Principles Of Pleasure - Re-Upped

I have never knowingly worried about sharing Gary Numan with my fellow travellers so I think I may-have to consider sharing more of his work on these very pages. To begin the process, only 10 years after it's release, the remastered 30th anniversary double CD edition.

The most popular of all the Gary Numan albums is undeniably 1979's The Pleasure Principle. The reasons are simple; there is not a single weak moment on the disc, it contains his worldwide No. 1 hit, "Cars," and new drummer Cedric Sharpley adds a whole new dimension with his powerful percussion work. The Pleasure Principle is also one of the first Gary Numan albums to feature true ensemble playing, especially heard within the airtight, killer groove of "Metal" (one of Numan's all-time best tracks). Starting things off with the atmospheric instrumental "Airlane," the quality of the songs gets stronger and stronger as the album progresses; "Films," "M.E.," "Observer," "Conversation," the aforementioned "Cars," and the U.K. Top Ten hit "Complex" all show Numan in top form. If you had to own just one Gary Numan album, The Pleasure Principle would be it.

After the runaway success of Tubeway Army’s ‘Are Friends Electric?’, Gary Numan went the whole hog and created a purely electronic debut solo album, ditching any traces of his punk past and cementing his place as one of England’s newest genuine superstars (a status that proved to be short lived, in hindsight) with the commercial success of ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and its most memorable single, ‘Cars’ - both of which topped the contemporaneous UK album and single charts, respectively.
It’s almost unavoidable when reviewing this 1979 outing, not to start with ‘Cars’ - such is its iconic, classic status. It’s about as perfect and memorable as a pop song could be, with every detail being a polished and catchy affair. Consider the ‘moogy’ beat, the glorious wave of synth, the sprightly bridge, or perhaps simply, Numan’s waling-like-a-banshee vocals, singing a typically paranoid of tale of a protagonist who feels “safest of all” in the shelter of his automobile; it all combines to form about as thrilling and satisfying a 4 minute pop cocktail could ever hope to be.
The record also boasts another classic, in the robotic, electro-pop brilliance taking the form of track number five; ‘M.E.’. Featuring a tune that’s not quite as sublime as the propulsive glory of ‘Cars’, yet still insanely catchy and memorable; ‘M.E.’s status and recognisability was boosted when its melody was heavily sampled by Basement Jaxx for their nonsensical hit ‘Where’s Your Head At?’, years later. It’s driving, robotic force and nervous synth backing proved to be the perfect infectious backdrop to Numan’s familiar paranoid and alienated lyrics: “Now it’s over, but there’s no-one left to see / And there’s no-one left to die / There’s only me”.
‘The Pleasure Principle’ wouldn’t be as revered as it is, if all that was worthwhile was the aforementioned couple of hits, something which the rest of the track list fortunately solidifies. Numan was an early fan of the original Ultravox line-up, whose punks with synthesisers aesthetic, coupled with singer/songwriter John Foxxs’ seeming fascination with machines and technology, rubbed off on an impressionable young Numan who would attend several of the group’s gigs around the London area. Tracks like the grinding, icy-cold ‘Metal’, and the, quite literally mechanical, ‘Engineers’, bares’ witness to this influence especially well, but the album has a predilection for robotic beats and frosty synth flitters in general.
The overall tone of the album, being as frozen, machine-like, and paranoid as it is, may wane on some listeners towards the end, and the fact that the album is a tad samey in places surely doesn’t help in its defence. Take ‘Tracks’ for example - it just doesn’t deviate enough from the areas explored on the first half of the album to seem a worthwhile excursion; and elsewhere a few other niggles are present, with 'Observer' sounding dangerously similar to 'Cars' at times, and 'Conversation' dragging its ‘blurgy’ melody on for too long. Still, they are only minor niggles, and for the most part, said tracks are still very enjoyable, just less so than more distinctive numbers like the nervous, blur of 'Airlane', or the menacingly grim 'Films'.
‘The Pleasure Principle’ is one of the most important and iconic electronic albums of its time, and fortunately, for all the right reasons. Arriving at the tail-end of 1979, the record helped blueprint the way for swathes of other young British groups who were bored of punk and were looking to experiment with new-fangled synthesisers as tools for making pop music. As it turned out, few did it better, with ‘Cars’ becoming a serious chart presence on both sides of the Atlantic, the album reaching number one in the UK, and Numan himself failing to scale the lofty heights he reached here, ever again, with a series of increasingly disappointing albums leading him down a steady slope to cult-status, rather than maintaining the sheer commercial superstardom he managed here. 37 years on, tracks like 'Cars', 'Metal' and 'M.E.' are still blisteringly good, and Numan’s icon has swelled immeasurably since his solo debut, with a mass of covers and remixes of his most memorable songs, and references of influence by the likes of artists such as Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor. In short, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ is a fantastic listen, and nothing less than essential to fans of electronic music at any level, despite one or two minor niggles.

