Welcome to the official Distractions website. We will be aiming to record the history of one of the greatest, but least heralded, of all Manchester beat groups.
With another fine review of The Distractions' remarkable third and final album, here's Paul Pledger at Flipside Reviews.
THE DISTRACTIONS - KINDLY LEAVE THE STAGE
OCCULTATION - LP DELUXE
OUT NOW
I don't know. You wait 32 years for one Distractions album to come along and then blow me, they deliver a second in a fifth of the time. This, their third full-length set comes in numerous format combinations, the most essential of which is the deluxe vinyl edition, complete with the 10" EP Go Dark, the vinyl and CD versions of Kindly Leave The Stage, a poster and artwork. A slap on the back is due to Occultation for compiling another collectable package.
And further slaps on backs are due to the band members themselves (including label honcho Nick Halliwell who, because, despite bearing a title that might suggest a desperate live recording, this is prime studio material recorded in the label's hometown of Exeter barely five years after the last LP, suggesting the Manchester outfit have legs yet.
Sadly though, Kindly Leave the Stage is chiefly about goodbyes - it's a swansong, a final curtain and the poignancy starts right at the beginning with A Few Miles More. When Mike Finney trills "There's no virtue in survival / not if you constantly repeat the same mistakes...", you already sense that this is not just a chapter ending, it's the whole book, cover and all. It is also one of The Distractions' most accomplished songs, alongside their Factory one-off Time Goes By So Slow, the singles It Doesn't Bother Me and Lost and the preceding album's Girl Of The Year. It's an emotional start.
The theme of departure and unrequited love continues on Last To Leave and the glorious Wake Up and Kiss Me Goodbye, both nods to an era when heartache and heartbreak steered '60s pop songwriters towards million-sellers and screaming fans. The Distractions have courted only a limited audience since debuting in 1979 with the frenetic EP You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That, without so much as a sniff of a hit since. Island Records failed to convert the record-buying public, yet Occultation (tiny in comparison) have probably achieved far more in keeping The Distractions firmly ensconced as national treasures.
On every Distractions release comes fully fitted with a lip-trembler and this one is no exception. Head to The Connection's Dropped Again for the beginning of a trio of introspective little vignettes designed to unlock the tearducts and keep the lachrymosity flowing. It's the blurry lock-in after last orders, the last drops of single malt, the shutters are down, the hall is empty and it's time for bed. Or in this case, the last dance at The End Of The Pier.
The deluxe bonus has a 10" EP has the fabulous Nothing Lasts and Skin, both worthy of being singles in a parallel universe, as well as a string of alternate versions of various album tracks - well worth purchasing from Occultation direct.
The official release date of 12th May is still a month away, but 'Kindly Leave The Stage' (order direct from Occultation here) has already been garnering some lovely press. Here's a piece at Flight of Pegasus - Full Metal Radio:
THE DISTRACTIONS
New album "Kindly Leave The Stage" out on May 12th!
After achieving some sort of world record by leaving a 32-year gap between the release of their first and second albums – 1980’s 'Nobody’s Perfect' and 2012’s 'The End Of The Pier' – The Distractions have sped things up and now, after a gap of less than five years, release their third (and final) album, 'Kindly Leave The Stage'.
The story of The Distractions – from Manchester punk era legends to critically-rated pop geniuses to a quarter century of silence, and then a more-than-slight return with a 21st century album of grown-up, wise, elegiac guitar music – is also the story of Mike Finney, one of the great blue-eyed soul voices, and Steve Perrin, a guitarist whose sense of melody and lightness is the perfect counterfoil to Finney’s emotional grit. Mike and Steve have been the core of The Distractions for 40 years, from the thrash of 'It Doesn’t Bother Me' and the Factory Records classic 'Time Goes By So Slow' to the maturity of 'The End Of The Pier' and, now, the superb 'Kindly Leave The Stage'.
It’s been a long, strange trip. Not every band gets a third act. “The classic narrative structure is beginning-middle-end so three seemed like the right number,” says Steve. “Also I thought it was important to formally say 'goodbye', both to the fans and to each other.”
Mike agrees. “It’s a fond farewell to each other, which had me in tears a few times. I hope it isn’t a deathbed confession, I’ve gotta whole lotta livin’ to do yet.”
With the assistance of new(ish) Distraction Nick Halliwell, the band’s sound may be more introspective and stripped-down, but The Distractions are still The Distractions. “The Distractions have always been an unalloyed delight,” says Nick, and that sense of a band who are also a group of friends shines through here. From the Buzzcocks-via-Scott Walker wistfulness of 'Wake Up And Kiss Me Goodbye' to the gorgeous, Ray Davies-y 'The End Of The Pier', this is a record which mixes thoughtfulness with throwaway brilliance and melancholy with melody.
