Zorch!

No Meteors here, sorry. I just occasionally get mildly obsessed with the word. Zorch!

What we do have, however, is a breakneck rip through some (requested) ancient delights of the neo and psychobilly variety. A minimum of fuss and less frills than a tin of one penny Tesco beans from me. Leaves more room for the bass slappin', a-team impersonatin', forbidden love rattlin', happy drivin', coffin nailin', apostrophe abusin' musickin'.

Well, something like that, at any rate.


Coffin Nails - Ein Bier Bitte (Nervous; 1987)

1: Skateboard Frenzy
2: Werewolf Bitch
3: Greased Lightning
4: Humungus
5: Let's Wreck
6: The Lone Ranger
7: The Plasma Pool
8: Myra Hindley
9: Natural Born Lover
10: Wind up Dead
11: Penetration
12: Uncle Willy
13: Ain't it True
14: House on the Haunted Hill
15: Brand New Cadillac
16: Outta This World


Even back then, they couldn't spell humongous. But he did play a mean guitar (it persistently refused to share it's sweets with the other instruments), was a bit better than former drummer Dave at singing (a comparison between this original take on "Penetration" and the one on Fistful of Burgers bears this out to a ridiculous degree. Humungus brings a faint air of the ludicrous to the increasingly outrageous rhymes, lending the song the hint of the comic that it needs and that this original somewhat lacks), and also lends his name to the semi-instrumental highlight of the album.

That sad, there are a number of highlights, about 12 out of 16, which ain't bad. Ain't bad at all. In fact, it's pretty fucking good. Just like the album! (although still not as good as Fistful of Burgers, and with a truly shocking album cover. I mean, just LOOK at it. Is that really the best you could do, lads? Is it really?).


Happy Drivers - Indians on the Road (Crazy Love; 1987)

1: Babe Please Don't Go
2: We Shall be Going On
3: My Bopping Rocking Babe
4: The Fun of It
5: Midnight Train
6: Popeye
7: Low Rider
8: Old Black Jack
9: Long Blonde Hair
10: You Will Never Come Back Again
11: Oh Babe
12: My Daddy's Banjo


Upmarket, top drawer neo-rockabilly straight from France. Moves with a real shuffling swagger (or possibly a swaggering shuffle) and, critically, brings it own solid tunes to the revival rather than almost completely relying on the same tired covers and tunetheftery that blights so much of the straightahead neobillysphere. Although, even after all this time, I can't hear him shout anything other than "SADDAM HUSSEIN!" at the start of the first song. It just adds to the experience really, albeit in quite an odd way.


The Rattlers - Never Say Die (Nervous; 1989)

1: Gone Forever
2: Cruisin' Around
3: For Your Love
4: She's the One
5: Savin' it All For You
6: Loaded Dice
7: Leavin' You Behind
8: Never Say Die
9: Man With the Twi-Light Eyes
10: For You, No More
11: Forbidden Love
12: October Moon
13: Never Catch Me Again



More quality neo-rockabilly, with a shade more bite than the 'Drivers (as nobody calls them) and comparable quality of tune. This is most definitely A Good Thing. As is the album, from the first note to the last. Lapses into the slightly stereotypical hiccoughing vocal style prevalent in the genre, but they do it well - and done well, this is also A Good Thing (witness Mark Cole, or Pip Hancox). All this and they still find time for a corking cover of "For Your Love". Whilst there is little that stink up an album faster than a poorly chosen or executed cover version, there are also few quicker ways to an eternal place in my musical heart than a good one. And this is a good one (like, obviously. I wouldn't have called it corking otherwise. Duh). Watch out for the well-spotted and recently requested album highlight "Forbidden Love", too. Very good call, Ronnie.

More from two of these three next time, but I think that is plenty for your musical brains to be getting on with, cementnoggins.

