The Wake - Here Comes Everybody

The Wake
Here Comes Everybody


Released 1985 on Factory
Reviewed by Lawrence, 10/10/2009ce


Another fairly underrated band from Factory Records, this band's previous album had gotten compared to Joy Division (perhaps because of the name) inspite of being much more pop-oriented than that. Although a rather melancholic brand of pop...

By Here Comes Everybody they managed to hone down their sound to something akin to gleaming glass. Lead singer/guitarist Caesar does some sparkly lead work here. And Carolyn Allen plays an array of keyboards, pretty much being Rod Argent to Caesar's Colin Blunstone. Plently of bittersweet songs about relationships here, although "Melancholy Man" gets a little cutesy by lifting a Don McLean lyric (of all things!)

Anyways this was a good pop record, not one trying to be clever like REM (for example), and surely better than the poorly executed C86 movement a year later. It was no surprise that this group would later sign to Sarah Records, as many bands on the Sarah roster were no doubt inspired by the Wake (or at least had a similar sound.) By that time though the band lost their shine for the most part and became quite lyrically bitter to boot. Oh well, Here Comes Everybody is still timeworn magic, and the fact that the masters for it are lost make it a little sad...


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