When I heard that Stephen Ryan (ex Stars of Heaven and The Revenants) was releasing new material I was excited. A year or so after hearing about it I finally heard it when the actor Aidan Gillen played a song on the radio when he was standing in for Tom Dunne. He linked it up with an Alex Chilton cover of a Seeds song - I Can't Seem to Make You Mine.
My own history with Stephen Ryan has a very similar trajectory. I was a big fan of The Stars of Heaven - see them at No. 3 in my favourite albums list. Their version of Alex Chilton's Hey, Little Child was the gateway drug that spiralled out of control into a life threatening Big Star habit. And to this day the Stars of Heaven remain the band that I saw live more than any other than Luggage and The Knocking Shop, both of whom I was involved in.
When I heard The Fourteenth Floor I was reminded of the excitement of those days and of another of the bands that I had stumbled across at the same time. High as they went The 13th Floor Elevators had never got this high.
Well, no more dilly dallying Here it is! Full of garage power and pop subtlety it shows that Stephen Ryan is still connected whatever it is that makes the familiar new over and over again. Horses of a different colour indeed.
Here's a little taste of Stephen's past for those who don't know, and indeed for those who do. It still means the same...
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