“Nick asked me what the key word for the album was,” says Steve, “And I said 'resignation', in both senses. Although there's a real sadness in saying 'goodbye' to something that has been a hugely significant part of our lives I don't think it's all doom and gloom.”
Mike adds, “I think that there was a lot of unfinished business after the first album, and I feel lucky that we got the chance to complete it properly.”
The Distractions, not so much a great lost band as a great found band, are taking a final bow. Time to appreciate what they were and what they are.
Here's a lovely early review of 'Kindly Leave The Stage' from RareBird in the US:
The
Distractions - 'Kindly Leave The Stage' (2017)
March 15, 2017
The
Distractions were an unjustly overlooked band from Manchester, England, who
recorded only one full-length
album, 1980's 'Nobody's Perfect', during their original run. They
broke up in 1981 after failing to achieve commercial success, but there have
been a number of Distractions reunions in recent years, featuring original
singer Mike Finney and original guitarist Steve Perrin. A new lineup released a
second Distractions album, titled 'The End Of The Pier', in 2012 -- 32
years after the debut album. And now, the Distractions are about to issue their
third -- and, they say, final -- album, titled 'Kindly Leave The Stage',
on May 12, 2017.
Although the album’s official release date is two months away, the album can be
pre-ordered from the Occultation
Recordings website. Some of the packages offered also include a 10-inch
vinyl EP called 'Go Dark', which is limited to 250 copies. There might
still be time to obtain one!
'Kindly Leave The Stage' was recorded over the course of three days in
September of 2015. It was produced by Nick Halliwell, the head of Occultation
Recordings, who also played guitar. The rhythm section consisted of Arash
Torabi from Granite Shore on bass, and Ian Henderson from The Puddle on drums.
'Kindly
Leave The Stage'
lies in the same basic mellow pop vein as 'The End Of The Pier', but is
even more laid back, suggesting that Finney and Perrin had mellowed even
further with age during the few years in between. The first two tracks (A Few
Miles More and Last To Leave) have just a minimum of adult-alternative
vigor. The rest of the tracks have a mostly understated tone, a middle ground
between American country music and indie pop. The instrumentation moves at a
relaxed and deliberate pace for most of the album. Aside from one striking side
trip into baroque pop territory (Wake Up And Kiss Me Goodbye), most of the
songs are of a melancholy nature, which has always been The Distractions'
forte. But where vocalist Mike Finney once came across like a heartbroken young
man, he now seems to sing from the point of view of an older man who has lived
and learned, and who now realizes that heartaches will eventually pass. On
songs such as The Fire and Nowhere, Finney sounds calmly accepting of the
fact that passion fades away over time. The latter song possibly alludes to one
of the early Distractions singles, with the lyrics: “I know we used to think
that time went by too slow, Now there’s nothing left to do and there’s nowhere
left to go”. Finney comes on like a moody Johnny Cash on The Connection’s
Dropped Again, whose title sounds like a modern variation on Still It Doesn’t
Ring. The overall tone of the album does support the claim that it is meant to
be The Distractions' swan song, but it is not an overly emotional goodbye.
Rather, it is painted as a sad but expected part of life. When the opening
track contains a line like “I haven’t felt like this since Elvis Presley died”,
it would suggest that Finney and Perrin certainly do hate to see The
Distractions come to its final end, but they seem grateful to have been given
the opportunity to issue a proper farewell. True to its title, 'Kindly Leave
The Stage' serves as a quiet and graceful exit.
Here's the beautiful deluxe 'Kindly Leave The Stage' and 'Go Dark' package in all its glory:
Top: 'Kindly Leave The Stage' outer sleeve, 'Kindly Leave The Stage' LP, 'Kindly Leave The Stage' outer and inner CD sleeve, 'Kindly Leave The Stage' poster, 'Go Dark' sleeve.
Bottom: 'Go Dark' insert with sleeve notes from Steve Perrin, 'Kindly Leave The Stage' outer sleeve, 'Kindly Leave The Stage' CD, 'Kindly Leave The Stage' postcard, 'Go Dark' 10" mini-LP.
The limited edition poster and postcards included with the deluxe edition of The Distractions' final LP, Kindly Leave The Stage, which comes with the 10" mini-LP, The Distractions Go Dark:
Here's a video of A few Miles more, the first track on Kindly Leave The Stage.
Incidentally, The Distractions Go Dark, the 10" mini-LP available as part of a very limited edition deluxe edition, includes the first ever release of a lost early Distractions classic, Adrian Wright's Nothing lasts. The mini-LP also features three beautiful acoustic versions of songs recorded at The End of the Pier sessions in June 2011, and two further outtakes from Kindly Leave The Stage.