Going to the go-go, checking out those mini skirt blues

Last one for today (I reckon I've covered a week of catching up, there) - tomorrow will be back to the billy with some Happy Drivers and possibly Rattlers, as requested.















The Vibes - Can You Feel (Big Beat; 1984)

Purple Side
A1: The Underestimated Man
A2: Double Decker Bus
Green Side
B1: Mini Skirt Blues
B2: Stranger in the House

All four tracks on here are worthy of your attention, but it was Mini Skirt Blues that caught the Cramps attention - listening to them and Iggy having a time of it on Look Mom, No Head! and it's patently obvious which version they're covering, and it isn't The Flower Children's original. Slight irony I suppose, given the depth of Crampular influence to be heard right from the off with "The Underestimated Man", but also quite the compliment too. Give your ears a compliment, and give this swagger, stomp'n'roll classic a good and thorough listening to.

















The X-Men - Spiral Girl (Creation; 1985)

A1: Spiral Girl
B1: Bad Girl

So it's on Creation. And one way of looking at when it was released is to say that it was circa '86. That doesn't, however, warrant it being shoved in the miscellaneous indie bin at Vinyl Exchange and labelled as "rare early Creation, c86 indie pop". However, this is where I found it when I picked it up (for the second time. Who knows, it may even have been my original copy. It was them I sold it to a few years ago after all, and with shit labelling like that, it wouldn't be a great wonder if they hadn't manage to shift it). Clearly, the chap in charge of labelling that day didn't bother looking much beyond the label. They certainly didn't listen to it. An a-side that is a quality little slice of garage punkpoppiness that wouldn't have sounded wildly out of place if snuck onto a pebbles or a nuggets, and a b-side that is a cover of one that was on one of those (it's the Zakary Thaks "Bad Girl"). Particularly ear-friendly are the drums, which is no surprise given that they're from "Bongo" Debbie Green, latterly of The Headcoatees, Would be Goods, Ug & the Cavemen et al. I'm reasonably sure that one or two of the other members were in (or went on to be in) another garage band of note, but I'm stuffed if I can remember who. My brain is prompting me that there is a connection, but there it gives up and shrugs at me. They went on to release an album on that den of garage iniquity Media Burn, but more on that another time perhaps. They also have the odd song on compilations, one of which has already featured on here, and one on another that might just yet. Regardless, enjoy. It's short, spiky and to the point.

Hidden Charms

A brief(ish) blast of the undisputed (quiet at the back, William) kings of Medway. They don't need me recounting their troubled history here (it's been done elsewhere, most notably here, albeit with rather idiosyncratic spelling and without an update in several years, thus missing out on the full joys of the Solarflares, Graham on bass for The Buffs and most recently Graham Day and the Gaolers), so we'll get straight on with the records.

The Prisoners - Electric Fit (Big Beat; 1984)

A1: Melanie
A2: What I Want
A3: Go Go (uncredited)
B1: The Last Thing on Your Mind
B2: Revenge of the Cybermen

"London is exciting, yes? ... yes!
The Prisoner's music is exciting, yes? ... definitely yes!!
Put the two together and what do you get?
Just this ... a blast!
Sizzling with musical vibration - itching to record.
The Result. The EP "Electric Fit"
Raw, vibrant and energetic, characterised by explosive guitar work and ear shattering organ lines, the boys tell me it is their favourite selection of songs to date. Getting back into that rocking, squirming groove, they pull out most of the stops and just let things happen. This is the kind of stuff you can dance to or eat to or just stand there and BE to.
Impeccably produced by Russ Wilkins for your pleasure".

Not my words, the words of Peter Niss (no, really), July '84, on the sleeve notes.