Younger, Louder & Snottier

The Dead Boys' debut album, Young, Loud & Snotty, stands as a superb document of the original late-'70s punk rock movement, full of nihilism and rage and just plain bad taste. These are the original rough mixes done by lead singer and punk rock poster boy Stiv Bators, guitarist Cheetah Chrome and engineer Bob Clearmountain before Genya Ravan was brought in to clean things up. What emerges from these alternate mixes is something akin to history reversing itself and the "Bowie mix" of Raw Power coming out 20 years later. There are plenty of useless overdubs that would later get scrapped for the released version, but the largely effect-less guitars are full of sheet metal, as opposed to metal, tonality. Everything on here sounds crispier, more wired, and so treble-accented that it ends up embellishing the offensiveness of the material itself, full of punk energy and electric scrabble for the chemically enhanced set. Even the tunes that were originally slagged by punk critics as sounding "too metal" emerge here sonically sounding more like Stooges outtakes, especially "Caught With the Meat In Your Mouth." Given the meagre recorded output of the band, this will easily find a place in the collections of the band's old fans.

Client and She Wants Revenge

Client (frequently stylised as CLIEИT) are an English electronic music group from London, formed in 2002. They are most popular in Germany where they have had limited commercial success. They typically combine airline hostess uniforms or shiny fetish fashion outfits with glamour-girl aesthetics and harsh electronics to create a sound reminiscent of early forays into electronic sound manipulation and new wave. Their uniforms have become their trademark. The original band members were formerly known only anonymously as Client A and Client B, to the extent that their faces were not shown on any publicity photos; it has since been revealed that they are Kate Holmes (as Client A) and Sarah Blackwood (Client B). Holmes, formerly of Frazier Chorus and Technique, later started the fashion label Client London, and is married to Alan McGee (founder of Creation Records and discoverer of Oasis). Blackwood is the lead singer of Dubstar. On Client's debut EP, Price of Love, the group presents a colder, more predatory version of the sleek electro-pop also purveyed by Ladytron. While they never quite reach the cybernetic chill or existential terror of the likeminded Adult., there are some similarities to that group, too; the rather clinical yet fetishistic picture of women's legs and shoes on the cover recall Nicola Kuperus' photography, adding a visual parallel to the musical ones here. Deceptively fuzzy synths hum icy, eerie melodies as the singer competes with the drum machine to see which one can sound stiffer and more robotic. The drum machine has a natural advantage, particularly on the single's title track (which recalls the Human League as much as any of Client's contemporaries) but it's a dead heat on "Client," where the singer rattles off a list of increasingly sexually-charged corporate jargon before snapping "Fuck off, don't touch me there." Ultimately, Client's ideas (namely, the commodification of love and sex) might be slightly more interesting than the group's music at this point, but Price of Love is a smart and promising debut.

