The Delmontes

Joining the list of Scottish bands being rediscovered after their time are the Delmontes. Formed in Edinburgh in 1979, they released a mere two singles during their time together, suffering from a combination of bad luck and a lack of motivation. After being greeted with some enthusiasm in their early days, which just happened to coincide with the interest in Glasgow’s Postcard Records, the band issued a couple of well received singles in the early ’80s. Unfortunately that’s as far as they got on record although they continued to tour with the likes of the Teardrop Explodes and recorded more songs with the Associates’ Alan Rankine; no more fruits of their labours saw the light of day and they became a footnote in the hallowed halls of Scottish music. So why does a band that only released five songs deserve a retrospective? Well, it turns out that the Delmontes were really good. They almost sound like a forgotten Nuggets band, or even like BC’s the Organ with their organ-driven tunes. These songs are still remarkably fresh after all these years and both their singles have stood the test of time. The other 19 tracks (all unreleased) are taken from the band’s other sessions and show just how close they got to greatness. This compilation might be close to overkill for a band that weren’t very prolific, but if the other option is for them to be forgotten then it is hard to find fault with Carousel.