About a year after Suede—the great Britpop band that never quite broke through in the U.S.—called it quits, singer Brett Anderson and guitarist Bernard Butler reunited, joining up with a handful of fellow British musicians from even more obscure bands to form The Tears. Though the group lasted less than two years, they still managed to release one remarkably solid record in that time.
Here Come the Tears, released in 2005, has some of the hallmarks of Suede, from the catchy melodies to the jangly guitars, but leans away from the rawer glam toward a more polished pop sound, with lush strings woven throughout. More than two decades after its release, Craft Recordings has reissued the album on vinyl for the first time in the U.S.
The album opens strong with the guitar-heavy “Refugees,” one of the best tracks on the record, along with the equally impressive “Lovers.” Lyrically, “Imperfections” is a little over the top, and “Apollo 13” comes off as somewhat pretentious, but elsewhere the band regains its footing on “Two Creatures” and “The Ghost of You.” The record closes with the slow-building “Fallen Idol,” teasing a band with more to say. But the clock was already running down on The Tears as soon as they formed, considering the long-running feud between Anderson and Butler that dated back a decade before their reunion and played out loudly in the music press. Despite teasing new music and a follow-up album, the band officially broke up in 2006.
The Craft Recordings vinyl reissue is limited to 5,500 copies on ultra-clear vinyl.
