The Fallen Leaves

Punk Rock For Gentlemen ParlIaMent

Immaculate stuff from garage rockers featuring ex-Subway Sect members.

No one would accuse the Fallen Leaves of blazing a futuristic 21st-century trail for rock, but if traditionalism is a virtue then they are the epitome of it.

There’s a neat, natty, just-soness about this collection, recorded on vintage equipment for further authentic effect. Songs like Go Now and Sylvie Says are more than mere copyism of 60s originals. Rather, they are the work of master rock tailors, expertly cut, with the reliable smartness of a proper Harrington jacket; no knock-offs here. When they do a keyboard solo it’s not with a garish flourish, but a single-note affair. Co-songwriters Rob Green and former Subway Sect man Rob Symons draw on decades of expertise, opting for a combination of energy and elegance in the main, as befits the album title.

It isn’t possible to magic back the likes of The Kinks or The Pretty Things, but the very next best thing to that is to catch

The Fallen Leaves in some small, intimate club and watch them up-close, making a perfect 1964 of things, with redolences of Dansettes and suede boots and a rare, classic precision.