Various Artists: Bristol – The Punk Explosion (Bristol Archives)

Bristol Archive Records is my new favourite record label. Their sole reason for existence is to preserve the punk/post-punk musical history of Bristol. This compilation is almost perfect. For a start, this was the first time I’d listened to a punk compilation where I didn’t already know every song.

I grew up listening to punk compilations and samplers and mix tapes, and this is the first one that I’ve heard where the actual sequencing of the tracks made any sense. On The Punk Explosion, the tracks are ordered chronologically, starting in 1977 (naturally) and ending in ’83, this makes sense because it shows the development of the punk sound. We start off with some Buzzcockian poppy love songs (“she’s my choc ice”?!) and finishes with the birth of hardcore and thrash (Chaos UK and Onslaught, respectively).

What this album does best is present the Bristol scene as a microcosm of the punk scene in general. On an ordinary compilation, The Clash or Stiff Little Fingers would represent political punk, Dead Kennedys would be your dose of hardcore and X-Ray Spex would be the only female-fronted band. On this record those bands are replaced with 48 Hours, The Undead and Vice Squad.

By limiting the record’s scope to a very specific geographic location, Bristol Archive Records have avoided rehashing the same old bands and I’ve had a chance to listen to music by bands I’d only heard of from staring at the patches on other people’s clothes at gigs. Before Bristol Archive Records, the punk compilation wasn’t dead, but it was stagnant. Check this out if you like your music short, fast and loud. 9/10

Daniel Shields

Taken from: http://www.tastyfanzine.org.uk/albums98may10.htm#VariousArtistsBristolThePunkExplosion

VARIOUS ARTISTS
BRISTOL – THE PUNK EXPLOSION
Bristol Archive Records

This is a highly commendable compilation, as you should expect from this label, with some interesting bands, which is harder to achieve with Punk material than you may realise. Punk compilations tend to be fairly orthodox nowadays, and after a while almost pointless, the same material endlessly regurgitated, but having a regional niche to explore gives this a character of its own, with the timeline aspect fairly unnecessary. It’s a snapshot stretched out over whatever frame you might wish for. Like the wonderful hyped2death releases Bristol Archive continues to intrigue and captivate with their diligent work, so you should enjoy this if you’re an adept at discerning Punk varieties, but also for the newcomer it’s a pretty diverting mixture. Some you will love swiftly, some will make you feel sick. This is all to be expected, and while you could argue some bands deserve more or less space than others, that’s a personal argument. The weirdest part, as with pretty much any Punk compilation, is just how cute it all sounds. There’s also one of the greatest punk songs ever quivering on the autopsy table, which you may be unaware of.

With cuteness under scrutiny The Cortinas are coyly puffing their puny chests out throughout the jingly-jangling ‘Defiant Pose’, which originally felt like a breath of fresh air but now appears to be gerbils covering Dr Feelgood. The voice of rebellion ladies and gentlemen! The Pigs spin into view with ‘National Front’, complete with some shockingly inane lyrics, but then I thought this was dopey old tripe when I first heard it. In fact this was about the only one of the first indie punk singles I didn’t buy, at a time when you bought pretty much everything which came within reach. Even that Clark Kent thing, or Pork Dukes. Luckily Social Security’s ‘I Don’t Want My Heart To Rule My Head’ is made of sterner stuff, albeit determinedly one-dimensional, as agile and chunky guitar disports itself alongside some spirited, ambitious vocals. The Pigs partially redeem themselves with the ironically callous ‘Youthanasia’, complete with a guitar break that wouldn’t exhaust a flea. Social Security could be attempting a cheeky Buzzcocks impersonation in ‘Choc Ice’ but come over as a lopsided version of The Boys, which is okay as their guitar is bright and vivid.

The Posers pound away at the yappingly gumboid ‘Good Advice’ which is a cross between UK Subs and some early hardcore, with neatly slithering bass. It would appear The Media recorded ‘New Blood’ inside a thimble decorated with Gen X posters where they sound tiny, stylishly constricted and a bit demented. It’s bizarre hearing something so oddly recorded it seems to be trapped inside the speakers, and yet it’s fun! The Primates have a live version of ‘Generation Warfare’ and this is a rough and tumble engagingly delivered with punky verve which isn’t squalid or aping others. The X-Certs also blare their way through the jiggling ‘Fight Back’ with some vivacity, at which point we reach The Great Moment.

