From that period around the time of Strip-mine, when James were still struggling, under Seymour Stein's wing at Sire, to express their version of themselves. The reason I got their 12" singles, like this one, was not to get some extended dance mix (they hadn't got into those yet, and the "Climax mix" presented here sounds pretty similar to other versions), but for the extra track on the B-side.
None of the B-sides from this era made it onto the official B-sides collection
The two songs on the B-side of What For? show James before they laid the foundations for Stadium Indie music. Featuring a harmonica in one case, these two are more like folkabilly. Not There was actually included on Strip-mine, and I read somewhere many years ago that it was about a friend who was a member of James in the very early days but got chucked out because of his drink habit. Ah, yes, here's a source for this story.
Island Swing is fairly typical of James in the late 1980s: I like some of the guitar lines and the overall feel of the song, but alongside some suggestively opaque imagery in the lyrics, there's some very ham-fisted anti-Thatcherism: "at the head of this free country / it's a bitch that you'll find." Although when I listened one time yesterday, I thought for a moment Tim was singing "it's a fish that you'll find." Now that would be much more interesting; almost like something out of Robert Anton Wilson, of whom I believe some James members are fans.
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Discogs entry for this single Wikipedia entry for this single Rate Your Music entry for this album |
Good review. Island Swing was actually part of their live set as far back as 1983.
There is some unaccredited brass on the song as well provided by Kick Horns who also perform on Charlie Dance.
Posted by: Michael O'Brien | 07 August 2009 at 02:34 PM