Sometimes, great things arise from total disasters.
Rewind to the start of 2008 and The Tailors had just completed work on the follow-up to their much acclaimed debut album Wakey Wakey. This untitled set of songs saw an alternative direction for the London based 5-piece who had all too often found themselves stuck in the 'Lodi' of the alt.country / Americana scene when all they really wanted was to sound like The Breeders and The Replacements. Disaster struck when the hard drive containing the finished album became corrupt and the entire album was lost in digital hell, forever.
Rather than re-record the whole lot again, the ever prolific Adam Killip (vocals/guitar/songwriting) scrapped the entire collection of songs and began from scratch. What followed were nine optimistic tales of hope and generosity, with enough panache and class to stand against any rock album of merit from the past few years.
Whilst Come Dig Me Up was created from the ashes of a doomed musical escapade, it is still fundamentally a happy album, says Killip: "It's all about letting go of worries - about not 'making it' as a person, losing someone or being sidelined - staying emotionally generous and good humored no matterwhat. I tried to poke fun at concepts of self-pity through poetic and musical hyperbole - dungeons, dinosaurs, cellars, and skeletal hands!"
The uplifting mood isn't just apparent in the lyrics either - Come Dig Me Up is soaked in power-pop goodness: The Shins, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and The Apples In Stereo are all realistic touchstones.
The album can be summed up with the story behind the title track. Killip explains: "Come Dig Me Up is on one level about a dinosaur making peace with its partner ahead of their imminent extinction. He apologises for his shortcomings - cold blood, tiny arms, fearsome tendencies - takes the blame for it all going to ruin, offers risky protection in the form of his teeth, and claims to be "ok now" so "come dig me up sometime". It pretty much sums up the blind optimism of the album - come and see me again and it'll all be cool."
Praise for The Tailors' debut album Wakey Wakey
“An ace blend of Will Oldham and Michael Nesmith, with its edgy tones and weirded-out lyrics, ensure this is a narcotic necessity.”
SoundsXP
“An examination of tragic flaws in a tragic world it is an admirable debut.”
Rock Feedback
“Honed to perfection"
The Morning Star
"*** stars"
Q Magazine
“A collection of songs which can make even the coldest heart melt”
Rockbeatstone
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