Any Trouble - Where Are All The Nice Girls?

Expanded reissue from a band once touted as the next big thing

Back in 1980, weekly music press cover stories perhaps heaped too many expectations on Any Trouble, to the point where the backlash started before the end of Side Two of this sprightly debut. Bespectacled lead singer and guitarist Clive Gregson endured endless comparisons to Elvis Costello, and it’s fair to say a sizeable chunk of …Nice Girls owed a debt to the poppier elements of My Aim Is True or This Year’s Model.

In truth, Any Trouble borrowed heavily from a wealth of classic harmony pop groups (The Hollies, in particular), crafting ever-socatchy singalongs with hook-laden choruses in Second Choice, Romance and Foolish Pride. These were simple but effective songs about boys and girls falling in and out of love. None of it ever threatened to change the world, but invariably made it a nicer place to look at.

Bonus tracks include the sprint-paced jangle of debut single Yesterday’s Love, and a morethan- passable stab at Bruce Springsteen’s Growing Up. While the original LP may not have been one of Stiff’s biggest sellers, today it’s a worthy selection to spearhead the first wave of records heralding the label’s relaunch.

Stiff | CDSEEZ 25

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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