THE POP GROUP We Are Time LP Rough Trade POST-PUNK MINT
$
33
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Description
The Pop Group -- We Are Time LP
Original 1980 UK release on Y Records/Rough Trade (UK) (catalog # Y 5 / ROUGH 12, run-off grooves say "A PORKY PRIME CUT" & "PORKY" & "BREATHE DEEP BREATHE HIGH" & "BREATHE LIFE DON'T BREATHE A LIE"), with generic black cover (as issued with all copies of this LP). AMG Review: Some artists churn out records for decades and leave behind little of significance. Others record little and leave a substantial legacy. The Pop Group belongs in that second category, releasing two studio albums and the odds-and-ends collection We Are Time during a three-year life span. When it becomes de rigueur to call an obscure band "seminal," it's worth reiterating why that band is important and reinvesting the cliché with some meaning. The Pop Group was among a handful of acts that harnessed the energy of punk, truly recognized the possibilities it opened up, and took music in exciting directions. The band used punk's back-to-basics ethos as a springboard for experimentation with funk, dub, and jazz, blending dance rhythms and rock in ways that continue to inspire artists. They also politicized rock with an intensity and urgency that put rebel poseurs like the Clash to shame. In addition to different versions of already available tracks, We Are Time features previously unreleased live, studio, and radio-session material. Demos from 1978 like "Trap" and "Sense of Purpose" display the frenetic rhythms, jagged guitars, and free jazz inclinations that would be further explored on the 1979 debut album. Taken to the brink by Mark Stewart's wailing vocals and Gareth Sager's squalling sax, the searing "We Are Time" and the staccato punk-funk rush of "Thief of Fire" show the band was as strong live as in the studio. The unlikely standout is "Amnesty Report" -- an alternate version of a 1979 B-side -- featuring Stewart's shouted recitation of an "Amnesty International Report on British Army Torture of Irish Prisoners" set to a fierce, heavily funky soundtrack. The Pop Group's official studio releases alone contained a wealth of musical ideas that still resonate. We Are Time simply confirms that the "seminal band" clichés are justified.Trouser Press: These abrasive, militant British punks rage against racism, oppression, hunger and anything else that's a world problem; as usual, there's no solution, only anger. The seminal Bristol band synthesizes Beefheartian structures and tribal dance beats to create a didactic soundtrack that barely lets you breathe. Their two primary albums are alternately brilliant and intolerable, with exhortatory songs like "Feed the Hungry," "Rob a Bank" and "Communicate." We Are Time collects outtakes, live tracks and other assorted items.
Despite the limitations of their own records, the Pop Group made their influence strongly felt, both as credible rock minimalists ahead of their time and via the members' subsequent musical ventures. Bassist Simon Underwood helped found Pigbag; multi-instrumentalist Gareth Sager formed Rip Rig + Panic; singer Mark Stewart is well known under his own name.
Tracks:
- A1 Trap A2 Thief Of Fire A3 Genius Or Lunatic A4 Colour Blind A5 Spanish Inquisition B1 Kiss The Book B2 Amnesty Report B3 Springer B4 Sense Of Purpose B5 We Are Time Sources: Trap - demo 78 Thief of Fire - live Electric Ballroom 79 Genius or Lunatic - live Brussels 78 Color Blind - demo 78 Spanish Inquisition - live 79 (no venue listed) Kiss the Book - John Peel Session 78 Amnesty Report - Foel Studios 79 Sense of Purpose - demo 78 We Are Time - live Glastonbury 79
grade only used if record is brand new.
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