Rip It Up and Start Again Part II
Since I’ve been reading the excellent SIMON REYNOLDS book about post-punk circa 1978-1984, I thought that I would list some favorite records of mine from the artists who are covered in the book. These are some great records that didn’t make it onto last week’s list.
A testament to what can be achieved through what the late great JOHN PEEL called “inspired amateurism”, this debut features the great single “Fairytale in the Supermarket” as well as a mutated cover of THE KINKS gender-bending hit “Lola”. Featuring GINA BIRCH on vocals and guitar and classically-trained VICKY ASPINALL’s violin squeals, this is music that’s almost on the edge of collapse without quite falling apart, creating a tense but rewarding listening experience.
This is minimalism at its finest. Utilizing just ALISON STATTON’s soft, almost-whispered vocals along with STUART MOXHAM’s barely audible guitar and more prominent organ along with his brother PHIL MOXHAM on bass, this drummer-less trio recorded this 1980 album and it still sounds like nothing else that I’ve ever heard. OK perhaps that’s not completely true given that groups as diverse like EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL and SAINT ETIENNE who have combined soft female vocals with a bossa-nova feel definitely owe them a debt of gratitude, but it’s still a completely unique record. Perhaps as a direct response to many punk and post-punk’s threatening aura and over-the-top intensity, this is almost a “chill-out” record before that term existed and it’s best listened to alone and preferably through headphones.
This is SIMPLE MINDS’ finest hour. They could’ve fit into the post-punk section of the book with their early records but with this masterpiece, they were firmly entrenched (if only briefly before becoming full-blown U2-style arena-rockers with their subsequent records) in the “New Pop” movement sweeping the UK in the early ‘80s along with contemporaries such as BOW WOW WOW, THE ASSOCIATES, SCRITTI POLITTI and ADAM AND THE ANTS, all of whom are also mentioned in Rip It Up and Start Again. If their early records were influenced by the abrasiveness of early ROXY MUSIC, then this record has the sheen of early ‘80s Roxy Music albums like Flesh and Blood or even Avalon, though it’s not quite as “big” sounding.
Although some prefer their subsequent records like 1981’s bleak Faith or 1982’s even bleaker and starker Pornography, I’ve always preferred this one of those three records. In their early days, The Cure were an XTC-style herky-jerky new-wave group (albeit a great one) with darker, gothic undertones. When bassist MICHAEL DEMPSEY left after their debut Three Imaginary Boys, they overhauled their sound almost completely. They attempted to sound like an amalgam of DAVID BOWIE’s Low, VAN MORRISON’s Astral Weeks and NICK DRAKE’s Five Leaves Left, the records that ROBERT SMITH was obsessed with at the time. At first, only the punchy “Play for Today” and the UK hit single “A Forest” makes an immediate impression, but upon further listening, darker and moodier material like “M,” “At Night” and “In Your House” stand up as Cure classics. The album evokes a barren landscape and is best experienced late at night. This album not only changed The Cure’s sound, but guided the course of their entire career afterwards.
Although I also love their first two albums Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here as well as parts of their less consistent third album Porcupine, my favorite album in the Bunnymen canon is this 1984 masterpiece. The first Bunnymen album (and one of the first ‘80s pop albums) to feature heavy orchestration, it jettisons much of the aggression and the funkiness of their earlier efforts in favor of epic anthems like “Seven Seas,” “The Killing Moon” and “Silver”. My favorites, though, are the lesser known gems like “Crystal Days” and “My Kingdom”.
This amazing box set encapsulates just about every phase of the amazing James Chance’s career including such stellar albums as Buy the Contortions and Off White along with rarities like the “Theme from Grotzi Elvis” EP, making it an absolute must-have.
Although most of this excellent group’s studio material remains hopelessly out-of-print even in the UK, I still recommend this greatest hits collection as the best introduction to the different facets of Orange Juice’s career. It ranges from the excellent minimalist jangle-pop found on their debut You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever to the Afro-funk leanings of “Rip It Up”, a Top 10 UK hit and the song that gave the book its title, to the excellently-titled “Salmon Fishing in New York”.
Although most fans prefer their first album In the Flat Field or their second album Mask, my favorite Bauhaus studio album has always been this unfairly-maligned 1982 set. Perhaps I have a soft spot for it because this was the first album of theirs that I ever heard. Starting off with a ferocious cover of BRIAN ENO’s “Third Uncle”, side one is nearly flawless with excellent songs like “Spirit,” “Swing the Heartache” and “Silent Hedges”. Side two is why this album seems to be a love it or hate it affair and I’m definitely in the “love” camp here. The first three songs are a three part saga called “The Three Shadows” and then the album concludes with the majestic “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything” and cut-up/collage-fest called “Exquisite Corpse”. Personally I love it but I can see how others wouldn’t.
I just discovered that this album is long out-of-print and that’s a shame because it’s an absolute classic. An unbelievable assault of sludge and noise over misanthropic and negative yet also life-affirming lyrics on such songs as “Ever” and “Life is Cheap” proved that punk didn’t have to be played fast to be effective and to get its point across. If you crave noise and repetition and you’ve never heard this band, I strongly suggest that you find a copy.
The Banshees’ finest hour, this 1981 tour-de-force encapsulated all that they’d been working towards up until that point by combining the noisier aspects of their first two albums with the more melodic sensibility found on their previous album Kaleidoscope (the first album to feature amazing ex-MAGAZINE guitarist JOHN MCGEOCH and drummer BUDGIE). “Into the Light” and “Sin of My Heart” have always been my favorites on here along with the amazing single “Spellbound”. That single, along with “Voodoo Dolly,” “Halloween,” “Head Cut,” and “Night Shift” almost single-handedly defined goth-rock’s themes from that point on.
