Description
Limited edition of 200 copies on Clear with Black Smoke vinyl. In the beginning there was rhythm. And that is the driving force of the third epic edition of the Bristol Post Punk Explosion, a vinyl volume that focuses even more on the groove as well as a cutting edge. This Explosion has a blend of local notables and lesser lights, with stories linking the likes of Stiff Records, Smith & Mighty, John Peel, Massive Attack, mega producer Nellee Hooper, Pigbag, The Pop Group, Roni Size, Vice Squad and even the owner of Bristol Archive Records! To get some rhythm you need some sweat and it is Sweat that set the scene. Their never previously released track 'Crufter' is an outlier for the later work of much acclaimed and influential Smith & Mighty. Third in an opening trio salvo of hit those skins and pull those strings, the post departure of later mega producer Paul 'Nellee' Hooper version of Mouth, powered by eventual Roni Size drummer Rob Merrill, fizz and trumpet their way through a short and sweet 'Take Your Coat Off'. Between these tracks the artier Stiff Records signings Electric Guitars had their own take on skewed, contorted danceability of percussive power mixed with big, fat choruses. Cold had a less common sight in the Bristol terrain at the time being fronted by a female singer/guitarist, Lucy Ray. Vice Squad's drummer Shane Baldwin featured with the band. Animal Magic add further to the gender balance through trumpeter Gill's notable contributions to the slip and slide of 'Get it Right,' one of several tracks recorded for John Peel's BBC Radio One programme. The Rimshots were fronted by Archive label head Mike Darby and 'A Way with Words' is a swirly flash back trip of heavenly getting to the world on time. On side two there is a big mood shift in the push me/ pull you insistence within the Glaxo Babies classic 'Who Killed Bruce Lee?.' There is no let-up next in 'Dry Ice Hot' from Birth of Sharon, a gang of pin-stripes mash-up of Gang of Four, early Talking Heads and Captain Beefheart. The economically on point Creature Beat give us the short, snappy, garage band feel-good corker that is 'Snob Tax.' The Escape then brings you back to earth as they scan the possibilities within '24 Hours'. This song was one of four later recorded for the BBC Radio One show hosted by Peter Powell.The Numbers sported the hugely inventive guitarist Angelo Bruschini, who went on to make major inputs to the long- standing Blue Aeroplanes and Massive Attack. Finally, the sharp lyrics and supersonic guitar work in the Royal Assassins hits the target in 'Song of a Bullet.' On demos they blended punk funk, juddering juicy bass synth stabs to a dub consciousness and tribal warfare of sound. Live as a full band they were unstoppable, stretching out the grooves and firing on all cylinders. Sadly, some of the Explosion album artists are no longer with us. But their music, shock wave pulses and wordsmithery lives on, getting stronger and more significant with each year.
