Monday, April 26, 2004  

I once wore red-denim jeans on stage when I played in a rock&roll band. There are photos of me in red pants. I can't deny my red-pants era. But I can place the blame on the person who influenced me to wear red denim: Piotr "Pete" Fijalkowski, the lead singer and songwriter in Adorable. Oh how I wish I still had my red jeans. I think Jack White would pay me some hard Cold Mountain cash for them.

You may have noticed in the photos above that Pete Adorable is in fact wearing white jeans (and jacket), not red, but don't stress me on that. I got the colors I could: brown, green, and red. If only I had white jeans today. I think Jack White would pay me some hard Cold Mountain II: Loretta's Story cash for them.

Like so many Brit bands, Adorable exploded onto the indie scene in the early '90s by running their mouths and producing glammy shoegaze rock. It was so much fun to read Melody Maker (r.i.p.) and NME back in the day (probably still is), because every band was going to be the next biggest thing evah---both by their own volition and by a spazzy writer's overwrought claims. I loved it.

After Adorable had minor success with the kickass singles "Sunshine Smile, "I'll Be Your Saint," and "Sistine Chapel Ceiling" (and to a lesser extent, "Homeboy"), their debut album, Against Perfection, came out and did OK. I saw them on this tour, and they were great. They acted like they owned the world and yet they barely owned their white jeans and funeral suits.

But this was 1993, and their record label, Creation, was just about experience a massive meltdown with their U.S. distribution deal and owner Alan McGhee was on the verge of a breakdown. Plus, the fickle Brit press had already decided Adorable was passe. It didn't help that Adorable's second album, Fake, was a mediocre effort at best, and the band busted up soon after its release because Creation dropped them.

Pete and his brother Krzyz Fijalkowski (formerly of the Bardots, who released a good album and some singles on Che about the same time as Adorable hit) joined forces and formed Polak, which has released two albums on One Little Indian. They're OK, but the bros have yet to equal their music from way back when. Polak is now on hold, Krzyz retired as a rocker (and amped up as a visual artist; he did all of the Bardot's covers, and he's good), and Pete is doing a solo album. Good on ya, Petey. Me and my red pants will follow you wherever you go.

Check out Handsome Pete's nice site.
And visit Polak's home. (And yes, it's pronounced po-lock so don't feel bad.)
And then go to these two Adorable fan sites---here and here.

And for the real reason why you're here today, you can get a whole slew of Adorable MP3s from right here.

Posted by CP | Link |

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