We All Need More Like This…

Occasional Albums Thing 086 - Thrum “Rifferama” (revisited)

The observant among you will note that I have written about this album before, here in fact, just over 2 years ago. So why then am I writing about it again ? A number of reasons spring to mind. Firstly, this wonderful record has been remastered by Thrum guitarist and songwriter Johnny Smillie (which I recently discovered is pronounced as in smiley and not, as I had always thought, like Milly with an S at the front) and re-issued by original record label Fire Records; next, that re-issue featured a bonus download album of a live set recorded in 2025 plus a newly rearranged studio take of album track “Hey Joe”; in addition, after 30+ years I got to see Thrum play live again and last but not least I don’t honestly think I impressed upon my readership (do I have a readership ?) how fucking wonderful Thrum are. So here we are again.

Thrum came riding outta Bellshill near Glasgow in that wave of Scottish bands of the early 90’s that also included Teenage Fanclub. In fact there are musical touch-points between both bands (and they are both from Bellshill). But Thrum’s USP (that’s unique selling point for those who’ve never worked in sales) was co-songwriter and singer Monica Queen, a petite Scottish jewel with a voice cooked from a recipe equal parts Joplin, Emmylou, Mahalia Jackson and Lulu, what is it with small Scottish ladies from the satellite towns of Glasgow (see also Maggie Bell) and their incredible, soulful singing voices ? And that voice is still there as was evident when we got to see them recently in Coventry on the tour to promote this re-issue.

Just Dropped In is a great record shop on the edge of Coventry city centre in a hipster-ish place called Fargo Village (there's a Phil Silvers/Captain Bilko museum there, no I don't know why either). At  times they push all the records back out of the way, set up a stage and a bar behind the counter and put gigs on, this is where we saw Thrum play. Thrum took to the stage and opened with a song I’d never heard before, “What Can I Say” a track, I’m led to believe, from a Promo only release to accompany their REALLY hard to find 2nd album, 2011’s “Elettrorama”, which I’d only heard for the first time that day. I turned to Deb as the song came to an end and said that if this were a new band you’d never heard before and that was the first song they played you’d be hooked, which I most certainly was, and they’d opened with an outtake…a move of Springsteen-esque bravado !

I’m not gonna go through “Rifferama” blow by blow, you can do that at the link above, except to note that Thrum played 9 of the albums 10 tracks (missing only “Won’t Be Long” which is a shame as it’s one of my favourites, so I’ve included it for you down there at the bottom). Monica’s voice was breathtaking, Johnny’s guitar screeched and slashed and conjured the spirit of Shakey and Crazy Horse. I’ll honestly be lucky if I see a better gig this year.

You can buy this re-issue from the band’s Bandcamp page (https://thrumband.bandcamp.com/album/rifferama), LP or download (they may still have copies at Just Dropped In which is somewhere you should visit if you’re around Coventry). I bought it again and some of you may note I haven’t included the usual picture of the record at hand playing, seems I’ve entered the realms of those truly strange record collectors who not only buy multiple copies of the same record but, in some cases, don’t even play them so this one is staying unplayed ! Can I urge you to go ahead and buy this record and support this fantastic band as then we might even see a re-release of that elusive 2nd album, “Elettrorama”, if we’re lucky…oh, and another tour.

Won’t Be Long - https://youtu.be/HxIvokX9GoY?si=p5F8-oBJQAwiNhDS