The Post Punk Nightmare

Next, from France, I present Mary Goes Round (Jérôme Avril, Cécile Balladino) another group who found themselves associated with the Touching Pop movement, which was the loose label and association given to a movement of cold wave, and alternative French rock bands who sprang about in the late 1980's whose styles were influenced from the new wave, alternative rock, and post punk spirit from the many European music scenes

The touching pop label as some of you may well known featured a number of artists including two previously featured on this blog. Among the more popular acts were Little Nemo, Asylum Party, Babel 17, Mary Goes Round including others all of whom were signed to the Lively Art label which was the largest independent French label at the time.

Mary Goes Round were perhaps in their own small way forerunners to the Touching Pop label. According to the group's website, the then nameless band came together in 1986 as Jérôme Avril (guitars/vocals), Cécile Balladino (keyboards), Maurice (bass guitar), and Gilbert Correy (drums) performing at a venue known as the Rex Club opening for alternative thrash pioneers Sonic Youth. The group with no real project at hand were given the chance to record for the compilation Unreleased Volume I and thus the band was born. From that period on the band would mature to a later stage, deciding to forgo their drummer, who had been absent, and on to recording their first mini-LP titled Sunset.

The album here is Seventy Suns in the Sky, which was there first full length LP, and what you'll find here are more of the ice cold keyboard lines so prominent in French cold-wave, dulled stony vocals, and a forceful bass attack but what separated Mary Goes Round from the Touching Pop tribe, if you will, were the psychedelia influences which permeate as shining, sprightly slashes of the guitar that pierce par excellence and the blend of the ghostly, haunting sprites of goth rock, as they evoke The Cure, and the hazy soulfulness of classic rock. You'll also notice that much of the band's lyrics seem to drone on the stories of unknown (mysterious?) multiple Mary's; who are sometimes the marred passions of past loves, other times the eternal, elusive, and fantastical goddesses of lore.

Enjoy.


Mary Goes Round - 70 Suns in the Sky (1989)

Siouxsie, siouxsie, sioux...how sweet the sound of that name and how sweeter the music.

Formed in 1976, Siouxsie and the Banshees would come to pioneer much of the goth rock spirit and doctrine that captured so many imaginations in its day while at the same time channeling new and fascinating spells in the history of rock and roll music that contributed so greatly to their diverse yet concentrated sound.

At the longstanding core of Siouxsie and the Banshees is lead singer and frontlady Siouxsie Sioux (Susan Janet Ballion), bass guitarist Steven Severin (Steven John Bailey) and drummer Budgie (Peter Edward Clarke). The initial formation was simply Severin and Sioux who in 1976 were two disillusioned English kids that found the calling and promise of punk rock expression. Budgie would come in as a replacement for drummer Kenny Morris on their 1979 Join Hands tour and would stay a constant member.

While the Siouxsie and the Banshees emerged from the London punk rock scene their music from the very beginning showed features of a more progressive and varied sound eventually evolving into a new wavey, electronic and atmospheric din that grew with their popularity. Siouxsie and the Banshees with each incarnation reflected changing popular impulses in music, but tore them apart, and stripped them down to their most raw and bare elements that would allow them to bang out music that in the entirety of the album was stimulating with every second.

The album I showcase is Siouxsie and the Banshee's fourth studio album Juju which was originally released in 1981.
Like the much of Siouxsie and the Banshees material, a poetical world is set out to be explored and Juju is no exception. Juju with pounding slavish drums, and the unique spiraling wail of guitarist John McGeoch is a dive into deep, deep darkness that ensconces the listener before towering sounds. The album is rife with a kind of sparkling, fluttering energy that pounces from the start with the hit 'Spellbound', before coldly zipping in the album's closer 'Voodoo Dolly'.

Available here is the reissued, and remastered version of Juju, released by Polydor records in 2006, and as such, comes with three bonus tracks.

Enjoy.


Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju (1981)

Game Theory complex...confusing...doubtful...and...poppy? Formed in Sacramento in 1982 Game Theory, the apparent brainchild of lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Scott Miller, is what one might call a pop, psychedelic, new wave blend that found itself placed in the context of a burgeoning alternative rock era. Game Theory plainly spoke to the college rock ethos and came on what Allmusic describes as the fringes of the Paisley Underground – a select pop rock music scene and genre that began in California inspired by the folk and psychedelia of the 1960's.

The band's initial lineup began as Scott Miller (Lead vocals/Guitar), Fred Juhos (bass guitar), Michael Erwin (drums) and Nancy Becker (keyboards) as a power pop quartet with considerable doses of punk thrown about the mix. The band would fail to find the pocket of mainstream success but were popular on college radio stations with strong reviews by critics. After a complete lineup change in 1985 a new, kind of re-branded Game Theory emerged with more refined sound, and were more attuned to the popular ear of audiences. The band it seems would find and maintain a relative niche as the clever, wry, buzzing college-radio bangers, a status that would earn them, if nothing else, solidified cult status.

Game Theory builds on beaming bright displays and pop melodies that are all too confused by a rancorous jangle, and maddened guitar. The music is certainly lively that still packs of a heavy breath with occasional sighs of despair. Listen for a sly, and subtly arranged complexities of the guitar which interlopes from the bangs and throws of the rhythm while the keyboards has seizing spurs that coolly lock things into a broad stroke.

The album included on this post is a Game Theory's 1994 compilation that includes material from their 1982 album, most of the two EP's released after that album, and songs 1983's 'Pointed Accounts of People You Know' and 1984's Distortion by the band.

Enjoy.

Game Theory - Distrotion of Glory (1993)

From the Colombian underground I present Estados Alterados (Altered States) - who make their stamp with lockstep grooves and entrancing synth waves; they are what many may consider the Colombian Depeche Mode.

