Canada rocks, it’s official, all that maple syrup and ice hockey seems to have finally paid off. Finally, the land of the mounted policeman, the giant redwood and some kind of defiant insistence of certain occupants to remain French is giving us some good stuff for a change. Bryan Adams and Celine Dion this certainly isn’t, but the feel of that particular continent is very much in evidence, with signal posts to Low, Dinosaur Jr and other lo-fi greats and you’re halfway there, but throw in the rough around the edges early Cure, the chiming gentle throbbing melodies of the Go-Betweens and a smattering of Glaswegian C86 indie-pop and you’re pretty much there.

This record is the latest in a line of re-issues by Egg Records of late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s indie classics, re-mastered and offered on compact disc format for the first time ever. The eponymous Tugboat collates the Egg single from the band in their previous incarnation Change of Seasons and the bona fide Tugboat releases on Pop Goes On Records and Elefant as well as a series of unreleased tracks. Not bad, not bad at all.

Tugboat is a rough and ready, raggedy arsed collection of tracks that exude a certain unavoidable urgency, the songs, whilst being superbly rudimentary are thrillingly instant, they have a compelling immediacy that makes the whole record a triumph. The feeling is that of a laid back garage band with an intent that even they don’t understand, recognise or even notice. The whole thing is tattered around the edges, but that is it’s charm, it doesn’t so much sound unfinished, it sounds as though they said this out song, pressed ‘record’ on the tape, played it and walked out in a warm glow of achievement. It reminds me of all those punk bands in the seventies who would get together, play a gig or record a song, and then immediately spilt up, because they were happy that they had done what they set out to do. A fine ethos, and it prevails here by the bucket load.

There are unavoidable references to The Cure, to My Bloody Valentine, and most pertinently to Psychocandy era Jesus and Mary Chain; but it’s not so straightforward, Not Going Anywhere positively reeks of the Beach Boys and Pet Sounds, it really is that unpredictable – and that is where this record becomes totally listenable and leaves you revelling in the gloriously basic structures of the lo-fi, fuzzy, scuzzy, carefree sub-pop rock and roll.

Initial stand out tracks are the opening ...Is and Shall Be which owes more than a passing nod to Boys Don’t Cry – musically at least, Uptight with the searing and soaring guitar lines ripping shreds over the pounding regimented rhythm section and the semi-frantic Up and Down. However, it would be unfair to say that the whole record is not a highlight amongst the dross you’ll find in the racks at your local high street record store these days. This record, without exception gives you all that is good about modern music with just one press of the ‘play’ button, it is up to it’s hairy armpits in sincerity and mired in what all serious songwriters should be aiming for. That is all good, and the results are all great. If you’re one of those people who maybe once in a while takes a chance on a record that you have never heard of by an artist that you have never heard of then I suggest that this record is the next one you take a chance on, I fail to see how any of you could be disappointed. For fucks sake, it’s only £7.99 from the Egg Records website – you couldn’t get a chippy dinner for that in some places.

Words by Johnny Mac

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