The Boo Radleys reveal a vinyl reissue to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their nineties genre-hopping masterpiece “Giant Steps”.

NME’s 1993 Album Of The Year, named in the Top 20 of Pitchfork’s The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time and lauded as one of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, The Boo Radleys’ classic album, Giant Steps will be reissued, on special remastered vinyl almost 30 years to the day since its original release. The band’s genre-ambiguous and widely-acclaimed masterpiece will become available to fans old and new.

Only the second of their five albums to be released on the legendary Creation Records, at a time when label mates including Slowdive, Teenage Fanclub and Ride were also casting long shadows across the indie landscape, pre-the Oasis hurricane making landfall at the label, Giant Steps broke into the canon of great, experimental rock albums soon after its release. It’s first single, Lazarus, issued as a standalone release in November 1992, its blend of brass and guitar-squall and acutely introspective lyrics, gave a hint of what was to come and remains lodged in the band’s most-loved and best-known songs. For the 2023 reissue, Lazarus’ 12” version appears on the all-formats track listing for the first time.

Recorded at London’s Protocol Studios, where Carr and Brown took on self-production duties with support from engineer, Andy Wilkinson, The Boo Radleys set about responding to their shared sense of dissatisfaction with their 1992 album, Everything’s Alright Forever. Free to do as they please, they set about making a record of complete artistic freedom, bringing in reggae (Upon 9th And Fairchild), dance (Rodney King) and irresistible, warped indie pop (Barney And Me) influences into the studio and, without limitation, weaved them into the satisfyingly complex fabric of Giant Steps. Snapshot incidentals, intermissions and between-radio-station static intro/outros added to the sense of unrestrained exploration.

Writing about the album, drummer, Cieka reflected on Giant Steps, stating: “Creation loved it, people's reactions seemed really positive. I do listen to it from time to time and still find great moments I’d forgotten about. I think it stands up pretty well today. I'm always left feeling happy to have been a part of the record.”

"Wow, now THIS is what music can be!" – The Quietus on Giant Steps.
“It deserved the accolades and praise heaped on its shoulders.” – The Line of Best Fit.
“A masterwork...” – Pitchfork.

TRACK LISTING

A1 I Hang Suspended
A2 Upon 9th & Fairchild
A3 Wish I Was Skinny
A4 Leaves And Sand
B1 Butterfly McQueen
B2 Rodney King (Song For Lenny Bruce)
B3 Thinking Of Ways
B4 Barney (…and Me)
C1 Spun Around
C2 If You Want It, Take It
C3 Best Lose The Fear
C4 Take The Time Around
C5 Lazurus
D1 One Is For
D2 Run My Way Runway
D3 I’ve Lost The Reason
D4 The White Noise Revisited

CD BONUS TRACKS
18 Lazarus (Saint Etienne Remix)
19 Rodney King (Saint Etienne Remix)
20 Peachy Keen

The Boo Radleys have announced details of a brand-new studio album, as well as the 30th Anniversary reissue of their lauded, landmark 1993 album, Giant Steps. Given encouragement by the tremendous reception of last year’s live return and first album in more than two decades, the three-piece return quickly to release Seeker, the first cut from June’s new long-player, Eight.

Marking perhaps their busiest ever year in 2023, the band makes up for lost time having been missing from the musical map since 1998 prior to reforming in 2021 and releasing their seventh album, Keep On With Falling, last March. Keen to celebrate the past as well as the present, the announcement that Giant Steps, the Creation Records album that, for many, cemented their legacy as one of Britain’s greatest yet unsung bands will delight fans keen to complete their collections.

Cherished, critically acclaimed and confrontational in its genre-ambiguity, the album will re-emerge on vinyl, CD and digital formats later this year.

Bringing their story to the present, The Boo Radleys new single, Seeker, introduces the band’s eighth album, set for release on Fri 9 June 2023 on the band’s own Boostr label. Where last year’s album, joyful in tone yet brooding with heavyweight lyrical themes, came together as an exploration of the isolated ideas of each member, Eight is, according to vocalist and co-songwriter, Sice formed of songs recorded “purposefully to appear together on an album.” Before adding, “There is also a greater depth of integration, which means that it’s more difficult to tell which member of the band the song originated with.”