One of the finest independent punk releases appeared on the ‘4 Alternatives EP’, a song by 48 Hours entitled ‘Back To Ireland.’ I lost my copy a while back but here we have a demo version of it, called ‘A Soldier’ and Ange, whoever he was, is a brilliant lyricist, detailed but direct, with the band, fittingly enough, close in style to Stiff Little Fingers without any hectoring aspect. Passionate but straightforward, this is almost modest in its excitement. I can’t work out all of the words but I felt it necessary to type out what I can, as this is so good compared to most of the dross punk bands used to come up with, especially the ‘have-you-got-10p?’ merchants who were everywhere back then.

“In 1969 I was just twelve years of age,
I didn’t know I was sent to act out on Britain’s great stage,
I had six years to go,
To play with my toy tommy gun,
It took one shot in the leg,
To prove that this isn’t much fun.

“Cos they said I’m going to Ireland,
I got to fight for my life
I’ve got to fight for Britain,
Using rifles and knives.”

(May have that last line slightly wrong.)

“1975, eighteen years have passed,
Eighteen years I’ve been here,
I hope this won’t be my last.
Standing in long lines with rifles in our hands
I crush them up with my big boots…

(Can’t make these words out properly.)

“Cos they said I’m staying in Ireland, for the next 18 months
A British army corporal
Once signed on at once
Cos they said I’m going to Ireland (etc).”

Guitar spiral off wonderfully in discontent at this point, over thumping drums, as we hit the best bit.

“How I wish I was back in the office,
Leaving off work at four-thirty
And here I am, in the Lansdowne Road.
I’m cold, I’m wet, I’m dirty.
The army just ain’t for me,
Guns and barbed wire is all I see
I’ve just got to leave this post,
I’ll ditch all my stuff
…and I’ll run for the coast.

“And I never wanted to come here anyway!”

That final touch of petulant post-Pistolian wit nails the perfect song, seemingly throwaway but an actual spark of emphatic genius. Bliss.

The Verdict keep the Irish theme going through a bustling ‘IRA Man’ that reminds me strangely of The Pirates as though they have an r’n’b past, and the carefully emphasised vowels are simply too Rottenesque to be taken seriously, while the guitarist just wants to go on soloing forever! The X-Certs do their convincing reggae in ‘Stop The Fussing And The Fighting’ which has spry touches, and comes over as soothing. Then it’s none other than Vice Squad who charge off in ‘Resurrection’ and here’s a band we could have done with more of. They always had a crazed energy about them and like many of the more exciting bands of that time their energy seemed to have been poured into a fragile shape you expected to shatter, but somehow they’d always seem to surf their own slipstream, round and round, up and down.

That’s the good stuff and then we’re into the bowels of Hell, I’m afraid. Disorder’s ‘Complete Disorder’ is some form of rakish shorthand I’m sure, like low level sonic suicide. Mad and bad they keep the right side of thrash or the plain scrappy, and trail off coldly. Chaos UK offer a fairly identikit sub-anarcho rant in ‘Four Minute Warning’ and represent the kind of earnest but dog-eared, dog-tired Punk I never found remotely exciting or endearing. I suppose they sound pretty decent when set against Court Martial and their slack ‘Gotta Get Out’ but it’s a close run thing as both bore you senseless. The Undead want to complain about the world in ‘It’s Corruption’, as the police and the army are very naughty and apparently corruption destroys freedom of speech and drives people to do crazy things. Their drummer is truly awful. Lunatic Fringe ask ‘Who’s In Control?’ and I think they’re genuinely confused. Chaotic Dischord scamper through the utterly abysmal ‘Who Killed E.T? (I Killed The Fucker!)’ and you have to ask why this garbage was even allowed on the record. Onslaught think they’re Motorhead and gargle through the terminal ‘Thermo Nuclear Devastation Of The Planet Earth’ as I gaze around the office trying to summon up the enthusiasm to leave this chair. At least it’s a short song, but that final phase of the record is a weird thing. Punk started off exciting, developed character and then become a generic heap of shite. The record reflects that, I guess.

