In a live setting they can also break up the routine, which is usually a good thing. But about 6 months ago indie rock legends Pixies do a bundle B-sides and I slag them off. Yet when almost forgotten Scottish band TV21 do the same they're about to get praised to the hilt. Am I just being perverse? Well, yeah, but not just ...

So out of the 13 originals in actual fact we get just 5 LP tracks (less than half of the LP!), three non LP singles (one in a seriously different arrangement from the recorded version) and a plethora of hidden treasures from B sides to unrecorded tracks to never released singles.

A large part of this will undoubtedly be as a result of long distance reassessment of the material. After 25 years, it probably doesn't matter to the guys whether or not a song was a single or on the album, just whether it's any good or not. This sort of unpredictability is great so long as the material is up to scratch. It is. Of course.

'It's Me' is the definitive example of this. Only ever recorded in a Peel session, in October Norman had explained it hadn't been recorded again because the band regarded it as too poppy. So it was the surprise encore last time whilst this time around it sounds like a mainstay of the set. (Incidentally the original demo version can be found here.)

Even more obscure was the post-TV21 song 'Swimming' which was supposed to be a Norman solo single (with backing from Ally and Neil) but which was never released. It fits in perfectly here.

Then there's the B-sides. 'End of a Dream' was always one of my favourites but 'Shattered By It All', from the debut single, is a surprise choice for encore which works because it's a strong song.

Another unlikely resurrection is final single 'All Join Hands'. Its recorded version featuring piano and strings was never going to be reproduced live for reasons both technical and aesthetic. But the quality of the song shines through in the 2 guitars and bass format (even though there's still no middle 8!).

Perhaps in front of this audience, such unpredictability is less of a gamble than it might otherwise be but it still seems to me that this sort of risk taking is unusual in band reunions. But there's no doubt that it lends a vitality to proceedings. (and what I would give for McCulloch and Sergeant to take a similar approach to the typical Bunnymen setlist).

Even by omission, TV21 surprise. 'Ticking Away' was played in October but is nowhere to be heard tonight whilst 'Playing With Fire' is still MIA.

Less surprising was the inclusion of 'Waiting for the Drop' and 'Ideal Way of Life' both posted missing back in October. The early run of songs including these two also highlighted the importance of Neil's driving basslines to the evening.

'Something's Wrong' also made a return, upping the jangly guitar quotient of the evening, before a finish to die for of possibly their two best singles 'Snakes & Ladders' and 'On The Run'.

Some people may wonder why TV21 mean so much to me after all this time. The answer is fairly straightforward really. They come from a time when I was really just discovering rock music and it seems natural that records from that initial few years will resonate over the years or even decades. But for every record like that (such as the Bunnymen's 'Crocodiles') there are records which don't hold up (U2's 'Boy').
 

Setlist

Ambition
Waiting for the Drop
This Is Zero
Ideal Way of Life
End of a Dream
All Join Hands
The Hidden Voice
It's Me
Swimming
Something's Wrong
Snakes & Ladders
On The Run

Shattered By It All
+ 2 covers
 

TV21 definitely fall into the former category. And these 2 shows in the last few months have only enhanced their status.

In conclusion, last time around I talked about the band's enthusiasm for the show. Unlike the money making venture that was the Pixies reunion, Norman, Ally, Neil and Simon are in it purely for the music and their sheer enjoyment of playing this music again shines through even more so than last year. It's a pleasure to be on hand to witness it again.