that petrol emotion - babble, end of the millenium psycosis blues, chemicrazy, fireproof
an unbiased view of the best live band - ever
as every that petrol emotion summation will tell you this lot were born from the ashes of the undertones. they mixed politics with incredible guitar licks and a stunning live show due to the unending energy steve mack (vox) would put into his performance. of the above discs - babble is raw and noisy, impenetrable guitars mixed with lyrics that make little sense, but there are moments of legend - especially swamp thing, hear this and you will understand.
'end of ..' this was a more sombre release and started to mix different styles in the mix, sonic youth guitars and stax horn sections, this was more introspective release and not their highlight.
following this they came up with chemicrazy - their major label classic. every song is wonderful, melodies that are uplifting and joyous and choruses that could unite the throbbing dance floors at the gigs. a sheer revelation to all those who saw them live at this time. they played with dance rhythms but stil kept their eyes on the underground noise scene (for example steve m is wearing a foetus t-shirt on the cover - the audacity of it !) critics raved and live shows stunned, but one nearly-hit was not enough to please the record label. amazingly they continued and found funding to release fireproof on their own label - koogat. again the songs were little short of perfect mix of shimmering guitar licks and great melodies. nme raved about the brilliance of this lp but still no-one bought it. this is a damn shame as its a perfect time capsule of when bands could really go for it without pampering to current trends.
a truly amazing band.