This time on the reviews page you get the ‘ sneering psychedelic punk ‘ of VR SEX, the reissue of the very first Oi! compilation album now forty five years old, and the ‘Dark-techno, industrial’ of Fake Youth Cult. Read what we thought and have a listen below.
VR Sex – Hard Copy
Dais Records
This is a dense slice of post punk industrial painted grey. The music is hard and layered, loads of guitars, loose bass and drums pounding away. The vocal sounds like Hugh Cornwell which isn’t ever a bad thing. In fact the more I listen the more I think of the Stranglers. Probably no one else in the world will but I can see it. It’s got a real sense of menace running underneath the songs, a sense of being a little wrong, a bit skewed. If post punk is your bag then this will fit right in.
Various – Oi! the Album
Captain Oi!
Starts with the Cockney Rejects telling us they all stink of shit then running through the backstreets fighting shouting Oi Oi OI!. Then it batters its way through seventeen street punk blown out nasty songs , funny, violent and real. It’s them, working class and pissed off, against the world. The best songs on it are the Cockney Rejects, Angelic Upstarts injecting politics into the mix and the brilliant Cock Sparrer who’s slice of life song about a stripper is wonderful. Nowadays this is all history I suppose but back when it came out this was seen as dangerous and stamped on by most of the music press, except for Sounds and Gary Bushell who were responsible for the whole thing. Well worth getting hold of if for nothing else but the best guitar solo ever by The Postmen.
Fake Youth Cult – White Light/Black Noise
Shipwrec
This is a throbbing, muffled, dense synth monster. The beats are echoed by noise, the techno feel is drowned by EBM style movement and stomping. The EBM feel is then strangled by the synths and squelches, it’s a confusion but it all masses together so well. The last eight minute track is the focus for the album with it’s growth from teeny tiny noises into beats strong enough to dance to and then a gurning hard house beat going faster and faster. It’s a great collection of sound.
Do The Strum! – Joe Meek’s Girl Groups and Pop Chanteuses 1960-1966
Cherry Red Records
This is a compilation from the Joe Meek Tea Chests. An almost mythical collection of tapes with little or no indexing that for years were just a story. Then Cherry Red bought them and are drip feeding the contents to us. The girl band singles and recordings here span form the start to half way through the sixties and go from the typically pop feel of the fifties with swooning strings, sad crooning, perky guitars and spunky vocals through to psychedelic pop of the middle of the decade with stronger lyrics and more intricate sounds. Not many of the acts here would record more than singles as Joe Meek went on to other projects, which is a shame because his genius can be found in the three CDs here bursting to come out and take over. I am a sucker for the girl bands produced by Phil Spector and although no one here quite touches the Ronettes there are moments when they are close. A great collection.
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VR Sex are on Instagram and Bandcamp.
Captain Oi!s website is captainoi.com, they are also on Facebook.
Fake Youth Cult are in Bandcamp.
Cherry Red’s website is www.cherryred.co.uk, they are also on Facebook and Instagram.
All words by Adrian Bloxham.
