The Charlatans - some friendly

The Charlatans slipped into the Madchester baggy indie scene with this, their debut album, back in 1990 which spawned 2 top 10 pop hits (when you actually had to sell more than 3 records to make the charts too!) In truth the album is a collection of some great songs and some filler but when the Charlatans are good they are really really good which makes the album patchy but essential.

"The only one i know" is a peerless track with some of the best pop melodies around, i still think its one of the best indie tracks ever recorded... and its broken through into the mainstream pop consciousness (the last time i heard it was in a Harvester).

"Then" and "Sproston green" are also excellent indie pop tracks bringing in baggy beat into a neo-psychedelic helter skelter. "You're not very well" is also a bit decent though some of the other tracks get lost in their own mediocrity. But hey its a debut and as a debut it was very good and started the band off on a long career. Come 2015 and their latest album is also wonderful but thats a story for another day...