While you should find the majority of the album enjoyable, and can simply ignore the final tracks, this is a compilation worth buying for the mighty 48 Hours alone. That’s a total classic and it’s fantastic to be reunited with it again.

http://bristolarchiverecords.com/index.html

Taken from www.mickmercer.com  

TEMPLE
SEDUCTION
Bristol Archive Records

This is great, a Goth band finally cropping up in the Bristol Archive menagerie and not a band I had heard before. Luckily Ian Pirrie provides some detailed memories on their page of the discog section. The songs come from the ‘86/’87 period and here we find Matthew Butler – vocals, Ian Pirrie – bass, John Murray – drums and Adrian Bennett – keyboards and then guitar (who went onto Claytown).

They’ve got a brash confidence about their sound, with the boney bass protruding and the vocals in the tiny ‘Intro’ just an instrument by itself, and so it’s in ‘Book of Dreams’ we can really settle down. Solid but lightly handled drums mingle with a busy, pretty guitar, the song clean and bright as the muted vocals skirt the instruments wisely. ‘Twilight’ is another delicately balanced song with some interestingly sprung vocals, but what we’re talking about here is demo quality, it’s just they have a very full sense of what the songs should sound like, and have a good stab at creating that, leaving you with a weird Goth sound from that era, including some truly mangled, wiry guitar. Rockier than most late 80’s small Goth bands, but adhering to a sensitive core spirit.

‘Cabaret of Death’ was apparently a crowd favourite, although it’s hard to get to grips with. A linear, loping thing, with charismatic cross-woven vocals, it’s almost coy about its charms, although still stylishly sleek. ‘In Our Darkness’ has a bobblier drum beat, some scurvy guitar laid low by dominant vocal mess and some lovely bass capering but bearing the title in mind you wouldn’t automatically think Goth when first hearing it. The brusque count-in on the very demoish ‘Jewell’ is funny, as they chomp like an easily dented bit of acoustic glam, which probably hoped to seem a bit rock and rolly. It shuffles off rather cheerfully.

A needle-thin guitar opens the bumptious, slippery ‘Seduction’ and we’re finally into some reptilian Goth; dark vocals draped over some taut, angular shapes, with intermittently frisky passages, agile and thorny. ‘Renewal’ has a nicely peaky flow, guitar on a long, glowing fuse and the vocals ensuring the repetition makes the melody emphatic. ‘Lilith’ manages to concentrate on atmosphere instead, with nagging, torn guitar slivers and sinuous bass intrigue behind vocal drama. ‘Spine’ is a bit of a jangling, schizoid weirdness, heartfelt and pushy, but also crouched in basic form. ‘Temple’ is a curiously active little piece which is gone before you know it and maybe a clue of an artier direction they might have taken, with ‘Book of Dreams’ and ‘Renewal’ popping back up for further breath, astutely stark and noble.

Fascinating little record and a real find.

http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/Temple.html

Review taken from the rather brilliant www.mickmercer.com 

V.A.: “THE BEST OF FRIED EGG records (Bristol 1979-1980)” ”
CD
(Bristol archive of records / BristolArchiveRecords.com, release date: 01.) February 2010)
The label “” fried egg records “was 1979 by Andy Leighton, administrator of Bristoler” “Crystal Theatre” established.”” First release was a single Theatre house band SHOES FOR INDUSTRY. The only two-year existence of the label at least saturated 13 singles and 2 albums came in around. Record suspected! 1980 already a first summary was concluded and it appeared which is completely to hear sampler „E(gg)clectic”, with a total of 12 tracks, which originated primarily from said singles and now on this CD in a re-mastered version. During even a limited 7 appeared “inch EP (on white vinyl) named” fried alive 1980 World Tour “”, which was sold to gigs with participation of “FriedEgg”-Bands. “” This EP are bonus track part listen some songs, where the song “” Angels in the rain “was published by THE VICEROYS really just on this EP.” The remaining songs taken from the official singles of the label. When I hear such sampler einfing former atmosphere with all their different styles of music I must think automatically of JOHN PEEL, who was known for extensively to devote particular output of small labels. With him I heard for the first time the WILD BEASTS and their fantastic “” minimum maximum “, what I some years later also on single saw me.” I think I too remember played the FANS because of them I bought their first single “” giving me that look in your eye”.” me sometime These are also the single songs I have detected immediately. What song away has impressed me directly from the place was “” original mixed up kid “of VARIOUS ARTITS (ingenious tape name, by the way!).” A hyper melodischer power pop/ModPunker, whose Refrain without simply in my brain has milled itself and was typical of this time. Bloed, I only find that it simply away has failed to durchzunummerieren the title. The Durchzaehlen nervt a little until then finally has the correct title. Another highlight is certainly “” Johnny runs for Paregoric”by EXPLODING SEAGULLS.” A completely independent “post punk”-style. “” The STINGRAYS can be with “” exceptions ‘the’ C ‘ mon everybody “Bass in a completely different context alive.” “” So easy and yet so great! With, “” Countdown”there will be a further power pop/climax of ModPunk to plague. “” Fit Of Pique”ART OBJECTS skin away from also once one.” At that time at sound new wave electro punk as it had. Impulsive and somewhat come from the track. With the einsA reggae “” Sheepdog trial Inna Babylon”of SHOES FOR INDUSTRY sounds 20 track CD beautiful relaxed from.
( * * * * * )

