Hi, and welcome to the latest Squire newsletter where we announce new gigs and new sounds!
Just when you think you’ve pretty much covered all the latest Squire news and then something drops in your mail box!
I’ve been listening to these versions of Squire songs by a band from Chicago. Illinois called the Sharp Pins! I have to say there's something about the way they have captured the ethos of the Squire sound, connecting the harmonies that have always been a vital ingredient, to a more 12-string guitar sound, avoiding a ‘wall of sound’ guitar garage band vibe that you might have expected would be a 'go to sound' for an up and coming band! It makes the result sound quite sophisticated. So its a big surprise that they were recorded on a 4-track! This is always inspiring, since this ‘lo-fi’ method isn’t really necessary these days with multitrack digital recorders for free on your phone, never mind laptop! It's a really deliberate choice, and a good one too! It removes the fog of trying to sound professionally recorded which usually ends up a homogenised mess of too many overdubs and not enough decisions, compressed and digitally compromised, and instead captures the raw performance of ‘youth in a hurry approach’ to getting down and being satisfied in the moment. Spring reverbs, a few ingenious workarounds while recording at home and here you have it! The cassette style sleeve is no mistake either. Nor the title! It takes the original Mods Mayday LP sound as its inspiration and they go for it!
They start out with ‘Its A Mod Mod World’, and continue with ‘Face Of Youth Today’, ‘I’ve Got You On My Mind’ and ‘B-A-B-Y Baby Love’, I especially like the ad lib ending on that version! It has a Beatles messing around at the Cavern vibe to it! The other tracks on the session cover three from The Mods, and one from Secret Affair. I like that its The Mods who get to be featured as we played with them quite often and I was always impressed by their songs, mod stance and on stage confidence! And they were the band that tipped us off about the Mods Mayday gig, which is why we chanced it by going there on the day uninvited, and blagging a spot and ending up on the record!
Listen to the Sharp Pins 'Squire' tracks on Bandcamp by clicking on the button badge!
The 100 Club is actually one of our favourite venues to play! Its history goes without saying. The venue was changed from Jazz club to the 100 Club name in 1964, and has remained so, with the same iconic banner outside! The 1960s included performances by The Who and The Kinks, Muddy Waters, BB King! The 1970s found it as a ‘punk’ venue hosting the Sex Pistols historic performance, and also featuring The Clash, The Banshees and a wealth of reggae groups. When the mod scene exploded 1979, it became the regular club for the Northern Soul 6Ts all nighters.
Squire enjoyed our own residency in 1982! Brit pop was represented with Oasis, Suede et al playing in the mid 1990s. And we’ve played it many times, since! Before the London Mods Mayday was revived as a regular annual event by AGMP, there would be regular mod line ups dates at 100 club!
Just looking back at photos and flyers, and we’ve been there with The Lambrettas, The Chords, Small World, Long Tall Shorty, Secret Affair!
And here we are again! - ticket link on poster.
All the best from Squire!