The Blue Aeroplanes

The cult of the Blue Aeroplanes has stretched out over the course of fifteen years and almost as many record releases. The Bristol band began in the mid '80s, heavily indebted to Post-Punk and psychedelia. The mainstay through the years has been songwriter Gerard Langley, whose vision of idiosyncratic electric guitar leads topped by his distinctive sung/spoken vocals makes them seem like a prettier, more melodic version of the Fall. They signed to the now-defunct Chrysalis label and were able to release Swagger in 1990, receiving their widest acclaim while coming under the wing of a then-touring R.E.M. At times the band incorporated as many as four lead guitars into their sound, as well as the many folk instruments which they had been slowly implementing over the years. Never having made the transition to superstardom, they instead remain an example of how to fuse poetry and music without seeming overtly pretentious.