‘My Dark Places’ is the first album from The Television Personalities in eleven years. After being on the missing list for quite a few years, & even presumed dead, the remarkable Daniel Treacy finally made contact in the summer of 2004, whilst serving a prison sentence on a boat, so I suppose you could call ‘My Dark Places’ his triumphant comeback album or an insane rave from the grave, either way, one things for sure, there’s definitely moments of genius here. The opening ‘Special Chair’ is a psychedelic wig out about ‘a single mum in a council slum – and her parents say he’s such a fuckinâ waster’. The current single ‘All The Young Children On Crack – All the young children on smack’ is up next, with chilling similarities to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’. Now we know that most TTP songs have got a sense of humour, but ‘Sick Again’ will leave you in floods of tears with it’s desperate honesty. ‘Lost the plot, didn’t know what I had, I get sick again’. ‘Ex-Girlfriend Club’ contains a very scary drunken take on Althea & Donna’s ‘Uptown Top Ranking’, a bit like Mike Skinner having a really bad trip. On the other hand ‘Velvet Underground’ is a hilarious boogie woogie karaoke , bit of a Jools Holland piss take, with the all important sarcastic muso lyrics, ‘It’s the eighth mystery of the world I’ve found, how did the Velvet Underground get that sound’. ‘You Kept Me Waiting Too Long’ is house music for the ugly. I could go on & on, all 16 songs have got something a bit special. ‘My Dark Places’ is The Television Personalities bigger, better & back at the top of their game.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: DEAN THATCHER