Ah, the classic Prisoners EP. All readily available on CDs (Thewisermiserdemelza +7, for instance), which I exhort you to go and buy - several times if possible. However, here they are from the vinyl, pops, clicks and crackles and all, just the way god intended. Stormers one and all, but special mention must go to "The Last Thing on Your Mind" - probably because it is just about my favourite Prisoners song. It's like the song that "Tin Soldier" era Small Faces never realised that they didn't have the ability to make. Not that it sounds anything like the Small Faces, mind. Graham's never sounded more splendid, wistful, impassioned, yearning, cynical and angry - and he's sounded all those pretty darn well all the way through his career. Made for each other fate told me but failed mention - to you. That's a lyric, by the way, not a curious textual bid for Graham's manlove. Also, the song showcases Graham's wonderfully unabashed embracing of the "ba ba ba baaa baaaa" (no, not sheep and no, not Jim'll Fix It) - witness also the unutterably grand "Thinking of You (Broken Pieces)" from The Last Fourfathers.

If you don't like this, then you don't deserve ears.



The Prisoners - Revenge of the Prisoners (Pink Dust; 1984)

A1: What I Want
A2: Melanie
A3: Love Changes
A4: Coming Home
A5: Reaching My Head
A6: The Last Thing on Your Mind
A7: Revenge of the Cybermen Part Two
B1: Here Come the Misunderstood
B2: A Dream is Gone
B3: Hurricane
B4: Tonight
B5: Love Me Lies
B6: Far Away



The elusive dip of the Prisoners' collective toes into the American market. How it fared there, I have no idea, but I do know that it is one HELL of an album. You get the four songs off the "Electric Fit" EP (again. Yes, I'm spoiling you more than the ambassador that built his fucking hotel out of Ferrero Rocher), a re-recording of the classic Coming Home (it's been working out and sounds beefier than when first aired - Russ Wilkins >>> Philip Chevron), "Reaching My Head" from their appearance on The Tube (released previously as part of the Four on 4 EP, with The Milkshakes, Tall Boys and Stingrays being the other three) and the choice selections from Thewisermiserdemelza. Clearly, you'll be wanting to go and buy the actual CD with some of these on (I very much insist on it), but you'll also be needing this for the unavailable songs and the glorious sound of freshly recorded crackly vinyl. You also get "Love Changes", which I haven't found anywhere else, and believe me - you WANT that. You may just not have realised it yet. You will soon.

Into the psyche, now here we go...

Ah, The Volcanoes. One album, one single, two tracks on a compilation. Criminal, really. We've already had the single - a veritable lesson in what to cover, how to cover it, and how to fill the flipside with genius rockin' powerpop - so it's about time we finished the lamentably brief musical odyssey that was The Volcanoes.

First up, the compilation.



Hybrid Gyrations Vol. II (Hybrid; 1985)

A1: Wayward Souls - Unknown Journey
A2: Jon Wayne - Mr. Egyptian
A3: Multicoloured Shades - (The Ballad of) The Voodoo Ranger
A4: The Volcanoes - Into the Psyche
A5: Honolulu Mountain Daffodils - Electrified Sons of Randy Alvey
B1: The Volcanoes - Wild
B2: Multicoloured Shades - Heartbeat
B3: Honolulu Mountain Daffodils - The Sinners Club
B4: Wayward Souls - Now
B5: Jon Wayne - Texas Polka


Not the easiest album to get hold of (not my scan - the scanner is in the wardrobe, under the spare amp and a pair of shoes. It's kinda cramped in here. So thanks to whichever person on el ebay del espana took the little photo) and despite hunting high and low for twenty years, volume one has yet to cross my path. I'm not too narked by this, as I don't think it has any wonderful Volcanoesness secreted in its grooves and, whilst there are some remarkable moments on here not by them, it's The Volcanoes that we're here for. Oh yes.

We start off with The Wayward Souls, finely balancing themselves on the very edge between 80s jangling chart/indie pop and 80s neo-psyche garage revival (their entry on the other side edges slightly more rockwards, siphoning off the spirit of Roky Erickson rather than Sky Saxon). They probably wore a fair bit of paisley. It's very difficult to dislike, but equally it's rather difficult to get too excited about it. Which is not a charge that can be levelled at Jon Wayne.

