The Left Banke “Goodbye Holly” “I Haven’t Got The Nerve”

Continuing the post-/sub-Beatles theme, here’s another not-quite-forgotten but out-of-print American pop group that took the Fabs (and, in this case, the Zombies also) as a template for their work. The Left Banke’s moody, strings-soaked sound had folks calling their music “chamber pop,” a tag since laid on modern groups like Belle & Sebastian and the Pernice Bros.

The oft-covered “Walk Away Renee” and “Pretty Ballerina” were mid-60s hits–both expressions of some rock ‘n’ roll soap opera where songwriter Michael Brown fell in love with the bass player’s lady friend. Those songs are in pretty wide circulation out there, so I thought I’d spotlight my third- and fourth-favorite Left Banke songs.

“I Haven’t Got The Nerve,” from the same debut record as the group’s two hits, is driven by a funky harpsichord(!) riff that’s really the song’s primary hook. (I was going to say that part is begging to be sampled, but Google reminds me that Lou Barlow/John Davis collab Folk Implosion appropriated it in the chorus of their chart entry, “Natural One.”) The vocal melody sticks too, although the singers come on a little stronger than the sort of passive-aggressive broken heart tale the lyrics tell. Very of its era, and totally great.

“Goodbye Holly,” from the group’s second full-length, is steps away from pop nirvana, marred only by some dopey lyrics that might indicate a leaning toward brown-acid psychedelia. (The opening gambit: “She came into my life on the wings of a lavender eagle.”)

It’s cut from a bit different cloth than the band’s typical style–it’s sunny and uptempo, with a standard pop-rock arrangement of guitar jangle, groovy McCartney-style bass and happily swinging drums. As it turns out, “Goodbye Holly” is composed solely by Tom Feher, a songwriting collaborator of Brown’s who was not officially a member of the band and picked up the writing slack after Brown’s departure from the Banke.

Anyhow, the band’s entire output fits on one disc, and while not all their tunes were top-notch–some others feel insubstantial and draggy, cruising on mood and atmosphere alone–I thought I’d share another couple reasons why it’s such a shame their disc is out of print in the U.S.

The comp There’s Gonna Be a Storm is, once again, ridonkulously expensive, but you can keep your eyes out for a more reasonably priced import/maybe-bootleg titled The Left Banke, or hope somebody re-releases this stuff, I guess.