So! The interviews

CROWDED HOUSE WITH ATTITUDE!

Former FM duo return with a summery new sound

With tongue firmly in cheek, Steve Overland announces: "I don't want to be Paul Rodgers anymore, I want to be Neil Finn." Since the demise of the UK scene veterans FM,

Overland is keen to put the past behind him and is now

embracing a new style of music that his former drumming

cohort Pete Jupp - also formerly of FM -

describes as "less Crowd of Thorns, more Crowded House."

"Eleven years is a long time, and as much as FM tried to make each album different, that style of songwriting

wasn't coming naturally anymore," explains Steve. "Japan kept saying, "We want more of this heavy AOR," and my heart

wasn't in it. So we all parted amicably, and everyone's doing well. We all knew it was time, all it needed was someone to admit it."

So Terraplane's Danny, Luke and `Arry - now with

Thunder, of course - are the last survivors of an 80's

Melodic Rock scene that sank like the Titanic, consigning

Tobruk, Shy and Airrace to a watery grave.

"All power to Thunder for surviving all those musical fads," Steve says. "People had high hopes for FM, too, and for a while it looked like we were gonna be the English version of Bon Jovi, but when it doesn't happen you just have to put it behind you."

"If your third album comes out on a major label and doesn't go through the roof, you're over," agrees Jupp.

"FM thought we'd be really clever and walk out after the

second," grins Steve, referring to the band's decision to leave Epic after 1989's `Tough It Out'. A year later, it was `Why did we do that, then?!'"

Overland and Jupp have now formed So!, and those days seem a million light years ago. "It's great to sing songs with melodies and hooklines so strong that are so strong you don't have to pad them out with `Wooaaoo-woaa!'." says Steve. "Neil Finn's one of the greatest songwriters this

century, so to be compared to him is an honour. Anyone

asking what our new band sounds like, it's Crowded House with attitude."

So!'s debut album `Brass Monkey' is a favourite of the Classic Rock office - a vibrant collection of colourful

unforgettable tunes like `Baby Blue', the sultry Blues of `This Time' and perhaps the most Crowded House

influenced tune of all, `Bittersweet'. Amazingly, the

albums only available in Japan at present, after So!

severed ties with Edel following distribution difficulties with their debut single, `Baby Blue'.

"What's the point in releasing a single and then not putting it into the shops?" fumes Jupp. "We're now selling them through our web site". (www.soweb.force9.co.uk)

"If we were trying to get `Aphrodisiac 2' off the ground I wouldn't care quite so much, but this is a quality, modern sounding, competitive record," frowns the bemused

Overland. "You'd understand if there hadn't been one

enquiry about the single, but a guy from Record Collector

recently got in touch because so many people had written in. Anyway, tell people not to buy it on Japanese import - we're confident the right deal will come along. If it doesn't, we'd rather not release it here than let some poxy little label have it and waste it…."

Classic Rock Magazine (Nov. 1998)