If you weren't desperate to own the album for The Volcanoes (and why not? WELL?), then you'd be wanting it for Jon Wayne, and in particular "Mr. Egyptian". A semi-musical, devo-tinged, drug-addled cowpunkin' retardostomp through the perils of buying oil and gas at a truckstop from a north African in deepest darkest Texas. Don't give me none of that no-go-diggy-di shit. Probably the most "famous" song on here (I seem to recall it being something of a favourite of John Peel), it really is something to behold. Their other entry is equally bizarre, but lacks a little bit of the Mr. Egyptian magic.

The Multicoloured Shades sit quite happily next to The Wayward Souls, ploughing a very similar furrow with tools borrowed from the same bunch of people. On "Heartbeat" they do it most pleasingly indeed, but we're still very firmly planted in paisley shirt territory (by no means a bad thing per se, I had one myself. Very nice it was too).

The next most interesting entry would be Honolulu Mountain Daffodils (yes, I know I've skipped one. I'm saving them for the end). Apart from having one of the worst bandnames around, they're really quite good. On "Electrified Sons of Randy Alvey", they construct a gloomy, clanking, semi-industrial, electrogoth racket to titillate the ears. This is interspersed with the occasional tuneful croon of "ohhh, baby do you see where we go". Which is, of course, from "Green Fuz". Hence the name of the song. You have to admire a band who whilst trying to sound like they think they are the most futuristic band on the planet (this was 1985, remember) insist on positioning themselves as the musical heirs to a chap from thirty years previously who is only remembered for one song (and even then only because The Cramps covered it). They let the guitarist back in for their second song and sound disappointingly regular as a result (although the chap's efforts at singing remain quite pleasingly scary). But still, "Electrified Sons of Randy Alvey". Mental.

Ah, The Volcanoes. Oops, slight deja vu there. They sound a little like they might have worn paisley too, only their paisley would have been entirely black. This version of "Into the Psyche" (they rerecorded it for the album, but more on that anon) is one of my very favourite songs, which therefore plainly makes it one of the best songs ever deemed worthy of recording. A splendid boingingly fat bass, squalling guitars and that voice. Starts slow and builds up (I'm a sucker for songs that do that). There aren't many bands that can sing "Here I go, the spiral fall, is pushing me, pushing me, into the psyche NOW HERE WE GO" without sounding like utter twats. The Volcanoes are one of them. A gloomy, soaring, rocking, fantastic neogothpsychegarage masterpiece by people who probably wore black paisley and thought bats were cool. And if that doesn't get your juices flowing, then they've probably dried up and left you a crinkling, tinder-dry withered husk of a musical being.

"And introducing Mr. Stuart Volcano on snare drum. Also the same person on bass drum. Yeah. Here we go, Mr. Kid Volcano on guitar. Let's hear it boy..." I don't think he actually says Stuart. It sounds like Steel or something. But, as the drummer was called Stuart, then Stuart is what I shall be typing. For some reason, "Wild" didn't make the album. Impossible to fathom why, although it does give a hint as to the quality of the songs that did make it on. A hint of the billy is added to the gothgaragerockin' neo-psyche. Driven along by the irresistible shuffling drums, it lays down a rock solid platform for Janez (possibly not his real name - Janez Dernulc seems to be a minor Slovenian figure of note from WWII) to let loose with his mighty pipes. Bloody wonderful.


