Chapterhouse Revisits “Whirlpool" LP

Shoegaze legends have their debut reissued.

By Blurt Staff

Raise your hands, all you lapsed shoegazers: on April 27 Whirlpool: The Original Recordings by Chapterhouse, one of the original leading lights of the shoegaze movement, arrives via Britain's Space Age Recordings label. As any fan will tell you, Chapterhouse records have either been shoddily packaged as reissues without the involvement of the band or simply gone out of print for ages and in some instances change hands for big bucks on eBay nowadays.

This reissue of the original Whirlpool recordings (from VHF Studios Rugby, Sawmills Cornwall, Stoneroom Studios London and Refuge in Reading) will feature three extra tracks, including the never before released 'Thrasher' and longer/alternate mixes of 'Something More', 'Rain' and 'Guilt'. It'll be in both physical and digital formats.

Peers of Loop and Spacemen 3 and hailing from Reading in the late ‘80s, Chapterhouse, as the legend goes, was in no hurry to become rock stars: they rehearsed for well over a year before committing anything to demo for record companies. Eventually signing with BMG imprint Dedicated, they released Whirlpool in 1991 and uickly reached the top of their game with their peak arguably being a performance following Nirvana at the ‘91 Reading Festival.

True to form, they took their time recording a followup, 1993's Blood Music, which was followed by a slew of DJ remixes from the album, but by then much of their momentum had been squandered and, unable to break through in the States either, they eventually disbanded. Members moved on to Slowdive, Air Cuba, Inner Sleeve and Bio.com.

In 1996 a comprehensive Chapterhouse overview was released, the 2-CD Rownderbout.

Here then, the Scene That Celebrates Itself revisits one of its acknowledged classics. With My Bloody Valentine treading the boards anew in 2009 would it be too much to ask for a Chapterhouse reunion? We think not! Watch for a review of the reissue very soon....

Track Listing:

1. Breather
2. Pearl
3. Autosleeper
4. Treasure
5. Falling Down
6. April
7. Guilt
8. If You Want Me
9. Something More (ambient version)
10. Rain (alternative version)
11. Thrasher
12. Guilt (long version)