She Wants Revenge who formed in 2004, are based in the San Fernando Valley, California. The group's debut album She Wants Revenge was released in early 2006, with three singles to follow ("These Things", a video featuring Shirley Manson from Garbage, "Out of Control", and "Tear You Apart" for which the video was directed by Joaquin Phoenix). After touring extensively through 2006 with Depeche Mode and Placebo the band admitted that they would like to tour with their heroes The Cure and Bauhaus. Following the release of their second album This Is Forever in October 2007 the band were released from their contract with Geffen. The EP, Save Your Soul, was released via their own label, Perfect Kiss to iTunes on May 13, 2008.

Songs Of Praise

Shame once received a hate letter that read, “Dear Shame… You can’t even compare yourself to a crusty piece of shite hanging from Mark E Smith’s slender arse. Some would suggest that it’s time to call it a day. Give over.”

Well, the London five-piece is audibly indebted to Smith’s revered Manchester post-punk group The Fall – louche vocal delivery, abrasive and atonal guitar and barbed lyrics all present and correct – but debut album ‘Songs Of Praise’ courses with venom and a lithe vigour that is all their own. The band belongs to a fertile south London scene that lays waste to the myth that guitar music is no longer a place for innovation, excitement and – in Shame’s case – lyrics that splat in your earholes like lumps of hot, rotten fruit.

Post-punk is such a long-running style that its 21st century practitioners sometimes sound like they're going through the motions, but Shame's Songs of Praise is a reminder of just how vital it is at its best. On their debut album, the South London band certainly recalls legends like Television Personalities and Gang of Four, as well as newer acts such as Iceage and Savages. But even if the framework of their music is familiar, the energy they bring to it feels new, electrifying their songs as they bridge the personal and political with wit and fury. On the bristling "Concrete," singer Charlie Steen and bassist Josh Finerty's vocals ricochet off each other as they express both sides of the internal debate of someone trapped in a go-nowhere relationship; later, on "Gold Hole," Shame explore the fine line between exploitation and empowerment as they teeter between taut and frantic. Here and throughout Songs of Praise, it feels like Shame are using these sounds to rage against the world's injustices for the first time. Steen's charisma is one of the band's greatest assets, and his charisma carries lyrics as on-the-nose as "Friction"'s "Do you know the difference between what is right and what is wrong?" Shame also displays an impressive amount of range and ambition on Songs of Praise. On the Cribs-esque "One Rizla" and "Tasteless," they prove they're just as skilled at polished guitar pop as they are ferocious rants like "Donk" and "The Lick." The band even gets a bit arty on the album's dour opener "Dust on Trial" and particularly on its seven-minute finale "Angie," a slow-burning tale of star-crossed love and suicide. Whether they're sophisticated or visceral, Shame's energy and confidence makes Songs of Praise an exciting debut from one of the most vital-sounding British rock bands of the late 2010s.

The Bags and Legal Weapon

The Bags were one of the first generation of punk rock bands to emerge from Los Angeles in the late 70's formed by Alice Armendariz and Patricia Rainone. The first line-up includes Alice on vocals, Pat on bass, Janet Koontz and Geza X on guitars and Joe Nanini on drums; with this line up The Bags played their first show at The Masque on September 10, 1977. During this first period many drummers played in the band, like Nicky Beat, Don Bonebrake and Don Bolles.

With a new line up featuring Alice and Pat, Craig Lee and Rob Ritter on guitars, and Terry Graham on drums, The Bags released in 1979 their first and only record, the single "Survive" on Dangerhouse Records. A third track from the session "We Don't Need The English" was included on the "Yes L.A." compilation. After this, Pat left the band. In 1980 the group, minus Pat, was filmed by Penelope Spheeris for the punk rock documentary film, 'The Decline Of Western Civilization'. At the release of the film in 1981 the producers billed the group as Alice Bag Band to avoid any conflict with ex-member Pat. By then, however, the band had broken up. Alice went on to join Castration Squad.

Terry Graham and Rob Ritter joined The Gun Club; Ritter later change his name to Rob Graves and form the seminal death rock band 45 Grave. Pat, later known as Patricia Morrison joined the band Legal Weapon.

