“Wish I’d kept a scrapbook” – A tribute to Tullycraft

I rarely find cover-versions and tribute-albums I enjoy much, mostly because there are so few who manage to add something new to their tribute. In most cases, the originals are the best and the covers are fun to listen to a couple of times before you go back to the original again. Unchikun Records has made a tribute album to Tullycraft. Should I be excited? Well, at least now, I am.
“Wish I’d kept a scrapbook” is one of the rare good tributes.

The album is lovingly compiled by Lee Grutman from LA Tool & Die, and he’s done an impressive job.

“Wish I’d kept a Scrapbook”, will be released on September 14, and includes 21 indiepop bands from USA, UK and Australia. I love Tullycraft and have a relation to most songs on this compilation, and it’s obvious that the bands included here also have a strong relationship to the band. There’s much love here! The tribute made me pick up my old Tullycraft records again, and while listening to the tribute, I rediscovered my old favourites, rediscovered their greatness. Could a tribute-album succeed better than that?

There are a lot of great versions here, and some that are less interesting. The good ones are the ones that manage to merge their own style with the Tullycraft-song, and thankfully there are several who manages to do that. The melodies are of course close to perfect on most of these songs (I’m a fan…).

Some bands have even managed to make versions that in my ears are better than the originals. The song “Superboy & Supergirl” were never a favourite of mine in Tullycraft’s version, but Math & Physics Club really show how great a melody this is. Their version is really good, and in my ears more interesting than Tullycrafts own. The same goes for The Smittens version of “Sweet”, – a really interesting cover of this song.

There are also two really good version of one of my favourite Tullycraft songs, “Our Days in Kansas”, – one performed by The Besties and the other as a wonderful duet between Darren Hanlon and Rose Melberg. Both versions are high class! The song by The Besties was the last thing they recorded before they broke up. The Hanlon/Melberg-track is a true internet-creation: Darren Hanlon recorded his tracks in Australia and sent them to Rose Melberg to add her tracks in the US.

Moustache of Insanity has a version of “The punks are writing love songs” that is so full of love, energy and fun that I’m smiling all the way through. LA Tool & Die cover “If you take away the make up (then the vampires they will die)” as a really blip’y synthpop version complete with vocoder-vocals on the chorus. A really nice version of a really good song. I  love it when a cover-version makes you realize how good the original is, and LA Tool & Die does just that.

Towards the end of the album comes one of my favourites on this album, an almost acoustic version of  “Fall 4 U” by The Special Places. The Special Places are in fact Corianton and Jenny from Tullycraft! It’s not too far from the original, but they do it so good.

“Wish I’d kept a scrapbook” is something as rare as a brilliant tribute album. It made me rediscover the greatness of a great band.

Here are a couple of tasters from the album, Math & Physics Club’s “Superboy & Supergirl” and Hot Lava’s “Pink Lemonade”:

Math & Physics Club – Superboy & Supergirl
Hot Lava – “Pink Lemonade”

Here is the tracklist, and there are lots of bands to be excited about here:

1)Hot Lava – Pink Lemonade
2)Bunnygrunt – Not Quite Burning Bridges
3) Iji – Josie
4) The Besties – Our Days in Kansas
5)The Medusa Snare – Every Little Thing
6)Hotpants Romance – Wild Bikini
7)The Smittens – Sweet
8 ) Math and Physics Club – Superboy & Supergirl
9) LA Tool & Die – If You Take Away the Make Up (Then the Vampires They Will Die)
10) Fishboy – Rumble With the Gang Debs
11) Folklore – Look How We Killed the Riot Grrrls
12) Galactic Heroes – Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend’s Too Stupid To Know About
13) Gold-Bears – Skyway
14) Master Track – DIY Queen
15) The Awesomelies – Godspeed
16) Moustache of Insanity – The Punks Are Writing Love Songs
17) Poison Control Center – The Last Song
18) Casper & The Cookies – Who Needs What
19) Darren Hanlon w/ Rose Melberg – Our Days in Kansas
20) The Special Places – Fall 4 U
21)Sprites – Wish I’d Kept A Scrapbook

About Knut

Knut loves warm & melodic music (mainly indiepop, folk, electronica), illustration, art, writings, creativity, coffee, nature, technology, good things, nice things, small things... He started Eardrums in 2005.