New releases

While The Distractions have bowed out after their third and final album, Kindly Leave The Stage, and the triumphant reissue of Nobody's Perfect, this is not to say there will be no more music. In fact, June 2020 has seen not one, not two, but three new releases with a Distracting flavour.

On the same day, Friday 19th June, there were two Bandcamp releases, both in support of great causes (and of course, the fourteen band-owned, Occultation-administered tracks from Nobody's Perfect 2CD set can also be had for just £7). 

Lockdown Live! is a live music project in support of independent music venues in Manchester, including Gullivers and the Eagle, where Mike and Alex's live band have played in recent years. Their June releases continued on the 19th with Lockdown Live Volume 3. The compilation album is available to stream and download in MP3, FLAC and other high-resolution formats for just £5.

The Distractions have contributed a live version of 'Girl Of The Year' to the compilation. The track was recorded on the second evening (Saturday 1st September) of the wonderful Salford Arms gigs back in 2012. This professionally recorded track comes after a number from The Only Ones' Peter Perrett - and of course, the late, great Mike Kellie of The Only Ones played with The Distractions in Salford! 

As mentioned above, Mike Finney, Alex Sidebottom and the new live band of Joe, Chris and Johnny, have been playing around the country for the last few years, and are delighted to rebrand as New Distractions. The first new material from the band is a charity release in support of the COVID-19 Community Response Fund, Manchester. 

'Juliet' and 'Stacey' have been played live in the last year and are - to quote David Quantick from 2010 - "in the great Distractions tradition of songs about girls". In late 2019, New Distractions recorded these two tracks (and several more...) in the studio, and released them on 19th June 2020.

For the price of half a pint (£2) or more, you can also stream and download 'Juliet' and 'Stacey' in MP3, FLAC and high-res formats. A CD release is planned for later in 2020, but we hope you can support what is a great cause in these unprecedented times.

Soul-strong - Mojo

Continuing our round-up of the terrific reviews that the Nobody's Perfect reissue received, here's the first of the music magazine reviews from Mojo. It's also the shortest, and least-effusive, albeit still quite positive. You can still pick up Nobody's Perfect 2CD and LPs from Occultation or Bandcamp (where the Occultation-administered 14-track download is also available). 

The Distractions

⭐⭐⭐

Nobody's Perfect

MAN IN THE MOON. CD/LP

A 48-track, 2-CD reissue of "lost" Manchester band's 1980 debut.

"The missing link between Freddie And The Dreamers and The Fall," suggests Manchester photographer Kevin Cummins in the sleevenotes. More the Dreamers... It now seems anomalous that single Time Goes By So Slow (featured here) was released by Factory Records. Early Elvis Costello was the closest post-punk counterpart, but The Distractions stuck even closer to tremulous rock 'n' roll verities. This is manifest on a cover of 1961 Eden Kane hit Boys Cry. Something For The Weekend, meanwhile, suggests both Del Shannon and the Springsteen of Hungry Heart. Bespectacled Mike Finney is an unlikely frontman - almost a real-life John Shuttleworth - but his soul-strong voice is impassioned, while songs like (Stuck In A) Fantasy sound like unknown 1960s standards. 

Roy Wilkinson