Blind Mr Jones - Tattooine

In our 'Re:View' section, in which we look back at albums from the past, Dave Goodwin reflects on shoegazing/Britpop band Blind Mr Jones' 1994 second album 'Tattoine', which has just been re-released and remastered

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Blind Mr. Jones started life in early '90s Marlow, England. Presumably taking their name from the first two songs on Talking Heads' final album ‘Naked’, they quickly established a name for themselves as a young band that were really going places. Built around guitarist James Franklin, guitarist/vocalist Richard Moore, flautist Jon Tegner, bassist/vocalist Will Teversham, and drummer Jon White they gained a sound that was more or less a mirror image of bands like the Wedding Present. Eventually they developed a more distinctive sound to fit in line with shoegaze bands like Ride and Slowdive. With a demo of the band's EP, ‘Eyes Wide’, featuring guitar additions written by Slowdive's Neil Halstead, they won the attention of the Cherry Red label, which eventually signed them. Their full-length debut album ‘Stereo Musicale’ was followed up two years later by ‘Tatooine’, which found the band revealing Britpop as well as shoegaze influences. Unfortunately, however, they dissolved shortly after its release. So, here we are some 20 years after its release and Saint Marie Records are reissuing Blind Mr. Jones’ ‘Tatooine’, fully remastered on CD and for the very first time on vinyl. ‘Tatooine’ is not quite as brash as 1992's ‘Stereo Musicale’ and on first listen it is not as warming, although there are still smatterings of old when track eight, ‘Please Me’ comes tumbling in with more of the dramatic attitude more akin with their previous work. This is an album which is a grower and gets better the more you listen to it. It is a little bit more laid back and gone almost in full is what a few critics of the time heralded as an annoying flute. On this remastered version Moore’s vocals are clearer and wash over you nicely while the twinkling guitar work shines through. The starting track ‘Hey’ is a lush, harmonic affair, while ‘Disneyworld’ speeds you back in time and has you harking back to earlier days. Highlights for me on this though are ‘Big Plane ‘with its steady beat and tambourine tapping, the slightly faster ‘Surfer Baby’, and the lovely five minute closer ‘Mesa’. This remastered offering is slightly fresher and is beautifully reinterpreted on heavy gatefold retro finish and 180gm ‘color in color’ clear and transparent red or classic black vinyl.