Tolerance

The Blue Aeroplanes have never featured at these pages previously. I saw them in 1989 at Liverpool Royal Court supporting R.E.M. on the Green tour, a gig that lives long in the memory for the headliners but the support act were impressive too, a band with multiple guitarists, a dancer and a poet for a frontman- they finished their set with Gerard Langley at the front of the stage, arms outstretched while as the guitarists thrashed away behind him. I bought a double album compilation, FriendLoverPlane, not long after but don’t seem to have it any more, one of those records that has mysteriously vanished at some point. Going backwards from there, their 1986 album Tolerance, out on Fire Records, is a good introduction to their work, the spoken word vocals of Langley and guitar heavy sound. The version here is from The Tolerance EP, also from ’86. 

Tolerance (Remix)

In 1990, fresh from their tour supporting R.E.M. and signed to a major label, they released Swagger, an album promoted with singles Jacket Hangs and …And Stones, all produced by Gil Norton who at that point was very much in demand as the man who produced Doolittle by Pixies. They got a lot of press, the record company clearly hoping for that early 90s dream, the indie band that crossed over, but despite it all it never quite happened. Probably for the best- they survived the experience and still record and gig today. Your Ages is from Swagger. 

Your Ages