Performer Notes

Contains an untitled hidden track which occurs after "Animals On My Mind."
Departure Lounge: Tim Keegan, Lindsay Jamieson, Chris Anderson, Jake Kyle.
Additional personnel: Robyn Hitchcock, Simon Raymonde, Lisa O'Neill.
Personnel: Tim Keegan (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, Theremin); Chris Anderson (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, oboe, saxophone, alto saxophone, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, pump organ, keyboards, midi, vibraphone); Jake Kyle (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, trumpet, double bass, bass guitar); Lindsay Jamieson (vocals, flute, Fender Rhodes piano, Clavinet, keyboards, drums, bongos, tambourine, percussion, chimes); Lisa O'Neill (vocals); Kid Loco (guitar, acoustic guitar, tambourine, triangle); Robyn Hitchcock (guitar, slide guitar, harmonica); Simon Raymonde (wah-wah guitar).
Audio Mixers: Kid Loco; Nick Hannan.
Recording information: Blah St Studios, England (2001).
Unknown Contributor Role: Kid Loco.
The theme of Too Late to Die Young is optimism, a rare trait to be found in early 21st Century alternative pop music. Longtime Robyn Hitchcock collaborator Tim Keegan and cohorts Departure Lounge have opted for brighter pastoral pastures with producer Kid Loco, incorporating loops, samples, and space-age soundscapes amongst jangling guitars and a firm backbeat. Cuts such as "What You Have Is Good" and "I Love You" are brimming with strong harmonies that evoke British Invasion icons from Gerry & the Pacemakers to the Kinks to the Beatles before, during, and after psychedelia took root in swingin' London. Mentor Hitchcock guests on "Coke & Flakes," an after-hours blues jam that would not be out of place on a late '60s B.B. King or Buddy Guy disc. "Alone Again, And" features ex-Cocteau Twin Simon Ramonde on a track that oozes with new age folk trappings, and equally ethereal are "Silverline" and "Tubular Belgians in My Goldfield." Departure Lounge has forged an enchanting record to tune in, turn on, and drop into. ~ Tom Semioli

Professional Reviews

Q (3/02, p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A sparkling 'indie' band whose delicately layered songs recall Spiritualized without the kitchen sink arrangements or even a reflective Dandy Warhols without the cyncism..."

Alternative Press (6/02, p.82) - 7 out of 10 - "...Brilliant..."

Magnet (6-7/02, p.85) - "...A top-to-bottom masterwork..."

CMJ (4/29/02, p.4) - "...A cynicism-free, joyous celebration of song that steps outside of a dreary Brit-pop stereotype and wanders into a realm of more spiritied and carefree songwriting that oozes with originality..."

Album: Too Late to Die Young *
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Straight Line to the Kerb
2)	What You Have Is Good
3)	King King Frown
4)	I Love You
5)	Alone Again And
6)	Tubular Belgians in My Goldfield
7)	Be Good to Yourself
8)	Over the Side
9)	Coke and Flakes
10)	Silverline
11)	Animals on My Mind
12)	[Untitled Track] - (hidden track)

Album: Too Late to Die Young *
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Straight Line to the Kerb
2)	What You Have Is Good
3)	King King Frown
4)	I Love You
5)	Alone Again And
6)	Tubular Belgians in My Goldfield
7)	Be Good to Yourself
8)	Over the Side
9)	Coke and Flakes
10)	Silverline
11)	Animals on My Mind
12)	[Untitled Track] - (hidden track)