Three of a Kind #85

Hands up everyone who remembers Astrid (the band, rather than the solo singer Williamson)? They were dead good, anyway - a sort of turn-of-the-millennium, similarly Scottish, junior version of Teenage Fanclub. Singer Willie Campbell went on to perform with the Reindeer Section and The Just Joans; Gareth Russell now plays bass with Idlewild; while drummer Neil Payne is currently in Texas (the radio-friendly pop-rock band rather than the vast U.S. state).

Astrid released three studio albums but, true to form, I lost track of them after the first, 1999's Strange Weather Lately. It was produced by Edwyn Collins and is, well, really rather good. Here're a few tracks to illustrate the point!

Astrid - High In The Morning mp3

Astrid - Redground mp3

Astrid - Boy Or Girl mp3

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: Redground reached #167 in the UK charts, while High In The Morning hit the dizzy heights of #156, proving (as if any proof were needed) that eventual chart position and quality of song go together like a fish and earmuffs.