AA is another romantic story of a band who went into the studio in the early 80's and recorded a perfect little post punk EP in an edition of something like 500. It got into enough hands of people who never forgot them...even making it to the US, and into the “International Discography Of The New Wave"....anyway the whole huge story is on AA's myspace.It's one of those bands like Beyond the Implode...they were just making what they wanted for no one...it just happened to age really well. I have to say AA is exactly what you wanted the early 80's to sound like. Kind of dark, minimal, not relying on the synth too much, still rock and guitar based. The guitar tones are wavering... distorted...like this era Cure. I'm amazed to think the only things they had were chains of pedals to come up with this...but to use it like Gang of Four, or the Wire is of course as we all know now...is timeless. This easily slides in alongside that era.
It's everything that makes the new wave of this era sound so interesting to me. I'm pretty ignorant of it, so when a reissue like this comes around and the few tracks on the myspace are this interesting. There have to be other overlooked documents like this... then I'm in.
I don't think punk, for me anyway, really has the same relevance...this new wave still sounds contemporary. I think the good and bad thing about punk rock, is how tied it was to it's own politics. You had to live punk, it was a part of your daily life...there was nothing casual about it. You knew who else liked it immediately...and I'm even talking about the various aftershocks of punk...let's face it I don't even know what it was like to actually be there, but I think that msic is more about the scene and attitude then the songs...maybe that's obvious to everyone, but it's what always holds it back for me.
'Suicide Fever' is a great great song, no one has sounded this depressed, he's got a talking low almost Peter Murphy, Ian Curtis voice, that of course makes every one of these songs.
This is available from the usual mailorder distro's, Fusetron, Aquarius, etc and from Softspots myspace.
Softspot music is proud to present its flagship release, a limited reissue of the Essential Entertainment EP by Belgian band AA. Originally released in 1981 by Sexy Robot Records and limited to 900 copies, Essential Entertainment is an unrecognized gem of the early post-punk era. A unique and compelling sense of restless dread and frustration emanates from their stuttering grooves, spiky guitar arpeggios, and disturbed mutter-to-shout vocals. The music is clearly inspired by its peers: Joy Division, the Fall, and label mates the Cultural Decay. Essential Entertainment was AA's first and only release. Softspot will be releasing a limited pressing of 500 copies.
Podcast this week, Episode 57 (14min, 13mb) is part two of the interview with Hussy. I talked with Bobby about the split 7" with Sleeping in the Aviary. How you can't seem to get arrested in Madison, what's it's like recording with Heather, how they write a song, Justin from In The Red that mastered their single, and how people tell them they need a bassplayer.
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