The Volcanoes - Into the Psyche (Hybrid;1985)

A1: Poison Myself
A2: Crane
A3: The Scene
A4: Johnny Johnny
A5: Spider God of Voodoo
B1: All My Little Voodoos
B2: Familiar Vermilion
B3: Poem/Into the Psyche
B4: Devil and the Deep Blue Sea


Apologies for the low quality art there - it's no easier to find on t'web than the compilation, and the scanner is still in the wardrobe (I haven't built an extension inbetween uploading albums). Doesn't even begin to do justice to the detail of the cover - which is all the more impetus for you to get out there and track down a copy. It can be done, although you'll need to be patient. Plus, it seems that if often gets listed as "new wave" (?!?), "goth" or "indie rock". Which is quite frankly bizarre - they're possibly basing it on a tiny bit of "Crane" where the song briefly threatens to turn into "Killing Moon". I guess it doesn't help that this comes right before the start of "The Scene", which is a not too distant cousin of "Submission". I don't think it helped their cause, this being generically confusing to people who should know better. They could have invented Gothadelic as a genre for them, not that it would have described them any better.

Anyway, the album starts with a bold statement of intent ("Poison Myself"), and doesn't let up or let go of your ears from then on. Some of the songs are slower burners than the four released before the album (only really the aforementioned "Poison Myself" and "Familiar Vermilion" - an awesome twisted stroll through an inverted version of cheery 70s stomp pop) are quite as instant as the others), but no less good as a result. My one tiny quibble is the rerecording of the title track. Whilst the added "Poem" segment works quite well, the rest is a tiny step down from the original. They absolutely bloody bastard nailed it first time, so quite why Roman Jugg thought they should have another go, I'll never know. Yes, that Roman Jugg. He produced them, y'see, when not busy off being one of The Damned (and, later, a Phantom Chord).

So there you have it. Wish I knew what happened to them. Not the easiest bunch to search for these days (hardly the rarest of bandnames. Take the slightest of wrong turns, and you end up in the world of Ska, and we don't want that). Cruelly overlooked, sadly missed. The Volcanoes.

Cream of Cat Soup

I made that. Which is why it isn't anywhere near as good as the proper art on here. Anyway, let's take a whirlwind run through the remaining volumes in this curious series...


Various Artists - Cream of the Cats Vol. 02 (1991)



A1: Poor Boys - Move Baby Move
A2: Fireball XL5 - Rocking Shoes
A3: G Men - One Woman
A4: Teen Kats - J'en ai Marre
A5: Poor Boys - My Baby Don't Agree
A6: Dancing with the Rebels
B1: Wampas - Wampas
B2: Men from Uncle - Charlie
B3: Men from Uncle - Scratching My Way Out
B4: Men from Uncle - Man With the Ray Eyes
B5: Men from Uncle - Bad Trip
B6: Men from Uncle - I Can't Get Enough


Would you look at that for a compilation arrangement. The words piss and poor spring to mine (no reflection on the content mind, just the ordering). What happened there? "What are we going to do? We've got plenty for the neo side, might even put a bit of effort into keeping the Poor Boys songs apart - only a bit mind, not a lot of effort, working out how to properly space three songs in a list of six is a bit taxing for my tiny mind - but what about the psycho side? We've really made a rod for our own back here" "Well, I've got that Men From Uncle tape - let's stick all them on!"

I'm pretty sure that's how it went, y'know.

Anyway, they could have made more effort to keep the Poor Boys apart - they could have pushed at least one of them off the album. They aren't the greatest and lend the neorockabilly side a lukewarm and anaemic feel, one only enhanced by the not entirely welcome return of Fireball XL5. They bring absolutely nothing new to the table, preferring instead to leave with the cutlery, place settings and a leg each. The G Men do their best to save the side, and are more than partially successful. Ably assisted by the jaunty French bop of the Teen Kats (who appear to be singing about Johnny Marr), they manage to make a success of the side. Those two alone are worth the entrance fee.

