The Fortuna POP! AllStars - You Can Hide Your Love Forever c/w Thus

After nearly 25 years and over 200 releases, Sean Price has decided to save what sanity he has left and close shop on one of our favourite indie imprints, home to effervescent fizzy pop from the likes of Allo Darlin’, Comet Gain, Would-Be-Goods, Tender Trap, and Primitives. Signing female-fronted artists to his label was something Price picked up from Sarah, one of his biggest inspirations. Members of over 20 bands from the Fortuna POP! stable contribute to this Live Aid-style bon voyage, a cover of Comet Gain’s 2001 classic that eschews the melancholic vibe of the original for a typically upbeat slice of glorious pop. It’s a jingle jangle masterpiece that sends the label out on top, a fitting farewell to one of our best-loved cottage imprints. Hopefully, most of the bands will find new homes elsewhere and continue releasing the music Price has championed over the last quarter century.

The flip (‘Thus…’) is an unfortunate throwaway which nicks part of Bob Geldof’s narration from the ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ recording. A rambling, drunken bit of nonsense, the dribbling narrator has the gall to criticize the label, claiming he has all the Fortuna POP! releases, but doesn’t know why he bothered because he really doesn’t care for them. What a wanker. Literally. By the time he mumbles about masturbating with a loaf of bread, I’d had way too much of this inane twit and ripped the piece of shit off the turntable. I guess this was someone’s idea of a joke, but you know what Morrissey said. Spare yourself this insulting wankfest and download the A-side. The rating reflects 10 for the A-side, 0 for the garbage on the reverse.