The Bolshoi - Country Li(f)e (1988)

The Bolshoi were formed in 1984 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, by singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Graham Cox. Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow, where Trevor performed as Trevor Flynn (his mother's maiden name), and early gigs supported the likes of the Cult, the March Violets and the Lords of the New Church. After eight gigs bass player Graham Cox was replaced by Nick Chown, and this line-up released released their debut single 'Sob Story' in 1985, followed by the mini-album 'Giants'. The band moved to London in 1985, where their line-up expanded to include Paul Clark on keyboards, and in 1986 they released their first full-length album 'Friends'. The 'Lindy's Party' album followed in 1987, which was a more pop-oriented record, and which garnered favourable reviews in the music press. After the release of 'Lindy's Party', the band recorded a fourth album, but problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded as the 1980's drew to a close, leaving the record in limbo. The songs have recently surfaced on a 5CD archive set from the band, and so we are now able to piece it together, but rather than just use all the songs that have surfaced, one of their fans decided to use just what he considered the best tracks from the sessions, augmented by a couple of songs from the mostly dismal set of 1988 demos that were also included in the archive set, which he considered better than the finished studio recordings. So here is an exclusive version of The Bolshoi's fourth album 'Country Li(f)e', put together by the Steve Hoffman site contributor Pangolino, for which many thanks. Stylistically, the band have always been difficult to categorize, as although they started out supporting giants of the goth scene, and had label-mates like Bauhaus, Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness, giving their music a bit more depth than other proto-goth bands. If you have any fond memories of the band then do give this album a try, as it's far too good to have been locked away for all this time. 

Track listing

01 World In Action
02 Yee Hee 
03 Under The Shed
04 Rockin' Bird 
05 What's Your Favourite Colour?
06 Singing The Blues 
07 Madame Hecate
08 Castaway
09 Country Life