“The Lost UK Jewels Vol.2” ; PEROUX – Wheels Keep Turnin’ *EXCLUSIVE*

Here’s another volume from the great “The Lost UK Jewels” series, this Vol.2 featuring one of my favorite bands from the 80s British underground scene; PEROUX. “Wheels Keep Turnin'” is the 5-piece only official EP on appeared on vinyl, and what a fantastic slice of classy AOR it is. Here’s augmented with an unreleased track plus the band’s original 4-track demo.
A Limited Edition of 500 copies already out of print, PEROUX’s “Wheels Keep Turnin” is fan-damn-tastic release, a must have for all Eighties AOR maniacs.

Founded in the mid-Eighties, PEROUX tried to etch out a career in the wimpwire / melodic hard rock British scene during the last years of that decade.
Promoted and recommended by SHY / Tony Mills, along with the likes of After Hours, Briar, Midnight Blue, Moritz, etc, they were among a bunch of bands hovering in the 2nd division without getting the big break.
From London, the band no doubt saw the success of other British exports all signed to major labels at the time, such as Virginia Wolf, FM or SHY itself.
A crime, because “Wheels Keep Turnin´” is a great miniLP, and PEROUX, great group of musicians.

Speaking about FM, Peroux’s style / sound is a mixture of them with a bit of SHY plus some American AOR acts.
Starting out with “Summertime Memories”, this one is very American sounding, indeed a ‘summertime’ AOR number not unlike FM hits on their ‘Indiscreet’ album. Very nice fluffy keyboards and a feel-good vibe. Nick Simmons has warm, sweet vocals, very British.
“Midnight Princess” is an extremely melodic semi-midtempo where the guitars are noticeably down in the mix to give more room to the harmonies. This is a great tune with all the ’80s ‘mid-paced’ atmosphere.

Just love the title track “Wheels Keep Turnin´”. This is the kind of keyboard-driven AOR I die for. Killer pre-chorus (awesome) and a dreamy main chorus on this one. The guitar/keys mid-section interplay is simply wonderful.
Last track ballad “Susannah” is definitely Americanized, in sound and style, reminding you many US bands of the mid-Eighties which titled some of their songs with a Woman name.

“Wheels Keep Turnin´” is a beautiful 4-track mini-LP from a band who deserved better luck. Keyboards are really predominant on this recording, not strange because it is produced by Procul Harum keyboarder Mathew Fisher, and one of the founder members Matt Haslett used to play ivory on another UK group; Snowblind.
There’s a very welcomed, previosly unreleased track, the very melodic “Lost Love”, and the original demo with some different arrangements.
PEROUX “Wheels Keep Turnin´” is a real Gem, don’t miss this!

Only at 0dayrox

01 – Summertime Memories
02 – Midnight Princess
03 – Wheels Keep Turnin’
04 – Susannah
05 – Lost Love (unreleased track)
06 – Summertime Memories (Demo 1988)
07 – Midnight Princess (Demo 1988)
08 – Wheels Keep Turnin’ (Demo 1988)
09 – Susannah (Demo 1988)

Nick Simmons – Vocals
Sprog – Guitars, Vocals
Nigel May – Bass
Matt Haslett – Keyboards, Vocals
Steve Mercer – Drums

Out Of Print