| | | | |




(Photograph by Wylie Maercklein)

SALLY CREWE & THE SUDDEN MOVES – Shortly After Take-Off (12XU 025-2)

Release Date : May 24, 2005

Reclaiming the word "pop" from the song-doctors and lip-synchers, Sally Crewe's economical take on the new/old wave recalls the vintage Kinks, classic Motown, labelmates Spoon, countrymen Squeeze…if not an expansive, more powerful version of the mean rock machine she unveiled on 2003’s ‘Drive it Like You Stole It’. Produced by Sally and Pat Collier and mixed by Crewe and Jim Eno, ‘Shortly After Take-Off’ is an equal parts tuneful/artful, smart and funny crystalization of Yorkshire-born Crewe’s melodic world-view. There are cameos by Kimberley Rew (Soft Boys, Katrina & The Waves) and Josh Zarbo (Spoon), but we’re only dropping their names in lieu of paying them.

After a couple of years watching the London pay-to-play scene claw itself to death, Sally has relocated to Austin, Texas, where she has assembled her finest backing ensemble to date. A fixture on Bob Harris’ BBC2 and 6Music programs, Crewe’s skills as taskmaster/bandleader have won comparisons to James Brown, Monoman and Idi Amin, though far better looking than the latter pair (and slightly more stationary than the Godfather Of Soul). The new Sudden Moves lineup will be touring in support of ‘Shortly After Take-Off’ throughout 2005.

"Crewe plays a minimalist version of the sort of classic American pop that real-life Rob Flemings insist would be the bedrock of pop radio in a perfect world. She's a big believer in the muted two-string rhythm guitar riff, that old trick beloved of new-wavers and their radio offspring...'Drive It Like You Stole It' has the same track-for-track radio-readiness as the Cars' own knockout debut, minus the chilliness...it's no surprise that there's so much driving on 'Drive It'. Seven of its 12 songs reference the act, often with fetishistic exactitude: stealing "an emerald green mica Jaguar" (pronounced "JAG-you-are"), "creeping past the Gatsos" (apparently a European brand of speed detector), staring at the "cat's eyes down the center line" to stay awake behind the wheel. This is more than just a pop junkie's iconographic obsession. For every celebration of making out in the backseat and blasting by the cops at "150 big-grin miles per hour," Crewe also sees cars as part of life's tedious fabric, the cause of dumb arguments with your neighbor over parking spaces. What's a kid's first driver's license, if not simultaneously a symbol of newfound adulthood and an invitation to youthful indiscretion? Does driving it like you stole it mean proceeding with caution so you don't get caught, or joyriding 'cause you'll get caught anyway?......'Drive It 'is the rare album that grapples with the tension of growing up while staying indie...Drive It is about cruising with no particular place to go, and deciding to head home." - Greg Milner, Village Voice

"With her angular features and pasty-white complexion, this British songwriter could be Britt Daniel's baby sister --- or maybe a distant cousin. But the common chemistry behind 'Drive It Like You Stole It', Crewe's collaboration with Spoon's Daniel and Jim Eno, cuts far deeper than offbeat looks. The three share an uncanny appreciation for --- and mastery of --- the less-is more school of angular indie pop. 'Drive It''s stripped-back three-pack of guitar/bass/drums (and occasional piano) rattles and hums with a fitful energy that's as fleeting as it is contagious. Crewe more than holds her own with one of those rare girlish voices spunky enough to thrive amid such brutally efficient clatter. But where Spoon's angst veers towards the abstract, Crewe would rather not mince words. "Obviously, your time's more important than mine," she sings on "Forget It." As if to hammer home the point, not a single track on this 12 song debut cracks three minutes. While it's all over in no time, 'Drive It''s fun-packed friction burns linger on the cranium like a jalapeno lodged in the sinuses."
--- Hobart Rowland, Magnet

(bio from 2003's 'Drive It Like You Stole It')

Since the age of 15, guitarist/vocalist Sally Crewe has been an enigmatic figure on the Leeds, New York and London rock circuits. Having spent her formative years fine-tuning her song-writing skills, Crewe set out last year to produce the concide, infectious record she'd been imagining up until that point.

Teaming up with Spoon's Jim Eno and Britt Daniel in early 2001 proved to be an effective partnership. Recorded throughout 2002 at Eno's Austin. TX studio, 'Drive It Like You Stole It' showcases Crewe's twin senses of wit and melody with unusual flair. With a repertoire that sounds instantly familiar yet totally fresh all at once, Sally strips the pop idea to it's pure essentials.

Equally informed and influenced by classic cars and classic pop, these dual obsessions would not normally be problematic were it not for the contentious events that followed her signing to the fledgling 12XU label. The disappearance of funds earmarked for the recording of this album seemed to coincide with Crewe's aquisition of Sir Paul McCartney's recently-auctioned 1966 Aston Martin DB6. There is also the matter of the 8-track recorder Sir Paul had custom-installed in said automobile; there have been claims that one of the songs on 'Drive It' (we cannot say which one) bears a strong similarity to one of the several previously unheard demo recordings left behind in the vehicle (we'll never know for sure as Crewe has recorded over them - "not as good as 'Pipes Of Peace'", she said).

In any event, we are hopeful that any dispute between Crewe, 12XU and MPL Communications can be resolved prior to 'Drive It Like You Stole It''s 24th February release date.

Currently backed by her new UK ensemble of Phil Prime (drums), Rhodri Marsden (bass) and Laura Bridge (keyboards, guitar), The Sudden Moves will be touring the UK and other exotic locales in early 2003. Following a handful of selected solo dates for Crewe in the eastern USA and Austin, TX, she'll be playing the West Coast in June.

recent commentary :

"the staccato post-punk of Spoon's own work is returned by Crewe into clipped, neurotic sexual and verbal aggression...sneeringly in control when not running into trouble or falling apart, Crewe's persona is inspiring and insulting. Fresh, frisky pop for mature, modern boys and girls." - Nick Hasted, Uncut

"unselfconsciously cool" - Time Out New York

"polished practitioners...another visceral hook is never far away." - David Shepard, Mojo