November 16, 2004 by A.S. Van Dorston

The thread title is a quote from Uncut‘s review of The Sound * The BBC Recordings (Renascent) 1980-85, and audaciously featured prominently on the cover sticker. Actually, I added the Interpol in there, because it seems that nearly everyone on Myspace lists them as a favorite. Which is great, I think they’re an excellent band, with incredible taste in influences. However, because of the band’s reluctance to be straightforward about acknowledging those influences, they’re missing an opportunity to turn their audience on to some great music. Lazy journalists and critics always trot out the same old lazy comparisons to Joy Division and Echo & The Bunnymen, and maybe fleeting references to The Cure and The Smiths in reviews of their first album. Yet there’s so much more, including Mission Of Burma, Josef K, Magazine, early Simple Minds, Wah!, The Names, Blue Orchids, Psychedelic Furs, Teardrop Explodes, The Chameleons, Comsat Angels, and most significantly, The Sound.

While it’s possible the band were not originally aware of The Sound, their similarities in dynamics, song structures and vocal stylings are uncanny. They were an incredible band that fans of any of the above mentioned bands simply should not go another day without checking out. Despite being fairly unknown, theyre ingrained into the history of punk and post-punk. As The Outsiders, Adrian Borland and band released the first independent full-length London punk album, Calling On Youth in June 1977 on their own Raw Edge label. The band wrote and performed the material the previous year, prior to their exposure to the Sex Pistols, and it reflected their obsession with the Velvet Underground and The Stooges (whose Iggy Pop joined them onstage at the Roxy during a performance of Raw Power). The bands lack of popular success had more to do with the length of their hair and their education than the quality of their music. After releasing another lost-to-the world album, Close Up in 1978, the band broke up.

Taking Graham (Bailey) Greene with him, Borland immediately formed The Sound, recordingProgaganda in 1979, which wasnt released until 2002 by Rensascent. Bits of Patti Smith Band and Roxy Music has seeped in, and Greenes aggressive bass pre-dates Peter Hooks similar work in Joy Divisions debut, Unknown Pleasure released several months later. Borland admits, however, that the album was a huge influence on his later work with The Sound.

In addition to Interpol, traces of The Sound can be heard in The Stills, Longwave and Elbow, should definitely check them out. Additionally, Borland recorded under the name Second Layer, a more synth-based album, World Of Rubber (Cherry Red UK) in 1981.

Click here for my reviews of their other albums.

Jeopardy (Korova/Renascent) 80
From The Lions Mouth (Korova/Renascent) 81
All Fall Down (Korova/Renascent) 82
Heads And Hearts (Statik/Renascent) 85

Posted in: Rants