A band that remain impossible to define, The Monochrome Set have been making great music for decades. Lumped in with the post-punk wave after the first flush of UK punk, and then iconoclasts in a burgeoning Brit indie scene between C81 and C86, Bid and his crew have never faltered in their mission to pursue their own absolutely unique style of tunes across genre boundaries.
An on-fire Monochrome Set has been going strong in recent years, and this new set does a good job at showcasing the outfit's enduring strengths. Radio Sessions - Marc Riley BBC 6 Music 2011-2022 collects not only radio sessions, as it says, but live in-studio performances. The entirety of the Tapete Records collection reminds us of all the things we liked about this lot in the first place, and serves up a few new flavors and variations in their sound. "Jet Set Junta", from 1982's Eligible Bachelors, still has pep and vigor, while "Hip Kitten Spinning Chrome" from 2012's Platinum Coils veers between a rough, rugged rhythmic attack, and Bid's warm vocals. Elsewhere, a bunch of tunes from 2013's Super Plastic City stand on their own here. "The Time I've Spent Doing Nothing" is a gem, as is a twang-y "Strange Young Alien", another highlight here.
The Monochrome Set have lost nothing over the decades. A song like "Cosmonaut", from the 2016 album of the same name, reveals itself as a near-anthem here, while "I Feel Fine (Really)", from 2018's Maisieworld, here titled "I Feel Fine" loops and swings around Bid's intuitive vocals. The near-jazz bits on this one place it next to Nineties-era Vic Goddard stuff, and that's perfect company for this band.
The Monochrome Set never disappoint. There's always a clever turn of phrase, or a spark of invention that sets their brand of music in its own atmosophere. They remain, as these relatively recent live recordings evidence, one of the very best groups your mates may never have heard of. It's never too late to dive in.
Radio Sessions - Marc Riley BBC 6 Music 2011-2022 by The Monochrome Set is out now via Tapete Records.
[Photos: Steve Brummell]