MOJO ALBUM REVIEW FEB 2010

THE BEST OF FRIED EGG RECORDS

Bristol Archive Records

3/5

First compilation from Bristol’s premier independent label.

This collection from 1979-’80 embodies the almost wilful eclecticism of that post-punk period, with reggae jammed up against disco, indie jangle and art-punk. The lyrics are either critical (“The nuclear bomb is a blunt instrument in the hands of disturbed children”, chide Art Objects on Hard Objects) or whimsical, the sound open and black-influenced. The overwhelming sense is that these groups are playing for the hell of it.

Nobody writes songs like the simultaneously amusing and irritating Invasion of The French Boyfriends are more (thank you, Shoes for Industry). On balance, that is a bad thing. While not essential, this labour of love sheds light on a forgotten time and place-one that is fascinating to consider in terms of what came out of the city 10 years later.

(Jon Savage)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
THE BEST OF FRIED EGG RECORDS (Bristol 1979 – 1980)

 Bristol Archive Records

I think I may well have to interview Mike Darby about this ceaseless flotilla of Bristol memories his label are releasing because I am not aware of any other town-label existing in the UK (Hyped2death in the States do better than labels here), which is doing what they have. There are towns which merit such attention but I don’t think anyone has got round to it. This time they’ve re-released an old compilation, and added extra tracks. I recall this vaguely from first time around, as I do ‘Avon Calling’, although I recall thinking at the time they weren’t a patch on Brighton’s ‘Vaultage’ series, so let’s see if I was a callow youth and hideously wrong. 

Shoes For Industry’s ‘Jerusalem’ is some spry art-funk with magnificent bass, Pete Brandt’s Method do slinkier funakteering with ‘Positive Thinking’ which is easy to tune out rather than drown in. Art Objects do some jaunty indie with a sprig of hi-life in its had. That’s ‘Hard Objects’, then Exploding Seagulls scamper around singing the idiotic, twanging ‘Johnny Runs For Paregoric’ and you want to slap them. Wild Beasts offer fine punky pop in ‘Minimum Maximum’, Shoes For Industry’s (presumably) ironically xenophobic ‘Invasion Of The French Boyfriends’ is momentarily interesting in a surreal Pennies From Heaven style, then it dribbles along endlessly. Yawn. The Various Artists’ ‘Original Mixed Up Kid’ is like a soppy version of The Jam. The Stingrays liven things up with some light-hearted garagey pop in ‘Exceptions’, which the artwork has in the wrong order, The Fans fidget and ooze beneath the ska-reggae clouds of ‘Following You’, then The Various Artists lilt airily through the reggae infused froth of ‘Unofficial Secrets.’ The Untouchables sound just like schoolkids playing r’n’b should in ‘Keep on Walking’, which is fun, and Electric Guitars unravel lustily though the sharp-edged indie jangling of ‘Continental Shelf.’ So not a fabulous collection, although doubtless a decent appraisal of what was happening and available for a compilation at the time. (In other words, I was right.)Naturally the CD and digital version comes stuffed full of extras. Such as these.