Reflecting on Seeker, the new album’s opening track, written about leaning on those we trust to share life’s highs and lows, bassist and co-songwriter, Tim Brown says: “This song started out as a three-chord synth pop tune and mutated into a brassy bop courtesy of trumpeter, Nick Etwell. The electric guitar flourishes were added by Louis Smith before Sice added layers of backing vocals which help drive the song along and bring it to its joyful conclusion.”

TRACK LISTING

CD & LP
1. Seeker
2. The Unconscious
3. Hollow
4. Skeleton Woman
5. Sorrow (I Just Want To Be Free)
6. Sometimes I Sleep
7. Swift’s Requiem
8. The Way I Am
9. A Shadow Darker Than The Rest
10. Wash Away That Feeling
11. When I Find It Hard
12. Now That’s What I Call Obscene
13. How Was I To Know

2CD
1. Seeker (Full Version)
2. Skeleton Woman (Extended Version)
3. Sometimes I Sleep (Alternative Version)
4. A Shadow Darker Thank The Rest (Piano Version)
5. The Hollow (Alternative Version)
6. I Won't Be There With You
7. That Ain't A Way Of Life
8. Now I Know
9. All Thing Must Pass - Live At The Cavern 2022
10. Spaniard - Live At The Cavern 2022
11. Find The Answer Within - Live At The Cavern 2022

Responding to the warm welcome that greeted news of their reformation earlier this year, The Boo Radleys release their first album of all-new music in 24 years, the 11-track Keep On With Falling on their own Boostr label.

Rising from cult-shoegaze band to the very forefront of British guitar pop inside one, eventful decade, The Boo Radleys began their new chapter in July by surprise releasing the single, A Full Syringe And Memories Of You. Followed by a four-track EP of the same name, memories of the band’s glittering, nineties past remained present in bright melodies crashing into effusive choruses, yet new, altogether less sunny lyrical preoccupations were evident.

Formed of original members, Sice, Tim Brown and Rob Cieka, the 11-songs on Keep On With Falling are the first to be developed by The Boo Radleys as a three-piece. Having recorded six of their seven, previous albums as a ‘hey day’ Creation Records band, working in expensive studios for long periods with cost no issue, the band grabbed the opportunity to test the qualities of modern, DIY recording. Through file sharing and their own, democratic production processes, what emerged was, according to the band, an album where songwriting ideas shone through, free of the static of ego and excess.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It's always interesting to hear what massive bands who haven't been around for a while do when they return, and one of my favourite outcomes is exactly this. An LP that shines with optimism and a renewed interest in that which endeared them to so many in the first place. Wonderfully written and full of great melodies, a great return.

TRACK LISTING

LP
A1. I've Had Enough I'm Out
A2. Keep On With Falling
A3. All Along
A4. I Say A Lot Of Things
A5. Tonight
A6. A Full Syringe And Memories Of You
B1. Call Your Name
B2. Here She Comes Again
B3. You And Me
B4. I Can't Be What You Want Me To Be
B5. Alone Together

CD
1. I've Had Enough I'm Out (Album Version)
2. Keep On With Falling
3. All Along
4. I Say A Lot Of Things
5. Tonight
6. A Full Syringe And Memories Of You (Album Version)
7. Call Your Name
8. Here She Comes Again
9. You And Me
10. I Can’t Be What You Want Me To Be
11. Alone Together

2CD
1. I’ll Put The Bars Around My Heart - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
2. Thieves Like Us - New Order Cover (previously Unreleased)
3. All Along - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
4. Tonight - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
5. I Can’t Be What You Want Me To Be - Piano Version (previously Unreleased)
6. Alone Together - Alternative Version (previously Unreleased)
7. See It Through (previously Released Digitally On The “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” EP)
8. Life Is Getting Better (previously Released Digitally On The “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” EP)
9. I’ll Put The Bars Around My Heart (previously Released Digitally On The “A Full Syringe And Memories Of You” EP)