The album’s two highest peaks are brilliantly realised interpretations of Jamaican classics - Junior Byles’ ‘Fade Away’ and Bim Sherman’s ‘Love Forever’, Ari Up’s vocal transporting the dread warning and lovers rock vibes to the icy hallways of early-80s London squatland. Elsewhere Mark Stewart marshalls an early version of his ‘Crazy Dreams and High Ideals’ (later re-versioned with the Maffia), music journalist Vivien Goldman voices caustic album closer ‘Private Armies’ (originally a B-side to her ‘Launderette’ single), and all sorts of strange noises and rhythmic murk bridge the gaps, the instrumentals falling somewhere between a late night studio session at Channel One and the kinds of experimental soundscapes being explored at the time by Industrial Records.
A certified classic of the era back on wax for the first time in 40 years and an essential addition to any post-punk record collection. Includes download card and printed inner with new sleevenotes and interviews by Oli Warwick.
Released: March 2021
Cat: ONULP1
Label: On U Sound
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Tracklist
1. Fade Away2. Radial Drill
3. State Assembly
4. Crazy Dreams and High Ideals
5. Abderhamane’s Demise
6. Animal Space
7. Love Forever
8.Private Armies