The Fans come over all unnecessarily chirpy in the pouting posturing ‘Giving Me That Look in Your Eye’, The Stingrays sound bizarrely puny for such a good band in ‘Countdown’, like a welterweight Carpettes, but Art Objects are pulsating neatly in ‘Fit of Pique’ until the comic timing of the vocals turns out to be awful and drags it down. Electric Guitars splash about fruitily for ‘Health’, with the Viceroys demo for ‘Angels In The Rain’ coming on like a West Country Springsteen, and actually it isn’t bad. The Various Artists create something special and enigmatic in the doomed romance of ‘Stephens Body’, and the quality is sustained by a terse and demented demo for Electric Guitars’ ‘Work’ before Shoes For Industry redeem themselves with the strangely successful dithering of ‘Sheepdog Trial Inna Babylon.’

Taken from www.mickmercer.com

Record Collector Review:

Various Artists – The Best Of Fried Egg Records (Bristol 1979-1980)

Sunny side up, despite a bit of attitude

The Bristol scene always had plenty going for it, from the city’s uniquely West Country vibrancy to the perennial Ashton Court free festival, not to mention its competitive spirit with outlying areas Bath and Warminster’s own punk-inspired agents provocateurs. So if this is a collection of bands now largely forgotten outside of their hometown, it’s still not difficult to hear the multi-cultural urban bohemianism that lit their fires and informed their output.

Andy Leighton’s Fried Egg label, active for the short time span of this compilation’s title, was to the fore of Bristol’s indefatigable and diverse spirit. That possibly the most significant development among the represented bands is that Art Objects morphed into The Blue Aeroplanes is no matter; and let’s neither worry that, like The Crystal Theatre actors troupe, recorded here as ska punk hybrid Shoes For Industry, haranguing us for being “unaware of everything they’ve got prepared” in their anti-politics tirade Jerusalem, these are lyrically of their moment.

Revel in the days when someone could rant about “the economy being a blunt instrument against the poor” and fire up the masses – or at least their corner of the long gone Tiffanys or Carwardines. Provincial punk. Cracking.

Bristol Archive | ARC 119 CD

Reviewed by Ian Abrahams

VARIOUS: “THE BEST OF FRIED EGG RECORDS” (Bristol Archive Records)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Well, it’s old, forgotten music, innit? Turn of the eighties old, the kinda stuff that was being independently released when Ian Dury was giving out reasons to be cheerful, and Ian Curtis was tying his last knot. It was when Punk was becoming New Wave, before Factory invented The Hacienda and Madness wore baggy trousers, and after The Sex Pistols swore on television and Bowie released everything that pissed on his seventies career. It was a time when anything was possible, or seemed so, that was until Bristol got involved and everyone ignored them.

IS IT ANY GOOD?  It was a time of great change and possibilities, a time when everyone could be and wanted to be a rock star. You no longer needed talent, tuneful songs or garish costumes, no, you needed clever managers, shouty songs and dirty ripped up bondage gear, but everyone thought you just needed to get out there and gig gig gig. So they did. In their own cities, with the arbitrary trip to play some London dive that everyone thought was cool. And when you look at it like that, not much has changed. Same shit, different decade, but come on, this is music land, nothing much changes apart from the bands stay the same age and everyone else grows up and gets nostalgic for when they were the same age too.
So that’s the market this compilation is going for. Nostalgics and historians, young bands who need educating on what has come before and those who were around back then but couldn’t find one of the three copies that were pressed at the time.
None of the bands on this compilation were influential, more influenced by what was around them. If you like the New Wave sound and want to discover some bands that were part of what made the Eighties sound the way it did, then check this compilation, it’s worthy of a listen if only to let you know that there have been copyists and bandwagoners around for as long as music has been around.  There’s a difference between being historic and being timeless, and this compilation straddles the former category.
WHERE IS IT? www.bristolarchiverecords.com

Taken form – http://www.unpeeled.net/albums.html

Various artists- The Best of Fried Egg Records (Bristol 1979 – 1980) Review by Rob S

Celebrating the varied fruits of Bristol’s Post punk/punk/pop/etc scene at the tail end of the seventies, ‘The Best Of Fried Egg Records (Bristol 1979-1980)’ does exactly what it says on the tin. At the time, Bristol based Fried Egg records played host to the crème de la crème of local talent (I.e., a slightly bizarre mix of resolutely un-commercial, experimental and idiosyncratic artists of all ages and denominations,) and this collection features a number of the most memorable and oddly compelling acts to emerge from this brief period of convention flouting creativity, including bands such as The Various Artists, Art Objects and brilliantly named Exploding Seagulls.

