[Fortuna Pop!, 2004]
This is an EP of a few indiepop bands covering Northern Soul, released back in the pre-POBPAH days, when Fortuna Pop! was an even smaller label than it is now. I heard about it from a really old interview in which Sean Price, Fortuna Pop's 'El Presidente', did a run-through of the label's 10 most significant releases, and I had to track it down. Sean says that there was a fair amount of angst during the recording, especially between Kicker and Comet Gain. Don't quite understand this, as half of Kicker was actually in Comet Gain....
The bands all make a decent fist of it, with Kicker the highlight, doing a brilliant stomping, bass-led version of The Inticers' 'Since You Left' that genuinely sounds like it could have been the original - the singer's voice fits the song perfectly. You can find an mp3 of it here. The other songs are all great though, although I'm still not completely convinced by Airport Girl, Sean's own band. Bar a couple of great singles, they always seem to fall a bit flat to me, and their cover of Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette) by the O'Jays is the weakest song here, with very little of the feel of the original song, but still sounds like a pretty good 80-s style indiepop tune. The Butterflies of Love, possibly Fortuna Pop!'s biggest band at the time, turn in a pretty good heartfelt version of 'Two Lovers' by Mary Wells, and Comet Gain's version of Dena Barnes' 'If You Ever Walk Out On My Life' is really ace, with chiming trebly guitars and a great chorus.
I don't know the originals of most of these songs, but am definitely going to look into Northern Soul a bit more. If anyone has any recommendations, please leave them as a comment - I don't seem to get many comments apart from people under pseudonyms pointing out factual 'errors', and I know a fair few of you are reading this, so take the plunge!
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