From the moment you play this CD it seems inevitable that The Pop Group would be the first artist pencilled into a playlist by John Peel in the day.
Of course pop is the last thing they are, avant-garde punk would be much closer to the mark. It’s challenging, off-kilter and ultimately wonderful.
The attack of the guitars owes much to Wilko Johnson while the uncompromising attitude has shades of The Fall.
What may seem amateurish simplicity with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into the mix, belies a delightful musical complexity delivered without the limitations of pre-conceptions.
The album itself is a compilation including some lo-fi live recordings, the inclusion of which provides a tantalising promise of their forthcoming live dates.
The title track may sound like it was recorded in a duffle bag but is the closest a punk band has got to fusing The Fall’s Live at the Witch Trials with the jazz of Albert Ayler and Capt Beefheart’s Troutmask Replica, honking saxes and all.
Out October 20.
8/10
Stewart Dennis
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