That Petrol Emotion

1:09p.m., Mon 17 Nov 2008

We discussed That Petrol Emotion in Episode 7 of the Nick & Gareth Podcast which also include tracks by The Telescopes, Sparklehorse, Brendan Benson, Low & The New Pornographers.

I bought That Petrol Emotions "Babble" album without ever having heard the band. I suspect that it was either because I'd read an inspiring review in the music press or that some lesser band that I liked had given them a name check. Whatever made me buy the record (cassette actually) I'm glad it did.

The big hit from that record was "Big Decision" a proper jaunty pop tune. The better tunes were the equally jaunty but more edgy "Swamp" and "Creeping To The Cross", the latter of which still sends a shudder down my spine with the intense lead vocal and BVs.

The other TPE album that I grew to love is Chemicrazy. This is a way more mainstream, with potential hit sings in Hey Venus, Sensitize and Tingle. All great pop songs. The crazed intensity of the earlier records is nodded to in Head Staggered and a gentler side revealed in the closing track "Sweet Shiver Burn" a gentle (almost) acoustic song.

By this time TPE had gained the confidence of their major label and received a hefty promotional push with TV appearances, most notably on ITV's Saturday morning magazine show "The 8.15 From Manchester".

The singles from this album almost charted. Almost. "Hey Venus" entered the chart at 49, missing out on valuable exposure by only a handful of sales. Subsequent singles also scraped into the top 50, but not the promised land of the top 40. Their biggest hit remained "Big Decision" which managed 41. So That Petrol Emotion remained an 'almost' band.

Some sycophantic biographies will tell you that TPE were the first band to blend dance and indie-rock. That might be true - certainly there's an open-mindedness to the records that sees almost break beat sounds in the mix. They certainly didn't "invent" the indie-dance hybrid that became "baggy".

There's also a smattering of rap influences. I remember an interview with the band where they talk about "Chemicrazy and their choice of producer Scott Litt: "We met up with Scott Litt and we're really into rap music and he was really into rap music and we just clicked". For the record, the resulting record bears practically no traces of any kind of rap influence. Big Decision does have a couple of half "raps" in there, but I have to grit my teeth until the moments pass. (Did anyone ever hear Micheal Stipe 'rap' on the Neneh Cherry song "Trout"? It's like wacthing your dad dance at the school disco).

Inventive, open-minded and bold TPE might have been, but they certainly didn't find any sweet spots between dance music and/or hip-hop and rock, but this shouldn't detract from their legacy which is a fine canon of songs and a standout vocalist.

The final album, entitled "Fireproof" was release on Koogat Records. I can find no trace of any other release on this label, so I can only surmise that TPE had a finished album but no label willing to release it and did so themselves. It's an enjoyable swansong. You can hear the influence of the period - in the aftermath of the Nirvana-fuelled grunge explosion the guitars are rich and layered, the drums heavy, the vocals full of frustration and anger. Along with "Catch A Fire" standout tracks are "Detonate My Dreams", "Shangri-La" and "Infinite Thrill".

That Petrol Emotional Links:

• Loads of stuff on YouTube
• Official Site: thatpetrolemotion.com
• myspace.com/thatpetrolemotion