Legal Weapon were a Southern California punk band, initially composed of singer Kat Arthur and guitarist Brian Hansen (both previously of the Silencers), bassist Patricia Morrison (formerly of Bags and later of the Gun Club, Fur Bible, The Sisters of Mercy and the Damned), drummer Charlie Vartanian and guitarist Mike R. Livingston. Their debut 12”EP titled No Sorrow was the only release that Patricia played on before she left to join The Gun Club with Terry Graham and Rob Ritter. As you may have already sussed, this is a wee post dedicated to the legend that is Patricia Anne Rainone.

The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks

Originally released as a double album on Flux Of pink Indian’s own Spiderleg Records in 1984 as the follow-up to their storming debut, Strive to Survive Causing Least Suffering Possible. The album was banned by several major retailers including HMV due to its sexually explicit title and cover art (you don’t say!). The album's lyrical content concerned violence between men and women, based on the experiences of a band member who had been sexually assaulted. The title was a Dada-style ploy to get attention for this social message.

The album featured artwork by Crass guitarist Andy Palmer reaching number two on the UK Indie Chart, spending fifteen weeks on the chart in total. It was later reissued in 1986 on band member Derek Birkett's own One Little Indian label. In an interview from 1984 the band said “...the reaction to The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks has actually distanced us from punk rock, because most punks, in Britain at least, haven't liked it. But judging from letters and people we've come into contact with, people who aren't into punk have really liked it.

We'd never put out anything that we didn't feel was up to scratch, musically or lyrically. I think that record is amazing. There are a lot of people who don't like that record because it's not based in rock and roll.”

Fire Engines and some Kleenex

Well Joe Strummer has been well received so far (as expected) despite MediaFire being an ass sometimes when the download link is selected. We will carry on regardless with another two singles for the discerning listeners/readers out there.

The first offering to tickle your eardrums is a Fire Engines Peel Radio Session recorded in Feb 1981. Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The band was a part of the same literary art-punk scene as Scars and Josef K.

The second offering is a far rarer 7”EP single from Switzerland. LiLiPUT were a Swiss post-punk band active from 1978 to 1983, initially known as Kleenex. According to AllMusic, the band "made some of the best, most adventurous, most exhilarating, and most critically derided music" of the punk rock era.

Red Scare

The Guests formed in 2015 when it was decided that the Philadelphia far-left underground needed a suitable media platform (as if). The project had to be engaging, drawing the people to its message, but dark, reflecting the dismal current state of America. A pop band, drawing on post-punk and goth, was decided as the medium, built on the obscure memory of a one-off New Order cover band performance that Philadelphia residents Christian Vogan (vocals) and Alkis Meimaris (guitar) had done while at school together in New York state. The line-up was rounded out by brothers Hart and Kyle Seely on bass and drums respectively, as well as synth player Florence Lin. Together, the Guests envision an alternate, more revolutionary history of 80s-style jangle pop, built on the rock-solid foundation of the Seely brothers' groove section. Focused guitar hooks and soaring rushes of synth, provided by Meimaris and Lin respectively, interlock atop this, giving breath and motion to Vogan's calls to arms, battered landscapes and righteous indignations.

Joe Strummer

A very Happy Eostre to all my fellow travellers. It’s not often that I find the time to sit down and type to you directly dear reader, so don’t be getting any ideas about it happening again any time soon. The reason I’m typing to you is because I’ve popped MP3 rips of some seven and twelve inch singles up on MediaFire as a trial since Zippy has gone tits up in the UK.

The first offering is a double header; Joe Strummer Love Kills 12” UK and US versions. Enjoy.

The Reds

Philadelphia's The Reds debuted in 1979 on A&M records. They released a self-titled LP and a 10" EP both produced by David Kershenbaum (Joe Jackson, Duran Duran). The EP contained a scorching cover of The Doors "Break On Through" but The Reds never managed that feat commercially and their stay with A&M was abruptly ended.

