Sisters (Expanded Deluxe Edition)

The Bluebells sole full-length album (nearly all of their other releases were singles, which continued dribbling out for a number of years after the group split in 1985), Sisters is a slightly darker-toned and less infectious album than their spirited early singles would suggest. It includes some of those single sides ("Everybodys Somebodys Fool" and "Cath" are in remixed form, while the acoustic cover of Brendan Behans "The Patriot Game" is the same), but the more recent tracks add synthesizers and a greater use of electric guitars to the largely acoustic early tracks. (The exception is "Young at Heart," a spirited bluegrass-tinged hoedown written by lead singer Robert Hodgens and his then-girlfriend Siobhan Fahey, whose band Bananarama had done a more pop-oriented version on 1983s Deep Sea Skiving.) Haunting ballads like "Will She Always Be Waiting" and "Im Falling" show a more mature, thoughtful side to the group, while the Falklands-themed closer "South Atlantic Way" furthers the political shadings of some of the earlier tunes. The rocking "Syracuse University" and "Red Guitars" showcase a harder edge than anything the band had done previously. Every song is lyrically interesting and musically satisfying, and the whole is enough to make one wish the Bluebells had lasted long enough to properly record a follow-up. ~ Stewart Mason