Things really pick up on the second side, where a brief blast of Wampas (who seem to have pinched the tune from "Dear Abby" off of Dead Kennedys "Bedtime for Democracy", which is a bit weird) is followed by the aforementioned slab of Men from Uncle. "Charlie" isn't a cover of the grand old Sharks song, rather it is a curious sequel, charting Charlie's release from Borstal (where he was presumably put for chainsawing everyone to bits in the first song). Reasonably clever semi-appropriation of elements of the original make it interesting enough, slapping along pleasingly enough. "Scratching My Way Out" is possibly the peak of the side, a proper psycho high speed rip with rolling drums, a supercharged chorus, and jaunty lyricising involving coffins and being buried alive. How things should be, in other words. The other songs do little to let the side down, veering in and out of rockabilly, psychobilly and mid 80s indie stylings. File under curious and enjoy letting your ears travel through the less travelled avenues of 80s psycho/neo.


Various Artists - Cream of the Cats Vol. 03 (1991)



A1: Stingrays - Slap Bass Boogie
A2: X Invaders - Storm Boys
A3: Boppin' Kids - Fire My Soul
A4: Stringbeans - I'll Cry Instead
A5: Outer Limits - The Chase
A6: Colbert Hamilton - Wow
B1: Boppin' Kids - Go Wild
B2: Colbert Hamilton - Long Black Shiny Car
B3: Stingrays - Radiator Rock
B4: Stringbeans - Total Jerk
B5: X Invaders - Lover Boy
B6: Outer Limits - Tell Me


Don't get excited - it's not those Stingrays. Rather, it's the jazzy, swinging, big bandy bunch from the record label that brought you the Lambrettas, Judy Tzuke and Elton John. In short, they aren't very good and have a distinct tendency to the boogie woogie, raising the grim spectre of Jools the no-necked monstrosity Holland. But things very quickly pick up X Invaders and Boppin' Kids, blowing the previous approach of one side neo and one side psycho out of the fetid waters in which it was previously languishing. A distinctly better approaching to song distribution on show, too. Stringbeans and Outer Limits maintain the below the radar psycho rumble before Colbert rocks up with a more than typical straightahead neorockabilly revival that tries far too hard and achieves very, very little. I know that to some people I might be blaspheming, but Colbert Hamilton leaves me cold. Simply not trash enough, really.

Side two messes with the order of the first side, dispelling any notions that the series had changed to having medium grade psycho bookended by overly earnest hollow revivalists. Not as strong as their other entry, it nevertheless clicks along and easily overshadows one of the most obvious covers in the history of covers from Dilbert Hamilton. Putting the next Stingrays effort straight after makes it easier to move the needle along to get to probably the best three songs on the album, closing with a reasonably storming stomp from the Outer Limits. Ignore the names, go for the lesser lights and you won't be disappointed.


Various Artists - Cream of the Cats Vol. 04 (1991)



A1: Stingrays - Don't Break Down
A2: Roughnecks - The Fly
A3: Fireball XL5 - Prison Walls
A4: Boppin' Kids - Love Me Like a Stone
A5: Colbert Hamilton - Ice Cold
A6: Rochee & the Sarnos - Sarno Dictionary
B1: Colbert Hamilton - Long Blonde Hair
B2: Fireball XL5 - The Man With no Name
B3: Roughnecks - Dope Rider
B4: Boppin' Kids - Tainted Love
B5: Colbert Hamilton - Love Me
B6: Rochee & the Sarnos - Sarno Fever


DO get excited, it IS those Stingrays, tearing out of the blocks with one of their finest, catchiest trashabilly pop songs. Makes you wonder if the compilers simply got a bit confused on the last one. Lord knows how they could have thought the two sets of songs were by the same band. An element of the cementhead on show, I feel. It's impossible to dislike the song, and there is a heavy punishment for trying.