The Reds cast a powerful shadow over their late-'70s and early-'80s albums, which were too gut-crunching for the new wave crowd but not flashy enough for metalheads weaned on the genre's instrumental pyrotechnics. Guitarist and frontman Rick Shaffer's lyrics often seemed too intense for the narrowness of Top 40 radio, which gave little time to tracks like "Lookout," his nearly seven-minute screed against complacency. That's a shame, since Shaffer and his bandmates are smart, accomplished players. Keyboardist Bruce Cohen consistently spices up the proceedings with unobtrusive yet effective organ and synthesizer blasts. Bassist Jim Peters and drummer Tommy Geddes stake their own claims, playing as lead instruments when necessary and pulling back when the song demands it; the old criticism of "more attitude than capability" doesn't stick here. Like most debuts, the Reds' first album is a short, sharp-shock, show-'em-what-you-got affair, although not solely dependent on sound and fury to put its points across. Shaffer mainly preoccupies himself with relationships; judging by "Victims," "Luxury," and "Over and Over," he's not having much luck. The most powerful salvos come last, with "Lookout" on side one, while the disaffected "Self-Reduction" brings the album to a powerful close. However, mainstream listeners didn't get the point, so the Reds' stay at A&M proved a brief one (although Shaffer and Cohen (who've since moved into TV and film soundtracks) continue to record as a studio-only unit). Still, the heaviness and emphasis on inner conflicts shouldn't put off anyone searching for some truly intense, yet intelligent, music.

Hunky Dory

Recorded at Trident Studios in July 1971, several days after his Glastonbury appearance, Hunky Dory captures David Bowie in transition from the pot-enhanced rock of The Man Who Sold The World to the grand concept of Ziggy Stardust. Produced by Ken Scott, the album is very much a songwriter’s work and finds Bowie for the first time finding his own voice after scrabbling around stylistically for best part of a decade. Back in 1971, singer-songwriters were very much a la mode; in a way Hunky Dory is Bowie’s Tapestry or Madman Across The Water, albeit with themes that encompassed art, gender, other lifeforms and general strangeness. All the component parts of the Spiders From Mars are in place; Mick Ronson, Woody Woodmansey and Trevor Bolder. Although Bowie tackled some “less complicated piano parts” due to “(inability)” as he wrote on the sleeve, it is session player Rick Wakeman who gives the album its pastoral flavour. Hunky Dory contains some of Bowie’s greatest songs. “Changes”, “Life On Mars?” and “Oh! You Pretty Things” are almost too well-known now; but to hear the scale of Bowie’s ambition is incredible. “Andy Warhol” introduced the pop-artist to many British listeners, while the fairly unrepresentative “Queen Bitch” (his tribute to Velvet Underground) points the way clearest to what was to lay ahead.

This album finally demonstrated David Bowie's enormous potential to the listening public. It became a huge hit after Bowie broke through and became a household name in 1972.

The ID

The Id was a new wave/synthpop band from the Wirral, Merseyside, England formed in September 1977 by school and college friends Andy McCluskey (bass, vocals), Julia Kneale (vocals), Neill Shenton (guitar), John Floyd (vocals), Malcolm Holmes (drums), Steve Hollas (bass), Gary Hodgson (guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards). McCluskey and Humphreys had met each other at school, sharing interests in early electronic artists like Brian Eno and Kraftwerk and played together since 1975. Humphreys went to study electronics at Riversdale College, in Liverpool, where he met Steve Hollas and Gary Hodgson. The alignment was large, but lasted briefly, because Kneale, Shenton and Floyd quit very soon. The group began to gig regularly in the Merseyside area, performing original material largely written by McCluskey and Humphreys. They had quite a following on the scene.

In early 1978 The Id recorded some demos at the Open Eye studio in Liverpool after some advice from Eric's Club owner Roger Eagle. The three songs were "Electricity", "Julia's Song" and "The Misunderstanding". The Open Eye recordings of The Id were later released in December 2002 as an EP by Engine Records. In August 1978 the band split up. McCluskey joined Dalek I Love You the same month, but left within a month to reunite with Humphreys to form Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). In August 1979, a year after the band broke up; "Julia's Song" was included on a compilation record of local bands called Street to Street: A Liverpool Album. Other contributors were Big in Japan, Jaqui & Jeanette, Modern Eon, Activity Minimal, Dead Trout, Tontrix, The Accelerators, Malchix, Fun, The Moderates, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Radio One DJ John Peel, who contributed sleeve notes to the LP, played "Julia's Song" on his programme on 14 August 1980.

