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││││││├┐││ ─────────────────────────────────────── music for body and soul
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└────────┘ 2011-05-29
freshhh!
artist: Pink Industry
album: New Beginnings
label: Zulu Records
cat: ZULU7
year: 1985-00-00
genre: Electronic
source: LP
encoder: VBR LAME 3.98.4 -V0
size: 70.58
link:
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│tracklist.
no. time track title
1 2:19 New Beginnings
2 3:45 Pain Of Pride
3 3:52 Bound By Silence
4 4:05 State Of Grace
5 3:19 Piano Ping
6 5:33 Empty Beech
7 4:00 The Corpse
8 2:47 Fifty Five
9 3:41 What I Wouldn't Give
10 2:20 No Defence
11 1:58 Stand Alone
total time: 00:37:39
─┐└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│release notes.
Liverpool has a long established and well-documented musical
heritage. In the late 1970s, the city was a fertile breeding ground
for a wealth of post-punk bands û Echo and the Bunnymen, Teardrop
Explodes, Pete WylieÆs various Wah! incarnations, Orchestral
Manoeuvres in the Dark and Big in Japan, a band whose number
included future Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie, future Slits and
Banshees drummer Budgie, Holly Johnson, later of Frankie Goes to
Hollywood, and future KLF founder, author and art prankster Bill
Drummond. After the dissolution of Big in Japan, their singer Jayne
Casey went on to form Pink Military. Pink Military were classic
post-punk, with a sound reminiscent of a more austere Siouxsie and
the Banshees, with fully embraced electronics and experimental art
leanings. They recorded two sessions for John Peel, and released
three EPs and the largely excellent album ôDo Animals Believe in
God?ö in 1980 before disbanding.
Jayne Casey returned in 1981 as half of the duo Pink Industry. The
other half, Ambrose Reynolds, was an established Liverpool musician
who had also briefly passed through the ranks of Big in Japan.
Utilising drum machines, synthesizers, tapes and processed bass and
guitar, still a relatively unusual approach in 1981, Pink Industry
were a giant step on from Pink Military. Debut EP ôForty-Fiveö was
followed in 1982 by an album ôLow Technologyö, which saw the
arrival of second bassist/guitarist Tadzio Jodlowski. A second
album ôWho Told You, You Were Naked?ö arrived a year later. Pink
Industry primarily recorded at AmbroseÆs home, and whilst their
sound was often sparse û or rather, spacious û it didnÆt sound
particularly lo-fi. They were clearly very adept engineers and
producers of their own music.
IÆve seen Pink Industry accused of ripping off Cocteau Twins on
more than one occasion, but this is a lazy comparison thatÆs also
very wide of the mark. Not least, such criticisms are
chronologically inaccurate as Pink Industry had emerged with a
fully formed sound before Cocteau Twins had released their debut
EP. Pink Industry also used electronics to a far greater degree and
often excluded guitar entirely in favour of dual bass guitars.
Finally, Jayne Casey was a wholly different singer to the CocteausÆ
Liz Fraser, more technically limited perhaps (who isnÆt?), but
equally effective and suited perfectly to the bandÆs music. JayneÆs
sensual drawl and personal lyrics certainly sat in marked contrast
to Liz FraserÆs wordless or lyrically obtuse vocals. ThatÆs not to
say that there arenÆt some sonic similarities between the two
bands, though, and Pink Industry records surely happily nestle in
many peopleÆs collections alongside Cocteau Twins and other 4AD
artists like The Wolfgang Press, Xmal Deutschland and Modern
English. Likewise, Pink Industry sit easily alongside some of the
better known Factory Records bands of the same era, particularly
New Order, Section 25 and Cabaret Voltaire.
Pink IndustryÆs third and final album, 1985Æs ôNew Beginningsö is,
for me, their masterpiece. In terms of sound, the album isnÆt
terrifically different to its predecessors, but overall, it is
bolder, more assured and confident. It showcases a band at the
height of their powers and fully in control of what theyÆre doing.
The accompanying single ôWhat I WouldnÆt Giveö gained the band
wider coverage and acclaim û the songÆs lyric namechecked Morrissey
and the sleeve featured a photograph of The Smiths vocalist, thus
assuring its status as a collectorsÆ item for legions of adoring
Smiths and Morrissey fans for years to come.
Pink Industry released one more single in 1987, a reworking of an
early track, ôDonÆt Let Goö, polished to pop perfection by Ian
Broudie. It really should have been a Top 40 hit single. Yet, as to
often happens to the best music, it passed most people by, and Pink
Industry called it a day.
Jayne Casey went on to find wider success as the founder of the
nightclub empire Cream and later as the artistic director of
Liverpool European Capital of Culture. Ambrose Reynolds founded
Urban Strawberry Lunch in 1987, a community arts group who use
recycled materials to make innovative musical instruments. Interest
in Pink Industry has remained, however, particularly in mainland
Europe, and over the years a couple of compilation albums have
emerged. Their records are now hard to come by and fetch large sums
on eBay. Fortunately, a couple of years ago, their debut album was
remastered and reissued on CD, with extra tracks, by the German
label Isegrimm. Reissues of their later albums are on the cards
too.
Pink Industry are truly a lost gem, but one that hopefully more
people will discover with the current interest in post-punk and the
excellent Isegrimm reissues. They are, for me, quite simply one of
the best bands of the 1980s whose music stands up as well today as
it did when it was first released.
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