The Roughnecks keep things rocking along, and even Fireball XL5 up their game to join in, driven along by a bass that motors along nicely. Boppin' Kids maintain their form from the last instalment, stomping along and keeping the torch burning brightly before Dilbert Hamilton pisses on it and chucks it in the sea whilst it's raining. Still, it's only a minor blip as Rochee comes to the rescue with his Sarnos, taking a gloriously demented and very nearly musical meander through spelling. S for traffic warden, a for antelope, r for rock'n'roll, n for naughty nighties, o for ost-er-ich, s for sometimes, put them altogether and what have you got? SARNOS! S for sarno, a for sarno, r for sarno, n for sarno, etc. I could carry on, and to be honest it would be more fun than having to type about Dilbert and his next effort. O for sarno, s for sarno. Skipping right along.

Fireball XL5 happily continue in the vein of the other side rather than the other album, Roughnecks chip in with a solid little rocker, and the Boppin' Kids launch into a surprisingly worthwhile cover of "Tainted Love" before Dilbert stinks the place out for a third time. A lesson in how and what to cover is handed to Dilbert on a plate by the Boppin' Kids, along with his arse and his dignity. Once more Rochee is called on to save the day, something he and his Sarnos do in fine style. Having previously reinvented spelling, they show that there really is no end to their talents by reinventing the concept of singing. It really is something for your grateful ears to behold.

So, four albums in, they'd just got the hang of how to arrange a compilation, they'd hopefully discovered that sometimes more than one band can have the same name, and they packed in. It's probably for the best really, but there really are some often overlooked slices of good old fashioned trash to be had on these albums. The stuff you know, you know, the stuff you don't may just give you a happy surprise (unless it's by Dilbert, of course). Go on, be a gambler, click in the comments. At the very least you'll walk away with a stormer of a Stingrays song and a lesson in spelling from Rochee.

Lost Soultastic

I said I was in a Lost Souls mood, didn't I? Well, I'm cheating a little bit...


Stage Frite - Island of Lost Souls (1989; Link)

1: Island of Lost Souls
2: Pink & Black
3: Noises (Ain't 'arf Weird)
4: One Last Dream
5: Bad Moon Rising
6: Black Magic
7: Slippin' In
8: The Ripper
9: Take the Money and Run
10: Searchin'
11: Let's Play House
12: Freight Train

Well, the album title is right, at least. Incidentally, the song is nothing to with the Tall Boys tune of the same name. It's not quite as good, either, but that's hardly a damning indictment, given the marvelosity of the Tall Boys. Indeed, the album as a whole is a juicy little slice of classic Psychobilly. Wider opinion seems somewhat split on Stage Frite, with one psychobilly site being somewhat less than entirely complimentary, citing "boring fillers" and "usual cover versions". I wouldn't be entirely sure if they were listening to the same album, if it wasn't for the fact that they get their track recommendations pretty much spot on, even if they do neglect to mention the rockin' and rattlin' good time that is "Let's Play House" under the highlight heading. Even the covers are generally pleasing, fitting the album well and hardly giving rise to thoughts of a band stuck for something to do and padding things out with half-arsed run throughs of other people's songs.

All in all, you can't go wrong with a bit of Stage Frite. It appears to have garnered itself some form of extended CD reissue, which you should clearly buy, but here it is in all its original vinyl glory (complete with the very original skip, sorry about that. Just adds to the charm, really). Be a good mutant and open up the comments and get clicking.

You'll have to wait for the actual Lost Souls - I feel an impromptu half day off coming on tomorrow, so you never know.

'art attack

See that art up there? It's cracking, that's what it is. As is the art over on the Mutant Brain. I know I've said it before - I'll say it again and I'll keep on saying it.

Anyways, that's the handiwork of one Mister Andy Hart, hence the rather laboured splendid play on words in the thread title. And you should click on that link to enquire about viewing his wider portfolio (there is no way of saying that to make it sound not rude), proffering commissions, making requests, or just generally bombarding him with fanmail. The link'll be added over on the left there, so there's really no need to print this post off and glue it to the wall behind your monitor. Besides, that wouldn't really be much use anyway as you'd be hard pushed to click the link on a piece of paper.

Support your local Hartistic genius. Even if he isn't actually local.