Tears Before Bedtime [LP], Would-Be-Goods, Vinyl

Tears Before Bedtime is the sparkling new album by the Would-Be-Goods, Jessica Griffinas band of pop adventurers. Since The Camera Loves Me, their cult classic 1988 debut for the legendary Al Records, they have blazed a musical trail through indie guitar pop, with a garage band edge and forays into other territories - glam rock, tango, French chansona¦ The result is unique and timeless.The songs on Tears Before Bedtime balance delicacy and power. Perfect pop melodies are delivered in Jessicaas gorgeous and idiosyncratic voice. Her lyrics are intelligent and wry, wistful and witty. Every song tells a story, taking us on a journey through space and time, from belle Apoque Paris to a 1960s London biker cafA, from a riverbank in ancient Greece to a 1970s teenage bedroom.Listening to a Would-Be-Goods album is like wandering through a gallery of portraits. Innocence gives way to experience. Danger lurks amid the lights of the funfair in the 1950s carousel whirl of The Gallopers. The sinister Dr Love promises heaven but sends you down to hell, to the sound of a last dance in a smoky soul basement. A nymph meets a god in disguise in a garage-band take on a Greek myth (Tears for Leda). The Rose Tattoo is the tale of a doomed love in a sultry Southern state. Don't Come Crying To Me flames an ex-lover to the sound of Bollywood horns and shivery guitar. In Madame X a portrait painter vents his fury on a spoilt socialite beauty. The album closes with a sweetly jazzy lullaby (The Moon Doesn't Mind).