{"title":"Bingo Harry","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"bingo-harry","title":"Bingo Harry","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere was a time during the punk era when the only commercially-available Velvet Underground studio album in many territories was Loaded. Which is a fine album, but from the vantage it offered alone, it was difficult to reconcile the purported massive influence the Velvets had over bands as disparate as The Fall, The Slits and Vic Godard from output like \u003ci\u003eOh! Sweet Nuthin’ \u003c\/i\u003eor \u003ci\u003eCool It Down\u003c\/i\u003e. But kids today, they’ve got it easy. In 2020, nearly everything’s available, anywhere, all of the time, making the dissection of influence difficult and perplexingly pointless to some degree. Bingo Harry has subconsciously stumbled across a peculiar stash of forerunners. \u003ci\u003eUncovered\u003c\/i\u003e by Martin Bramah, the ex-Fall guitarist now guiding Blue Orchids through a new golden age, and his bandmate John Paul Moran (also in The Monochrome Set), it was Bingo Harry’s live double-guitar approach -vaguely reminiscent of the Verlaine \/ Lloyd interplay in Television - that piqued interest. A partially aborted studio session with Bramah and Simon Ding Archer, another Fall refugee, offered other dimensions, a Flying Nun label-like affection for lo-fi pop psychedelia, a healthy dose of pre-glam Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex, matter-of-fact respect for the original peace and love hippie era without extravagantly self-indulgent musical extensions. Bramah was taken with leader Benny Jones’ unreleased demos enough that Blue Orchids included a version of Benny’s \u003ci\u003eIf They Ever Lay A Finger On Us\u003c\/i\u003e as the closing track on their album Righteous Harmony Fist, more than two years before release of that same demo here. Bingo Harry is an introduction to the band through some of their initial batch of home recordings and early studio efforts. The group will be gigging regularly once the epidemic's over and recording the best of dozens of recently-written tracks. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tiny Global Productions","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50503971340619,"sku":"1103553","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/616039d0-4e04-4892-a83a-05bdc9534e87_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727800506"},{"product_id":"where-do-we-go","title":"Where Do We Go?","description":"\u003cp\u003eBingo Harry sprang out of nowhere a few years back, when Martin Bramah of Blue Orchids was shocked by their opening set for his band, Blue Orchids. Bramah's enthusiasm went so far as to lead Blue Orchids to recording a then-unreleased Bingo Harry composition, \"If They Ever Lay A Finger On Us\", a subtle yet unusually powerful and enigmatic revolutionary song of caution to oppressors. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe original recording was later released on Bingo Harry's self-titled debut, which sold well, and merited more studio sessions. These days, Bingo Harry is more a often solo vehicle for songwriter Benny Jones than a band. Currently living on a houseboat in northern England (which somehow manages to contain his home studio as well), Benny spent the past few years recording dozens of songs before winnowing them down to fit on Bingo Harry's second album, \u003ci\u003eWhere Do We Go?\u003c\/i\u003e, not to mention constructing the collage of the album cover. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe cosmic inheritor of a certain Marc Bolan-esque knack for simple yet spiritual and thrilling tunes, Benny's songs span seemingly glam-induced groovers to a handful of gentle-but-trippy epics which would be overwrought in lesser hands, but here manage to capture a beautiful bit of the cosmos alongside their relevance to the wearying state of the world today. \"Shine If You Can\", the album's final track, works as well for an anthem of the times as anything you'll hear in the next few years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tiny Global Productions","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50504546648395,"sku":"2000666","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50504547172683,"sku":"2000668","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Bingo_Harry_-_Where_Do_We_Go_c58c1fe0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727806656"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/bingo-harry.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}