The Silencers - A Letter from St. Paul

The Silencers. The band that should have been. It's not like they were all over the radio, although I think I've retrofitted a memory of hearing "Painted Moon" on the radio - but I'm pretty sure it was just on a mix tape.

It was the cover I found enticing. A simple white jacket with wee little black and white cut outs of the band on the bottom right corner. It looked intriguing, and it was also in a discount bin. Ah, the liquidation bin ... there was a warehouse that specialized in selling off store inventory from failed businesses and one day a couple of very large tables appeared that were full of CDs ... new CDs and they were cheap. Which was good because back in '87 my purchasing habit was insatiable which was fun for the ears and hard on the wallet. I can't remember how many discs I got from those disorganized tables but it was a lot ... the only one I truly remember getting is A Letter From St. Paul. Partly because of "Painted Moon" and because I'd bought two copies, one for my brother to go with the large boom box I'd bought him for his birthday from the same store.

I was buying a lot of stuff around this time, and I'm be the first to admit many really good albums only got a cursory play while I listened for standout tracks. Sometimes an album would be good but nothing was standing out and it would get shelved. When I put on A Letter from St. Paul the album opened with "Painted Moon" a song that immediately caught my attention, and quite honestly is the best song by far on the album. A close second would be the oddly structured semi-instrumental title track. Both of those songs would appear on a number of mix tapes, but it was that first song that made me a fan of the band.

It was a bit double edged as well as once I'd gleaned what I viewed at the time as the best songs on the album I didn't play the entire CD that often. Which is a shame as there was more going on and I didn't give the songs enough time to settle in. It's the way it is, and I can't go back and change it now - and honestly I wasn't wrong in the tunes I mined from the album, it's just there was another layer just beneath the glittering surface that was as satisfying.

When I found the record, I almost put it back - after all, I have it on CD and I'm getting a bit tight for space ... that's what the logical me said, the more obsessive me just put it on the little pile of stuff I'd found while looking through a new shop while on holiday. Holiday purchases are different apparently.

I've probably listened to this more now as an album than I ever did when it was new. I'm sure there's a bit of me wanting to like it, but honestly it's more than simple wish fulfillment, it's an easy album to like. To me the combination of Jimmie O'Neill's distinctive and emotionally charged vocals and Cha Burns guitar playing was what made the band's sound so appealing. It's hard to describe Cha's style of playing - he wasn't overly flashy, but he was a sonic artist who knew how to make a song pop - his playing was equal parts ethereal and shimmery. He was a special player, and was so understated and at the same time his fingerprints were all over everything. 

I was sad when I read that he'd passed away in 2007 just a few days after his 50th birthday. Cha had once described himself as the "forgotten man of Scottish rock" which just isn't true. There are still people who remember.

The Silencers would release quite a few records, and I would snatch them up as they came out, mining the best parts and there were some great songs on those albums. I'll admit that when I picked up their 1999 album Receiving and didn't see Cha's name in the credits I didn't really give it a chance. I may go and pull it down off and give it a spin.

This has been a lot of fun going down memory lane and taking the side streets to rediscover the songs I'd forgotten about. It's one of the things I enjoy most about listening to music.