascinating pop world. Imagine Half Man Half Biscuit with a Power Pop backdrop, rather than Folk. The band are certainly prolific, hot on the heels of this, a further album is planned for October.

The influences are everywhere, Sultans Of Ping to Frank Sidebottom and the Pop of the likes of The Supernaturals and Silver Sun as well as Devo and the twee keyboard stuff of the 80's. The vocals can be a bit plain, ditto HMHB, but the pop semsibilities shine through.






Stadium Rock is in Weezer Territory whilst Paul And Linda sounds like something off a Jane Wiedlin solo album. Country Wall is sideshow Blur, whilst Secret Sunday takes that a stage further into pure Brit Pop.

Match,com is all UK New Wave, but it's those Half Man Half Biscuit references that continue to hit home. The everyday lyrics and subjects point to those four lads from The Wirral and something like The Krypton Factor could actually be them.





In 24 minutes, the album manages to incorporate all these examples plus Prog and 60's Bubblegum Pop and yet there's still something endearingly unique about the band. It's a confusing, but fulfilling journey though the record collection of these Glaswegians.

Buying the CD is the way to go because you get a Comic Book and other stuff with it. But the digital download is available to listen to and then buy, should that be your preference. You won't be disappointed.




You can listen to and buy the album as a download or CD here.