DISPLAYING perfect symmetry, this compendium of 45 short, sharp shocks from the "demo cassette generation" opens and closes with the same band, The Kamikaze Pistols – or The Kamikaze Sex Pistols as the Norwich combo call themselves second time round – singing of listening to Tears For Fears records.
Theirs are the best numbers, especially when "Sharon's mum" tells her, "Darling, it's Cherry Red Records. They want you to go to London and record some songs while you're still tortured and angst-ridden".
That applies to plenty of the independent women, girl bands and post-punk pop singers gathered from 1979-1986, with a possible Kamikaze dig at Tracey Thorn, represented in her Marine Girls days with Hate The Girl, a song as catty, ugly and awkward as its title.
You would hear these alt.love songs on John Peel's late-night shift, and some acts, Mari Wilson, Strawberry Switchblade, Dolly Mixture, for example, progressed from DIY releases, while the unreleased demos excavated here keep up the independent spirit.
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