The Solarflares - That Was Then: Their Best 1999 - 2004 (WTS Popkid No.6)

From 1999 to 2004, some really intriguing music was produced down in Kent, England. Half of the Prisoners or three quarters of The Prime Movers, have formed the Solarflares and by blending the influences of the hard-edged, late 60s mod soul-psych-garage sounds with strong '78 guitars, swirly Hammond organ, pounding Mitch Mitchell like drums and John Entwistle bass lines, plus Graham Day’s white soulboy shouting, created a sonic mayhem that could only be matched by their younger selves! In other words, the essence of the Prisoners is realised in the Solarflares, ladies and gentlemen. 

This quartet faced their mid-life crisis head on, took a handful of amphetamines as in the old days and hit it on again. In fact, this is some of the strongest material these guys ever put their names to. Sometimes I even have the blasphemous thought that they might be better than my beloved Prisoners, but I immediately dismiss it so that it doesn't become an obsession. But they were definitely better than 80% of the music of that period (I remind you that the late 90s/early 00s were indeed a good era), even if you didn't read about them in the media or the press and even if bands that had stolen everything they could from them, were glorifying them. It was no mean feat trying to create an unofficial 'best of' compilation about them, which had been missing for some time, but as usual I gave it my best shot. Cheers!