The story of UK DIY: 131 experimental underground classics 1977-1985

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91. THE REFLECTIONS
‘Zigzagging’
(Cherry Red, 1981)

Another of Mark Perry’s side projects, The Reflections had him playing alongside Karl Blake of Lemon Kittens, Nag of The Door & The Window, and ATV collaborator Dennis Burns. ‘Zigzagging’ is exemplary of their Slugs & Toads album, a deceptively sprightly pop song framed by lyrics that write male romantic uncertainty into the narrative: “I still zigzag between opti- and pessimism”. There’s a great Roky Erickson cover on this album, which kind of hints at the direction Perry & co were heading, and it’s a right laugh to see the legends at the Die Or DIY blog referring to this in the same breath as Blind Faith: The Reflections as a “DIY supergroup”, indeed.


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92. REPTILE RANCH
‘Saying Goodbye’
(Z Block, 1980)

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Released on Z Block Records, the label run by Spike, who would later join Alison Statton of Young Marble Giants in Francophile pop gang Weekend, Reptile Ranch sit pretty neatly alongside that post-Seeds, post-Nuggets pop-psych arm of UK DIY. A ratty organ and jangly guitars limn a lovely, understated song which still, somehow, bristles with the do it now! energy of its times. Their entire first EP, Animal Noises, is full of such gems, and throughout they play with a confidence that feels well beyond their years. To be honest, sometimes this one makes me wonder whether Z Block might well have been an outpost of Flying Nun – something in the stringy fragility of the sound recalls the Dunedin Double EP.


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93. RIG VEEDA
‘Untitled’
(Cassette Gazette, 1980s)

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As they were associated with the Bi-Joopiter label, Rig Veeda, if they’re thought of at all, often get lumped in with peers like The McTells. But it’s worth remembering that they appeared on compilations with groups like Severed Heads, Instant Automatons and Naffi Sandwich, compilations such as Cassette Gazette, from which this untitled song is culled. Rig Veeda have a spaciousness that betrays their grounding in experimental music, even as songs like this pivot on the simplest of chord changes – it’s no surprise that they covered The Velvet Underground’s ‘Sunday Morning’ on their first cassette. Not sure of the provenance of this compilation, by the way – I’m guessing it’s not part of the series started by Jim Haynes in the ‘70s, and the only intriguing reference I can find connects the compilation with the Tham Tham label from the Netherlands, who were connected with Ding Dong crew (see the Van Kaye & Ignit 5LP anthology on Vinyl-On-Demand for more) and Mekanik Kommando. Can anyone help out?


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94. ROYSTON
‘Gerald’s Eyes’
(Tuzmadoner, 1979)

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From the Shish 7” EP, where Royston and The Different Eyes share one side each of an archetypal DIY single (with, apparently, the “worst record sleeve ever”, according to no less an expert than John Peel, though I’m sure he saw much worse through the ‘80s). Both bands are great but I’m handing the award to ‘Gerald’s Eyes’, at least in part due to the hilarious bluntness of the vocal delivery, dressing down a sociopath in the most unprepossessing way. Thanks to Johan Kugelberg’s DIY list, we now know that Simon Gilham, the contact on the record sleeve, ended up in Colin Newman’s group. Interesting how such an arch, art-school gang as Wire had so many connections in the DIY netherworld.


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95. SARA GOES POP
‘Arab O’Habab Of Arabia’
(It’s War Boys!, 1982)

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So you’re getting sick of It’s War Boys! cropping up here, regular as clockwork. But when you’re making records as deliriously warped as this, which somehow manage to keep one foot firmly within the known reality of the pop song, you’ve pretty much hit the DIY motherlode. All eight songs on the Sara Goes Pop double 7” are great, but ‘Arab O’Habab Of Arabia’ ties down what makes the record so appealing: a strangely denuded non-production, Sara’s strained, warbly voice, the re-appearance of Amos on meandering bass.


96. THE SCARS
‘Adult/ery’
(Fast Product, 1979)

Back to Scotland for this one. The Scars would later release an overlooked album, Author! Author!, on PRE, but they never bettered their debut single, ‘Adult/ery / Horrorshow’, which seemed to take off from where the Gang Of Four might have gone after their excellent debut single, without the Marxist dialectic, but with truckloads more pop smarts. Thanks to their connections with Bob Last, The Scars ended up touring with labelmates The Human League, which would have been one hell of a cognitively dissonant line-up. Sampled by Lemon Jelly, as if that matters to anyone.


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97. SCISSOR FITS
‘I Wish I Hadn’t Shaved My Pubic Hair Off’
(Dubious, 1978)

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If you want to get to grips with the social ineptitude of some of the DIY crew, lyrics like “I’m lonely and horny” are pretty much bang on the money. The Scissor Fits released two great singles, the songs on which give them the dubious honour of the best song titles in DIY – a mantle they share with Danny & The Dressmakers. This song is from their Taut? Tense? Angular? & Other British Rail Sandwiches EP; make sure you hunt down their classic anti-work rant “I Don’t Want To Work For British Airways”, which, if I remember rightly, also turns up on the great Labels Unlimited compilation Cherry Red released in the late 1970s. (Which reminds me, how did I miss I Jog & The Tracksuits?)


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98. THE SCROTUM POLES
‘Helicopter Honeymoon’
(One Tone, 1980)

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Tayside represent! From their only single, Revelation, though 2009 saw the release, finally, of a great retrospective LP, Auchmithie Forever, on Dulc-I-Tone. (There’s a cassette from 1979, Auchmithie Calling, as well.) One of the quintessential Scottish DIY bands, The Scrotum Poles laid waste to Dundee with their most excellent, crackly, energised take on post-mod/punk DIY pop – many mention the Television Personalities, which kind of makes sense (particularly given the group themselves yell “DIY! We love the Television Personalities!” on the record sleeve), though they’re actually a good deal more ‘together’ than, say, the TVPs’ ’14th Floor’. And just as great.


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99. VIC SERF & THE VILLAINS
‘The New Faeces’
(It’s War Boys!, 1983)

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My God, this tape! Jim Welton of The Homosexuals let loose in Chris Gray’s studio and the result is one of the strangest, most unsettling of the post-Homosexuals projects (and there are a few of those). ‘The New Faeces’ wins out for having, perhaps, the best title on the cassette (though ‘Yes, Psychoanalysis’ comes a close second); it’s also one of the lovelier moments on Rok-Y-Roll, a gentle clatter for distant percussion, and rattling guitar, which again, seems somehow to bring together folk reels and the trebly sting of lingala. Nice denouement for warped cassettes and proto-electro drum machine, too.


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100. NANCY SESAY & THE MELODAIRES
‘C’est Fab’
(It’s War Boys!, 1982)

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Give it up for Nancy Sesay, aka Janey Haggar, part-responsible for one of the highpoints of UK DIY endeavour. With executive production by ‘The Dandy Horses’ (right), ‘C’est Fab’ somehow manages to move through so many moods in its four-and-a-half minutes: the aerated, giddy confusion of the introductory minute; the descent into madness that leads us into the chant of “c’est fab” – watch out for that blast of noise that sends your ears out somewhere close to Merzbow’s barnyard, where he’s working on his Hello Kitty collection; and moments of music hall strangeness…There are few collectives who’ve covered quite so much territory, in such an offhanded way, as The Homosexuals crew. And we’re not done with them yet, either…