on 2011-05-22 SolitaryMan Said:

Yeah, this is a great album, I've listened to it a dozen times in 3 days. I'm going to attempt an editorial review once I read up a bit more about the band, because these guys definitely deserve more attention than they've gotten.
Not Rated

on 2011-04-20 dscanland Said:

Really glad I read your Against Perfection review. I can't believe I've never heard of these guys. I was into the shoegaze stuff in the early 90s. Regardless, Adorable is a nice find even 20 years after release! Thanks Charles.
Not Rated

Review:

on 2011-02-20 CharlesMartel Said:

Adorable came, they blazed very brightly, they faded, they disappeared. Mention the name Adorable now to most people and you will get blank stares. The world is a worse place for their departure. But then again, the world was not ready for the likes of Adorable. Was Adorable ready for this world?

Why was this? Well, there are a number of reasons. First off, they had a serious attitude problem which pissed off both their record company, Creation, and the record press (the album was originally going to be titled Against Creation.) Now, when you are an upcoming band, you need all the friends you can get and being a bunch of arrogant gits, no matter how good you are, is not going to help. Second, in musical terms they straddled the shoegazers and the britpoppers without actually being either. They may have sounded like a post punk revival band, years after (or before) their time, but they never really mapped out a place for themselves in the musical canon of the mid nineties. Sure, they found a niche, but the brightness with which they blazed was in a very small, dark and enclosed space. No one noticed. That is a real shame for Adorable, in retrospect, stood out, along with acts like Whipping Boy (who were similarly overlooked), as being something very special indeed.

Coming to this album now, it bubbles with a freshness and vitality which stands up across the years. Yes there are the shattering walls of guitars, but there are also some quieter passages, reflective and moody, as well as some lyrical strengths which are often overlooked. Adorable were not content to sing of dreamily floating clouds or getting lairy down the pub like some of their contemporaries. Adorable liked to tell stories.

This album is now very difficult to get hold of. (Having said that, I notice that an anthology of the best (although I would question that) of the two studio releases by Adorable, entitled "Footnotes 92-94" has recently been released, so good news for anyone who wants to hear them on CD. I had for a long time to satisfy myself with a torrent I downloaded and watch as copies of it went for 35 quid second hand on eBay. Then a fluke. I bid for and won an extended edition Japanese import which contains the incredible "Sunshine Smile" and two other tracks. That single is surely one of the most overlooked tracks of all time. Yet there are other gems on this album, "Homeboy", "Cut #2" and "Favourite Fallen Idol" being the obvious ones. The album contains songs which combine a soft vocal style, to the fore and without the dreamy echoing sound of some of the shoegazers, with a shattering guitar sound which switches in and out and forces you to sit up and listen. Yet they had not yet perfected their style and had they gone on, who knows what gems may have emerged.

The truth is that the world was not ready for Adorable. This kind of sound was years ahead of its time and if it came out now would be an instant success. The sad thing is that this now largely-forgotten band is remembered only by a few who were there, and a few more who have taken the trouble to hunt down their music. "Against Perfection" could have been one of the greatest albums of the nineties. Adorable could have been one of the greatest bands in musical history. Let's hope that the new anthology will open to a wider audience a band who were simply too far ahead of their time to be credible.
Rating: 9/10