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$27.99 LP+CD
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JOSEF K
Sorry for Laughing
(LTM)
Josef K were a Scottish band that sprung from the same scene as fellow travelers Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, but where those groups showed a more sentimental sweetness and a keen pop sensibility, Josef K drove down a darker, moodier road of post-punk guitar music. Their songs displayed a nervous tension and jagged angularity that their peers on the Postcard label often lacked. They were closer in sound and spirit to the Fire Engines, though where that band wore their almost amateurish abilities on their sleeves quite openly, the boys in Josef K were not only a darker hue, sonically, but they were TIGHT. They released a handful of singles during their lifespan and just one full-length album, but that record, The Only Fun in Town, is a quintessential document of the era, up there in my opinion with Joy Division's debut and Gang of Four's Entertainment! as some of the most tightly wound, anxious, minimalist examples of what became defined as 'the post-punk sound.' What most people don't know, however, is that the record that Postcard ended up releasing was Josef K's second attempt at making an album. The first, Sorry for Laughing, remained in the vaults until the LTM label issued it as hefty bonus material included with The Only Fun in Town on a CD that is now sadly out of print.
While The Only Fun is a cloudy, somewhat more thinly recorded album, its brittle, highly trebled textures suited the material quite well. This scrapped debut (which includes a handful of songs which would be rerecorded for The Only Fun as well as tracks that saw release in different versions on singles), however, is surprisingly clearer sounding; Postcard head Alan Horne allegedly scrapped the album (with the band showing agreement and support in the decision), fearing it was "too polished." That's honestly a bit ludicrous, as the bile and manic, wild-eyed mania is here just as strongly as on its successor. These versions have a bit more muscle, though -- more meat, if you will. The bass and drums are higher in the mix, and the guitars are mixed down into more anemic, wiry bursts than the distorted, feedback-laden fog of The Only Fun's sessions. Where that album's atmosphere documented a band bashing out their songs live in a room (well, it sounds that way at least), Sorry for Laughing utilizes minimal overdubs and a little studio frippery from time to time to add the occasional effect or emphasis on a rhythm or riff. As crazy as it may sound to some punk purists, in my opinion this record equals and in some ways betters The Only Fun, and the songs that never saw release elsewhere are all just as valid and strong as those that ended up on The Only Fun. LTM's decision to package both of the albums together on that CD was a wise one, as the albums show the band's strengths in different lights, but until now, Sorry for Laughing remained unavailable on LP save for a handful of old test pressings that managed to escape the furnace at Postcard.
This is the first and only time this scrapped debut will see release on vinyl, remastered from the tapes, and packaged in a gorgeous reproduction of what was meant to be the album's original sleeve. As if that weren't enough, LTM have also included as a generous bonus the group's 1979 demo recordings back when they were still called TV Art. Those demos, previously unreleased in any form until now, are a revelation to hear; the band as TV Art sound more like an odd blend of the Fall, Pere Ubu and Television, with the guitar/bass/drums lineup augmented by a tinny, chiming electric piano. There are early takes on infamous cuts like "Chance Meeting," "Heads Watch" and "Sense of Guilt," but there are also a great deal of songs that would never be resurrected after their transformation into Josef K. This is an intriguing look at the band in their infancy, still figuring out their sound but at the same time retaining that same sense of strength and emotive strain that they'd make a signature in their more infamous incarnation. These demos are definitely more than just a mere curiosity, and having them here is a real treat. Altogether, this makes for one of the best, most vital releases in LTM's catalogue, and provides vinyl hounds with an opportunity to FINALLY be able to spin one of the best, most underrated and infamous "lost" documents of the post-punk era. [IQ] |
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