The late ’80s and early ’90s saw a strange trend of UK power-pop bands fronted by blond bombshells:  Transvision Vamp, the Primitives, and one of the more criminally ignored, the Darling Buds.  Fronted by drop-dead knockout Andrea Lewis, the Darling Buds drew upon influences from Blondie to the Smiths and packed them all into manic, three-minutes-or-under, hook-filled gems.  It was dangerous to drive to their debut Pop Said – you were sure to get ticketed for speeding.

MTV and Modern Rock radio made a minor sensation of their debut single, “Let’s Go Round There,” (download) with its vague similarity to the Manchester sound recently made popular by the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.  The Buds were much more accessible, however, and if they had held out a few more years, they would have definitely been swept up by the alternative nation movement ushered in by Nirvana. (more…)