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Rating: Mark Stewart.
What a character... one of the reassuring cornerstones of late Seventies Afro/funky/new wave England. The colossal "Y" alone is enough to appreciate the creativity of his band, the Pop Group.
The key points are the sax and bass neuroses established in divine synergy with Mark's epileptic voice. They are neither "punk/funky" like Gang Of Four nor alienating like This Heat. They are an independent design, linked only to the adventures of Underwood's four strings and that "dub" which was increasingly making space.
In England during that period, there were more new wave bassists than fusion... Jah Wobble, Peter Hook, Peter Principle from Tuxedomoon, and that "59 To 1" who must thank Frusciante, Fugazi...
Before "For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?" they scored another exploit with a 45 rpm single. Do you remember "She's Beyond Good And Evil"?
It gets worse here. In the sense that there is a madness mixed with euphoria that leaves no escape. "We Are All Prostitutes" persistently maintains Stewart’s declamatory and desecrating tone. There is experimentation, the desire to give birth to new ideas that leave a mark, to contribute to the artistic musical process, the cunning of being part of a specific moment and utilizing everything previously devised to rebirth it in new guises. Precisely what today's minds lack... except in some very wise cases.
The title track is characterized by that irony that has made almost every move of Stewart and his mates infallible. The funky bass derides disco music and the duller products of this genre with the hysteria of the vocal lines dialoguing with the contortions of the guitar and sax. Here, on the four strings, we find Dan Catsis of the future Glaxo Babies and not Simon Underwood, who had already gone to Pigbag.
"Capitalism is the most barbaric of all religions" is the cornerstone phrase of the track, where in two stanzas the hypocrisies, injustices, and false steps of modernity and the powerful are explored.
The B-side is pure free form and avant-garde laid out with disarming nonchalance. Tribalism and a hint of industrial noise are the features of "AmnestyInternational Report," which for three minutes serves us a palette of sounds without reaching the most frivolous cacophony. This is the merit of the Pop Group!
"This Is Pop" as XTC would say...
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