Hometown: Carmarthen, Wales
Formed: mid 80s

Members:
Euros Childs -vocals, all manner of keyboards/organs/pianos
Megan Childs -violin, vocals
Euros Rowlands -percussion
Richard James -bass
Gorwel Owen -keyboards/organs/pianos

Notes:
That rare beast -- a Welsh bilingual psychedelic folk/pop group of indeterminate membership -- Gorky's released Patio, and Tatay on Welsh indie label Ankst prior to 1995's Bywyd Time, which started to draw a lot of attention to them and the Welsh music scene. Mercury Records snapped them up and released the Introducing... comp in the U.S. in the same year, followed by Barafundle in 1997. Fontana released the album in Britain, where it was an indie No. 1. Despite a strong cult following and consistently excellent reviews, Gorky's were dropped by their label in Britain after Gorky 5. Guitarist John Lawrence soon departed to pursue other projects, but the band rebounded with Spanish Dance Troupe, even securing some airplay for the album's title track on Britain's Radio 1.

We know Gorky's are sad. Yet notwithstanding their label's pink slip and the exit of a key member, stuffing an LP full of such moving melancholy wasn't really fair. I'm getting all misty over here.

Those familiar with Gorky's swear by their complete mastery of melody - like no other contemporary group, Euros Childs and company are willing to live and die by the strength of their tunes. If this boldness makes them an important band, it also raises the question of whether, six albums into the game, Gorky's are capable of more than just another set of pretty songs.

Which is where the sadness comes in. More than any previous Gorky's album, Spanish Dance Troupe comes armed with an emotional purpose. Fiddles mourn, melodies descend and acoustic guitars carefully pluck their way around the spirit of Nick Drake. "Freckles" is a devastating love song from the ghost of childhood, and "Faraway Eyes" is an unapologetic Fleetwood-Mac-go-country MOR heartbreaker. Best of all is "The Humming Song." Framed by piano and guitar straight out of "Let It Be," its refrain of "This is the humming song/you sing it when you're on your own" puts the lump in this album's throat.

Gorky's always awkward relationship with rock 'n' roll should suffer in this setting, but doesn't. "Poodle Rockin'" is a genuinely cute throwaway about playing with the dog, and "Desolation Blues" finds Euros making peace between an uptempo boogie and the prevailing mood. "Seen the sun set too many times before," he sings. "Sad songs are here to stay."