Formed in 1987 in Medellin, Colombia, Estados Alterados, who go by pseudonyms Elvis (vocals), Tato (keyboards), and Ricky (drums) were inspired by the then popular English new wave sound, and saw the chance to explore electronic rock which was largely unknown to many in South America at the time.

With a medium at hand the band sought to create a distinctive sound that propelled deep, thumping strokes while incorporating many collages of sounds from jazz, synthpop, rock, and latino music which in all reflects a band with an experimental nature.

Their experiments and creativity would illumine the artists as pioneers in electronic music and bring the band a strong degree of international success with a substantial career that included four studio albums with a reformation in 2010 and a number of prominent hit songs such as El Velo and Seres De La Noche

Listen and Enjoy.

Estados Alterados - Lo Esencial: 89-96 (1996)

A band once lost can be refound, and for the Ruts their reclamation might begin with the music aficionados who by diligence promote the music the music that is as relevant and alive now as it was years prior; and for great music lost does not mean forgotten. The next post-punkers I present is the band who were known as The Ruts who made music from 1977 to 1980.

The Ruts were known as a high energy act who forcefully blended reggae sways and punk dives to form a unique sonic sphere in post-punk glory. The Ruts came from a period when the Punk rock of yore was on a steep downward slide into mediocrity and lack of faith. The Ruts in their own way would carry on but the punk ethos while recreating its style in a more blatant creative outlet.

The Ruts, in that unique protest spirit would, continue a fight against injustices by participating in such benefits as Rock Against Racism and making known in their lyrics their strong distaste for the seedy, burgeoning politics in Britain at the time. Shedding light in their song "Dope for Guns" with the lyrics
"The newspaper headlines got it wrong
They tried to tell us the dope is too strong
But it ain't dope that threatens you
They're selling dope for guns, that's the truth"

The band was formed as lead singer Malcolm Owen, guitarist Paul Fox, bass guitarist John Jennings, and drummer Dave Ruffy and from early on the Ruts would enjoy early success with punk driven singles such as 'In a Rut' which reflected a different, cleverer aspect of music than its more typical predecessors. While their next single 'Babylon's Burning', featured previously on the blog, opened up eyes to a brilliant technicolor display of that combined punk and reggae admixture.

That brilliance, however, would be short lived as vocalist Malcolm Owen ended his life in 1980 following a drug overdose.
For certain reasons unknown their early success would fail to continue to capture the imaginations of later generations in any vein similar to some other acts who similarly lost a key member to an untimely death. But this is in no way to imply that the music does not stand up to snuff with their contemporaries.

What the Ruts present is an imaginative rollicking, energetic drive, with slashes of punk, funk, reggae and madness hurled into a massive, high speed truck. Notes clash and bang done with an ice cool ferosity. Their debut album The Cracks is the introduction to a band that would harness the reins of punk-reggae like no other band you'll encounter.

Enjoy.

The Ruts - The Crack (1979)

Dark, lush, and angular my partly describe the symphonic zest that is Echo and the Bunnymen's music. At their height the band was lead vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sargeant, drummer Pete de Freitas, and bass guitarist Les Pattison.

The band shares beginnings with one other group group featured on this blog, The Teardrop Explodes, whose earlier incarnation A Shallow Madness exorcised McCulloch from the band as the result of animosity between the singer, and band's bassist Julian Cope. McCulloch would go on to form Echo and the Bunnymen and who in their own way would rivet music hungry eyes and quickly achieve mainstream success with a string of commercially viable singles and albums. The Liverpudlian band would take the alt rock world by force over a solid duration of the 1980's.

In July of 1987 Echo and the Bunnymen released their fifth studio album and final with their original lineup. The album simply titled Echo and the Bunnymen was a step away from an earlier dark and even gothic musical style into a warmer, breezier pop direction with a heavy melodic jangle. This album may lull and shake about its hooky lines of rhythm at its more upbeat side, while swaying you gently with the slower, string laden tracks.

The pop production may have originally averted some fans as early reviews lamented its lack of fire or punch, but belying the gloss is as sincere and intense a sound that formed the spirit of the Echo and the Bunnymen franchise as Sergeant's guitar still zig-zags through the grumbled yet mighty intonation of McCulloch while splitting through the manic beats of De Freitas with as fine a touch of psychedelia as any Echo and the Bunnymen release.

The download here is the 2003 reissue by Rhino Entertainment and features seven bonus tracks. Take and Enjoy.

Echo and the Bunnymen - Echo and the Bunnymen (1987)

In a Nineteen Seventy-Nine future there was Replicas by the band known as Tubeway Army and in that same year there was The Pleasure Principle, the epical release by half-man, half-machine, glam rock musician Gary Numan.

The Pleasure Principle unlike its sister albums Replicas and Tubeway Army is not adored with the same pinching, heavy guitars and it does not manufacture the same punky beat - instead The Pleasure Principle, which shares its name from a term in Psychology that describes a person that seeks pleasure and avoids pain to feed their biological and psychological wants and needs, is rather a complete procession into electronica by Numan whose use of synthesizers and keyboards carved a path for many future synthpop acts to come.

With The Pleasure Principle Numan creates a sensual vibrato world that brings one through an unharnessed musical void, which is ultimately as fantastical as it is conceptual. The Pleasure Principle like Numan's other works descries futuristic characters and dimensions that operate as machines behind the heavy cascades and reverb and flange utilized by the artist.

This download is the 1998 edition released by Beggars Banquet as it contains seven bonus tracks. This is an absolute landmark listen for anyone interested in following the material created by Numan and a solid listen at that. Enjoy.

Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle (1979)