The Bluebells' sole full-length album (nearly all of their other releases were singles, which continued dribbling out for a number of years after the group split up in 1985),
Sisters is a slightly darker-toned and less infectious album than their spirited early singles would suggest. It includes some of those single sides ("Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "Cath" are in remixed form, while the acoustic cover of
Brendan Behan's "The Patriot Game" is the same), but the more recent tracks add synthesizers and a greater use of electric guitars to the largely acoustic early tracks. (The exception is "Young at Heart," a spirited bluegrass-tinged hoedown written by lead singer
Robert Hodgens and his then-girlfriend
Siobhan Fahey, whose band
Bananarama had done a more pop-oriented version on 1983's
Deep Sea Skiving.) Haunting ballads like "Will She Always Be Waiting" and "I'm Falling" show a more mature, thoughtful side to the group, while the Falklands-themed closer "South Atlantic Way" furthers the political shadings of some of the earlier tunes. The rocking "Syracuse University" and "Red Guitars" showcase a harder edge than anything the band had done previously. Every song is lyrically interesting and musically satisfying, and the whole is enough to make one wish
the Bluebells had lasted long enough to properly record a follow-up.
[The 2023 deluxe reissue of the album seeks to expand the album with all the related singles, B-sides, and remixes that were released around the time but also looks to fix a few things the band felt went astray when
Sisters was first issued. The album here replaces the existing version of leadoff track "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" with an earlier take they much preferred and adds two songs -- "Aim in Life" and "Some Sweet Day"-- that the label didn't want on the record at the time. They provide some melancholy balance to the otherwise almost chirpy sound and do give it an extra emotional boost. The overall package does much to remind listeners that while the band may not have been exactly at the level of some of their contemporaries, they did manage to come up with one classic single and a fine album to go with it.] ~ Stewart Mason & Tim Sendra
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