The three songs from the Open Eye sessions were re-recorded by OMD for their eponymous debut album in 1980 and "Electricity" was released as the first single. Holmes reunited with McCluskey and Humphreys in 1980 to record the Organisation album and became a member of OMD.

Sixteen Days Of Fighting (again)

Sixteen Days / Gathering Dust is a bouncy ethereal Goth pop track that fully displays Ivo’s love of the Goth rock scene with comparisons to Bauhaus, The Cure and early Siouxie & The Banshees apparent. The length of the track at over 9 minutes was quite rare for a pop oriented style of music but somehow keeps the groove generating with the jangle guitars, new wave drum machine and silky Gothic female vocals. The second track “Song To The Siren” a cover of singer Tim Buckley’s 1970 folk song is beautifully performed by Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. The closer “Sixteen Days Reprise” is exactly as you’d expect it only more in The Cure sort of Goth pop delivery. In fact I’d say it sounds more like late 80s Cure than the Cure sounded themselves at the time. It has more changes and sound effects.

While only a three song 12” EP, this debut is quite the fun listen. Each track is quite distinct, well-crafted and stands apart from the more commercial sounding bands of the era. While not quite as raw as Bauhaus and not as ethereal and dream poppy as the Cocteau Twins, it manages to find that middle ground with just enough rock gusto mixed and mingled with the suave Gothic rock approach. Personally I find this to be a great starting point to explore one of the coolest Goth spinoffs in This Mortal Coil that have since been pegged as ethereal wave(?)

Sleep No More

Sleep No More, the second Comsat Angels album, is a confident follow-up that contains a tighter and more cutting version of Waiting for a Miracle's alluring insularity. Going by "Eye Dance," the torrid opener, one might expect a more aggressive affair, but that's not necessarily the case. The album turns out to be neither as pop nor as fast, with a majority of the material playing out at a dirge-like pace. There were no singles. Like Magazine's Secondhand Daylight, or the Sound's All Fall Down, Sleep No More can be a trudge and quite bleak, perhaps even impenetrable at times. However, as with Waiting for a Miracle, the dynamics of the album become increasingly perceptible with each play, and the slowest, austere passages begin to seem as intense as the few that slam and punch. With the exception of "Restless," a mood piece of harmonic flickers, light whispers, and low throb, the album is driven by Mik Glaisher's booming drums, which were recorded in a manner -- near a lift shaft, to be precise, with microphones placed on six surrounding floors -- that makes the album wholly enveloping and, occasionally, imposing. (Imagine Joy Division's "I Remember Nothing" and Talking Heads' "The Overload" on top of one another, doubled in heaviness.) The subject matter: not a big surprise, given the title of the album, with further adventures in malfunctioning-relationship purgatory, along with topical matter like "Dark Parade" (about the volatile hostage situation at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran), a song that hardly repeals the level of turmoil expressed elsewhere. Regardless of the continued strength in the song writing, it's impossible not to get caught up in the album's sounds. The title track overwhelms with its swirling layers of guitar and keyboards over an unchanging drum pattern. The storming "Goat of the West" wastes no time in whipping itself into a controlled frenzy of churning guitars, punishing drums, and bewildered vocals ("Did you see what happened?/It's so funny that I'm not laughing"). On "At Sea," the rhythm section does the riffing, with Glaisher's thumping drums suctioned to Kevin Bacon's cavernous bass. While it's not as easy to enjoy as Waiting for a Miracle -- for a lot of listeners, it's that kind of album that requires some mental preparation -- Sleep No More is certainly more powerful, and it's also a greater achievement. Here, the Comsat Angels became one of the era's most exceptional bands.