hypersongs

Some Friendly

Their debut, number one in the UK, recorded in two studios over a few months in 1990.
The Charlatans, 1990

The band was recording "Polar Bear" when a fax from the Beggars Banquet A&R man Roger Trust asked them to record "The Only One I Know" instead. The main problem was a shortage of quality material from a band together only a short time; Blunt felt it was rushed, "You're Not Very Well" and "Opportunity" were written late, and Burgess regretted that "Polar Bear" was overproduced. Pete Coleman plays woodwind on "Polar Bear" and engineered, and Chris Nagle produced and mixed. Singles were "The Only One I Know", "Then" (September 10, 1990), "Sproston Green" (US) and the Over Rising EP. It reached 73 on the Billboard 200 and is UK Gold.

Reaction was mixed at the time: Entertainment Weekly's Elysa Gardner gave a B-plus, Select's Andrew Harrison 2 of 5, calling it doggedly authentic, if inconsistent. Record Collector's Ian Shirley later called it an awesome first album, AllMusic's Ned Raggett gave 3.5 stars, and Melody Maker ranked it sixth of 1990.

Track listing

  1. You're Not Very Well3:31
  2. White Shirt3:25
  3. The Only One I Know3:58
  4. Opportunity6:41
  5. Then4:11
  6. 109 Pt. 23:18
  7. Polar Bear4:56
  8. Believe You Me3:41
  9. Flower5:27
  10. Sonic3:32
  11. Sproston Green5:08

More from The Charlatans

Between 10th And 11th (1992), Up To Our Hips (1994), The Charlatans (1995), Tellin' Stories (1997), Us And Us Only (1999), Wonderland (2001), Up At The Lake (2004), Simpatico. (2006), You Cross My Path (2008), Who We Touch (2010), Modern Nature (2015), Different Days (2017), We Are Love (2025)

Sources

  1. Some Friendly, Wikipedia
  2. Charlatans talk Some Friendly plans, Clash (2010-03-15)
  3. The Charlatans discography, Wikipedia