Bubble - 'How 'Bout This?' (Basement Boy Records) 2000
 
Awful name and certainly not a classic album in the true sense of the word, so why have I ended up writing this and reminding/sharing this with you?

It stems from my love of Faster Pussycat. Faster Pussycat to me have always been the outsiders, the sleazy, dirty band that you just can't help but want to watch let alone be a part of and, when the band started to implode, I for one knew that I'd continue that fascination regardless. I'd buy promo stuff, frame signed posters and buy anything they remotely touched which leads us to my purchase of Bubble's 'How 'Bout This?' from Sunderland's ChangesOne outlet many, many years ago.
 
Pussycats Brent Muscat and Eric Stacy joined Vixen's Share Ross (nee Pederson) and husband Bam (of Dogs D'amour fame) to create Bubble. This effort certainly didn't sell many units, maybe not surprisingly to be honest but there are some diamond cuts on here that may just have you searching it out on eBay or at some record fair.

This was a Bam and Share project - all music and lyrics were co-written together (strange considering Muscat's previous successes that he didn't do anything other than play guitar) and both Bam and Share produced, engineered and designed the whole thing (pink album covers are never going to sell a lot in the rock world. Uber Fact. Kinda) but this was a labour of love for the happy couple. Now I've mentioned the cover, I think the whole problem with this album was the packaging of it - the name Bubble doesn't scream anything ROCK whatsoever and the cover did them no favours, but this is far from a pop rock throwaway project. Although a bit slap dash at times, this really does scream sleazy, dirty, independent ROCK and that's why we're here if I remember correctly?

Share's voice could strip a man naked in 10 seconds flat and although it's flawed (much like Keith Richards' vocal delivery style  - it's got the rough around the edges, "I've lived life to the max"  feel to it that only adds to the realness of it all. 'Shake' kicks it all off and instantly you know this isn't some smoothly produced song to appease the record labels. 'Independently Wasted' is probably the most pop sounding song on here and I'm sure that if stripped back and remixed, it could shift some units for some Simon Cowell-like fodder - that's just proof that they were trying a bit of everything on this disc and proof that they could write a tune. 'Slut Motorchopper' sounds like a Runaways track which is always a cool little bonus and the industrial tinged 'Drug' must have had Muscat thinking "Oh God, not more industrial. I can't escape it!"

Throughout the album there is always a sense of DIY style "Fuck You" attitude - 'Sex Sell$' is a prime example and whilst Shirley Manson and Garbage try and ooze sex appeal, Bubble just ram it down your throat whether you want it or not. It shouldn't be a surprise that this is quite as good as it is with the style and CVs of the band members involved. Marketed a little differently at the time and they may have troubled the press and fans just a little bit more than they did. Bubble carried on regardless and recorded whenever they wanted to or whenever they were sober - all albums having some decent cuts on them,the class always outshining the mediocre.

The fact is that Share Ross in particular is much much more than the stereotyped opinion of 'that bird from Vixen' - a super talented classically trained musician, a rock CV of high calibre, a knitting book author (I shit you not, Uber readers); she once auditioned for Barry Manilow's band and is even a motivational speaker - Not bad but not as good as the fact she still kicks rock 'n' roll ass to this day and Bubble are merely a great reminder.

Enjoy.

Random facts that you don't need to know;
 
Bubble won the John Lennon Song Writing Song Of The Year award for their song 'Sparkle Star'.

Contraband, the 'supergroup' Share was in with Michael Schenker, Tracii Guns and Bobby Blotzer, hit the US charts at a staggeringly low number 187!