The Delgados Reviews
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The Delgados - The Complete Peel Sessions The late, great John Peel was, on the whole, a man of impeccable taste. And John Peel loved The Delgados. So much so that he kept inviting them back to record eight sesions on his programme. It's just as well he did, seeing as the much underrated Scots outfit sadly split in 2005 and this double CD pretty much amounts to a dream Best Of. You get raw, gritty versions of their best songs - the indie pop heaven of 'Under Canvas Under Wraps', the Mercury Rev-like psych-rush of 'Accused of Stealing' and the stately grandeur of 'Pull The Wires Of the Wall'. And, among the batch of covers, there's a charming version of ELO's meteorological '70s classic 'Mr Blue Sky'. No wonder Peelie couldn't get enough. 9/10 | NME |
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The Delgados - Universal Audio ‘an album of pure pop majesty’ – Time Out a band newly inspired by the possibilities of simplicity’ - Uncut ‘A masterclass in harmonious guitar pop’ – Q ‘An unbelievably complete record, full of heavenly ambition and weighty emotions. Essential’ – Rock Sound ‘pure, unspoilt guitar-pop genius’ – NME ‘a masterpiece of hummable catharsis’ – Sunday Herald ‘Scottish indie with jangly guitars and killer melodies’ – The Sunday Telegraph |
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The Delgados - Peloton Our second album and a huge leap forward by all accounts. Featuring Peel’s Festive 50 #1 of 1998 (Pull The Wires From The Wall) the album was our first real development into the sound we’re whoring around at the moment. Trying to shake off the Sonic Youth comparisons (which were only made by fucking wanks incidentally) we made an album with more substance than our debut and set about assembling a live band that would become the monster it is today. “This is a record of mighty intelligence, formidable instinct and cracking tunes” 9/10 | NME “As adventurous as "Push The Button", as relevant to your life as "This Is Hardcore", Peloton proves The Delgados were right all along” 4/5 | Melody Maker “One of the finest Scottish albums in recent memory” Scotland on Sunday |
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The Delgados - The Great Eastern Who’d have thought it? Delgados in Mercury nominated masterpiece shocker. It may have come as a surprise to some folk, but we earned the nomination on merit. I don’t give a fuck whether people think this is arrogant or not but this album was a fucking beauty: if another band on Chemikal Underground had made this record I’d be enthusing about it like a rabid dog so there’s no point in being falsely modest. With The Great Eastern, the delgados shattered a myriad of preconceptions – hugely ambitious, as hi-fi as you could get and gunning for the Radio 1 playlist, the delgados delivered an album which confounded critics and delighted the faithful. The delgados’ third album maintained their track record of doubling their previous album’s sales, coming at a time when Chemikal Underground needed it most. In the wake of Arab Strap and mogwai’s departure from the roster, this album was a vindication of the delgados as a band and Chemikal Underground’s ability to release popular, crossover albums. ”There are times when a record comes along that is so good as to defy categorisation. The Great Eastern is that record. It might be a bit premature to call it the album of the year, but potential contenders will need to be gobsmackingly good.” Mojo |
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The Delgados - Domestiques Dispelling any accusations that the delgados were a twee indie band, we set about layering this sonic wonder with rustling crisp packets, wonky xylophones and boak-inducingly tuneless violin. That said however when you look back on this record it has great tunes: confidently structured and full of that naïve assumption that we were destined for greatness – we sounded like we were learning how to play our instruments, but the signs of where we were going are there for all to see. So fuck if it sounds a bit like Pavement in places – Pavement were a great band and no-one seems to have a go at the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club for Christ’s sake. “A gloriously schizophrenic collection of mild mood-swings, irresistibly melodic thrash-pop, whimsical acoustic melancholia and Sonic Youth guitar quirks.” 8/10 | NME “Spiritual and creative equals to the likes of Pavement. Cherish them. Because they're better than you could ever imagine.” “The Delgados are at the eye of Glasgow's current storm: they started the label Chemikal Underground, which released the first tracks by Bis. They have now been given the opportunity to bring out their own debut album, a stunningly cool clash of Sonic Youth guitar dynamics and Glaswegian nonchalance. Singers Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward debate their vocals like husband and wife, bouncing off each other with ease, only occasionally erupting into bickering. They are not just starry-eyed adolescents, there's some fine talent at work here.” |