DECEIT

An historically important album that received virtually no notice or attention at the time of its release, this post-punk classic found musicians Charles Hayward and Charles Bullen collaborating with friend (and untrained-musician) Gareth Williams to create this album in the confines of their own former-manufacturing plant-converted-to-recording studio. The musicians say that at the time they were making this album they had a firm belief that they were going to die. The tired, angry, angst-filled "post-punk" spirit informs each and every one of these cynical, disconsolate creations. Very critical of social political forms, trends, and events of the time.

1. "Sleep" (2:15) (4.5/5)

2. "Paper Hats" (6:03) amazing bass with crazed Eno/Heads/Belew-like vocal. (9.25/10)

3. "Triumph" (2:56) (9/10)

4. "SPQR" (3:29) group chanting about being Roman over dynamic drums and frenetic rhythm guitar strumming. (8.75/10)

5. "Cenotaph" (4:40) here the band sound like a cross between 1970s BRIAN ENO, TALKING HEADS, GANG OF FOUR, and Bill Laswell's MATERIAL--though perhaps on the bored side due to the affect expressed in the vocal performances. (8.875/10)

6. "Shrink Wrap" (1:41) some traditional tribal African rhythms and chants form the foundation for this. A bit like some of the British bands on Peter Gabriel's first issue of music from his WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) festivals (like XTC). (4.375/5)

7. "Radio Prague" (2:22) with the in-and-out cuts into the voice tracks the band is perhaps trying to convey how sequestered this (at the time) Communist country was (perceived) existing behind the Iron Curtain. (No rating cuz it is no song.)

8. "Makeshift Swahili" (4:05) more pseudo African rhythms and sounds with English words being screamed over the top open this song. After about 1:50, there is a shift into more British musical form (and then another at 2:30 into more punk-like form). Interesting. And creative. (8.75/10)

9. "Independence" (3:43) an interesting form of expression for the choral reading of American Declaration of Independence. Why the music is so plodding and the affect of vocalists so disinterested and tired is curious. (Perhaps they're meant to sound drunk--singing in a pub as one would a sea shanty.) Clever if bewildering. (8.875/10)

10. "A New Kind Of Water" (4:58) bass drum three-beat heart beat with cymbal play, repeated single stroke bass and guitar chord and weird drunken chanting over the top until the two-minute mark when the music gels into something more akin to a rock 'n' roll song. This is obviously a lyrics-driven song; too bad I don't comprehend lyrics. (8.75/10)

11. "Hi Baku Shyo (Suffer Bomb Disease)" (4:04) creepy-weird monster voice noises beneath which an accordion plays an occasional arpeggio or two. Yes, the human vocalizations could be construed as a person dying some horrifically painful death (with flies buzzing around to eat the decaying flesh) as per someone who'd been bombed, napalmed, or even exposed to radioactive fallout, but, really: is this necessary. (8.66667/10)

Total Time: 40:16

This is my first exposure to the existence of this band much less their sound and discography. My impression is that this is an album that sounds totally like another Brian Eno project--maybe with his own musician friends from the 1970s or with members of Talking Heads' expanded format (e.g. Adrian Belew), very oriented to rhythm and lyric not necessarily melody (though chant is a modality often used herein). I really liked this listening experience: the creators have very similar complaints and worries that I've had over the course of my lifetime. Plus, I really appreciate the passionate forms of expression the trio use to make their pleas known. A very powerful, haunting experience. (I haven't been able to get the moods and ideas out of my head since hearing it.) Though musically this may not be a collection of truly masterful songs, as a piece of art expression the truest emotions of the human experience this is spectacular and much appreciated.

After listening to this album for the second and third times I began getting an appreciation for how creative, dedicated, and influential this band was. I feel as if I have a better read on where "post-punk" bands like black midi and Black Country, New Road are coming from.

B/four stars; some incredibly inventive ideas and expressions occasionally marred by lack of musical familiarity or crudity.