Yes, this is as strange a listen as you might hear this side of David Lynch’s brain… eccentric, quintessentially British, and an essential listen for those who witnessed the short lived phenomenon first hand, as well as musical historians and music fans who lament the loss of song titles such as ‘Johnny Runs For Paregoric’ and ‘Sheepdog Trial Inna Babylon.’ Like in much music from the period, there’s genius (of a sort) to be found here… let’s pop this one under ‘cult listen/acquired taste’ shall we?Rating Out of 10:

LOVE JUNGLE
Welcome To The House Where The Extras Are Free
Bristol Archive Records

Love Jungle brought out this cheeky album and a decent 12” EP with a lot of other stuff unreleased, which was a shame as they had real potential during the late 80’s indie whirlpool of colliding opposites. Sadly the labels were all looking for dance crossover bands at the time and something like this curiously gritty pop quartet missed out. They’d come out of the excellent Fear Of Darkness where Neil Darby was the guitar lynchpin and Angela had been an interesting addition on backing vocals, and that sense of ebullient melodic control continued here.

‘Wasn’t There Something’ gets whisked initially by frisky darting guitar, then the leisurely grand vocals ascend the sturdy stairs of a confident chorus. A lithe thing it’s all glittery and soft when some more dive-bombing bass and drums would have added real dynamics, but it’s very Popinjays! (This is always A Good Thing.) ‘Am I Good Enough’ is much snappier and with a decent production could have been a hit, but viewed retrospectively it’s a bit weird. Great ideas, sweet song, but the harder element is clearly negated by the winsome elements. ‘Cast Adrift’ bubbles with MTV-friendly guitar nibbles and a sliding gliding feel while creamy vocals smother the surface. Once again you realise this could have been even better because it lingers long, but seems almost too busy.

‘Blue Skies’ has the starkness the earlier songs lack and it jars and jostles brilliantly. The vocals are meaner, with the same wafting backing, but the tougher, blunter approach suits them well. ‘That’s The Way’ is easy going and efficient indie pop with a gently glazed chorus again, which they seemed to churn out so easily. Ditto the brightly swaying ‘Between The Poles’ which would have benefited from more shadow, as they do drift by rather absent-mindedly. Being weirder, stiller and pained ‘I Really Don’t Care’ is immediately intriguing, although the aerated nature of Angela’s vocals are sometimes a little too grating. More sensibly grounded, she bustles through ‘This Covenant’ which seems almost hesitant about allowing the guitar to stamp its identity on the son g, which it’s crying out for.

They were much tougher live, and while this polite selection remains charming it also shows how trying to appeal to major label tastes can leave a band in quasi-limbo.

Taken from www.mickmercer.com

Various artists- The Best of Fried Egg Records (Bristol 1979 – 1980) Review by Rob S

Celebrating the varied fruits of Bristol’s Post punk/punk/pop/etc scene at the tail end of the seventies, ‘The Best Of Fried Egg Records (Bristol 1979-1980)’ does exactly what it says on the tin. At the time, Bristol based Fried Egg records played host to the crème de la crème of local talent (I.e., a slightly bizarre mix of resolutely un-commercial, experimental and idiosyncratic artists of all ages and denominations,) and this collection features a number of the most memorable and oddly compelling acts to emerge from this brief period of convention flouting creativity, including bands such as The Various Artists, Art Objects and brilliantly named Exploding Seagulls. Yes, this is as strange a listen as you might hear this side of David Lynch’s brain… eccentric, quintessentially British, and an essential listen for those who witnessed the short lived phenomenon first hand, as well as musical historians and music fans who lament the loss of song titles such as ‘Johnny Runs For Paregoric’ and ‘Sheepdog Trial Inna Babylon.’ Like in much music from the period, there’s genius (of a sort) to be found here… let’s pop this one under ‘cult listen/acquired taste’ shall we?

Rating  7/10:

Taken from http://www.rockpulse.co.uk/friedeggreview.html