UK DECAY \/ SEX GANG CHILDREN
\nA NIGHT FOR CELEBRATION – UK Decay Records and NAKED – Sex Gang Cassette.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that I want to call Steve Sutherland a festering old hippy or anything, but when he reviewed the so-so Batcave album he tried to allay people\u2019s fears by saying no-one should imagine that if they don\u2019t like this music it\u2019s because they might be too old.
\nNow while I\u2019d go along with his review of that and \u201cThe Whip\u201d, with reservations, I would say that he\u2019s got that wrong.<\/p>\nI\u2019ll just write Methuselah on a postcard and staple it to his dislocated ears.<\/p>\n
These Whipcave items show a slight cross-section in poor surroundings. It\u2019s post-punk\/Ant Soldiers With Travel music, but including far too much dross. No, what annoys me is the way that this area of music has had far too few supportive writers involved compared to other areas, so that the bias, taken in context, given in reviews, has always been over-critical.The importance of these two bands illustrates my point. Decay were, and Sex Gang are, regarded as more than simple anomalies. Not quite ancient ruins like most post-punk bands, not inane and dayglo bright enough to be pop mildew, they are hamstrung and hung out to dry for sounding shrill, supposedly doom-ridden (never hurt Joy Division!) and looking \u201csilly\u201d!<\/p>\n
The Decays and Sex Gangs of this world keep a rebellious streak in their music and lifestyles, accumulate their own lyrical themes and imagery and develop their own music with the original energy of the \u2018first\u2019 punk sortie. Slumbering oxen like The Banshees are held up to be acceptable, but are fast being overtaken by a younger generation of bands who don\u2019t wallow. Unfortunately too many people choose a sedate path, happy with what they know, ignoring the jewels and lumping for paste.<\/p>\n
Decay\u2019s life was a potent one, but facing a straight line on a graph they called it a day, and this album-length cassette catches their very last performance at the Klub Foot where they promised, \u201cit may be sad, but the best is yet to come.\u201dThe whole gig\u2019s here and apart from the disorientating effect that onstage echo has on my tape recorder, it\u2019s a pristine sound. Nice clear vocals, deep twangy bass, striking drumming and flowery, expressive guitar; the Decay hallmarks.<\/p>\n
It represents all periods of their career and the exhumed \u2018UK Decay\u2019, their first (split) single and \u2018Black cat\u2019, their second, sound every bit as exciting as \u2018Werewolf\u2019, their final vinyl.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sexual\u2019, \u2018Stagestruck\u2019 and \u2018Rising From The Dead\u2019 are all powerful, all glowing, \u2018barbarian\u2019 and \u2018Barbarians\u2019 taut but prickly, \u2018Dresden\u2019 (slightly messy) tempts, \u2018Unexpected Guest\u2019 tantalises and \u2018Testament\u2019, my favourite, rouses like nothing on Earth.<\/p>\n
The influences for many of today\u2019s new band are clear enough to see as Decay virtually single-handedly kept the old passion course (fostered by pre-CBS Ants) on line and won the audience\u2019s devotion and blossomed fast.<\/p>\n
Sex Gang\u2019s cassette (re-released after twelve months, and re-mixed) was their first item ever and includes some very early performances. Remember they were one of the bands that came in Decay\u2019s shadow and were helped by that band and like cay each of the four departments has a recognisable sound which is always a sing of a band\u2019s quality.<\/p>\n
Here it comes over as powerful and distinguished considering it was such an early stage in their existence, and has the added edge of being raw.<\/p>\n
All the hits and more basically\u2026\u2019Into The Abyss\u2019, \u2018Sense Of Elation\u2019, \u2018Kill Machine\u2019, \u2018Shout And Scream\u2019, all the ripped up songs throbbing together. Fond memories (!) of the impact that \u2018Beasts\u2019 had at those early gigs and a chance to hear three tracks unavailable elsewhere, although two may crop up on the new \u2018Sebastianne\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018Salvation\u2019, the glistening gladiator, \u2018Solider\u2019 brimming with mixed guitar brands and brutish drumming and finally, \u2018People With Dirty Faces\u2019 is a real neck-ricker.<\/p>\n
How people can stand back and laugh with haughty disdain at such magnificence puzzles me. Maybe you need an urgent heart in place of a pacemaker because this area is the most resounding of all. Basically it\u2019s because people are too old and they\u2019re getting \u2018older\u2019 these days when they\u2019re younger!<\/p>\n
Sprightly young things should be most able to find the Sex Gang cassette most places but for Decay\u2019s wake try Rough Trade. Try it before the ageing process begins.<\/p>\n
(Melody Maker)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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UK DECAY \/ SEX GANG CHILDREN A NIGHT FOR CELEBRATION – UK Decay Records and NAKED – Sex Gang Cassette. It\u2019s not that I want to call Steve Sutherland a festering old hippy or anything, but when he reviewed the so-so Batcave album he tried to allay people\u2019s fears by \u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":76,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"templates\/template-threecolumns-center.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":967,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/967"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}