After Dark is a 30 minute chunk of sugar sweet indie pop that transports you right back to the much missed C86 era of The Darling Buds, Primitives, Flatmates and The Shop Assistants. A glorious time of striped t-shirts, skin light denim, Cuban heals and bowl cuts.

Some Sort of Rock n’ roll kicks things off like the Banana Splits finally unleashing The Sour Grapes Bunch on an unsuspecting end-of-the-sixties world. I’m a Witch kicks in all drums and screams, with no chord wasted and no harmony missed. Lovely!

Hanky Panky Franky is walking bass-line-tastic with some sweet and sexy hand claps and next up cracker, You’re a Doll is a song that would get Biters fans tapping their too-cool-for-school toes to ….. complete with theramin / keyboard magic.

That Old Ghost Don’t Lie slows things down a touch with it’s echo-to-the-max guitar riff, while All My Baby Brought Back Was the Blues brings a bit of harmonica to the (KKK Took My Baby) mix. This is great stuff and while it won’t change your life but it’ll sure brighten up your dull day.

The Kids and Johnny are pure buzzsaw Ramones, with the later adding a bit of deep sax to the musical palate…. ooohhh saucy!

Hiding from the Moon, Show Me Another Way to Your Heart and Doo-Wop Showaddywaddy all sound like mega pop hits and should find a nice place in your life where you can groove each night away on a star-spangled dance floor where nobody gives a fuck about tomorrow.

Sadly every party has to end but those nice Pale Lips girls see us off down the road with a little Cosmic Love in our hearts and it’s a banger.

So there you go, just under 31 minutes of pure pop fun. Coincidently the Banana Splits ran for 31 episodes….. it’s a sign I tells ya!

Think shoving your Redd Kross lp on 45, think Ronettes playing Ramones tunes and if you really need some more Hanna Barbera rock & roll in your life, click the BUY button on the website of your favourite purveyor of quality music.

Buy After Dark: Here

Author : Fraser Munro