Publisher: Cherry Red Records (UK)Format: Compact Disc
Length: 71:42
Production Date: 1987 – 1988 (2011 reissue of Chapter 22’s 1987 album release)
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
I think it was in 1991 that I’d heard “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore” for the very first time on Triple J while myself and my family and I were in Canberra. It was getting spin because Chapter 22 had rereleased pretty much the entire back catalogue of the Poppies material they had. PWEI had hit the charts in UK with “X Y & Zee” and the third incarnation of “92°F” and they wanted to cash in. The only alternative music I’d heard in my home town was via TV, mainly SBS’ “The Noise” and ABC’s “Rage”, so it was by pure luck I’d heard that old Poppies tune on the radio (the disc was an import, it’s never been released here). But I think I may have read a discography in NME or Record Collector prior to this, so I knew PWEI’s releases prior to “This is the Day”. So on that trip I went down to the huge independent record shop in the city and picked up “Box Frenzy” (curiously it was a US import distributed by Rough Trade, not the UK import), and the expanded CD single of “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore” and “Now For A Feast”. I recall my aunt looking at the title of “Box Frenzy” and the song titles “Inside You” and “Beaver Patrol” and alerted my mother to the rude CD I’d bought (though “Box Frenzy” refers to the samplers and drum machines that PWEI now were infatuated with). Mum didn’t really care. I’d was already listening to Ice-T, NWA, Geto Boys and Ice Cube. PWEI were cream puffs compared to them.
In late 1987, PWEI released the single “Beaver Patrol”, an obscure cover of a song by an equally obscure band, the Wilde Knights. This was a 180 degree turn on their indie pop punk rock which had worked well for them. Now it was samples and drum machines with guitars. Naturally the UK press hated it, especially since they’d done an EP of covers with the jokey version of Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s “Love Missile F1-11”. They’d already cultivated a music media image of them being larger drinking yobs. The press labelled them in one instance “an unkempt idiotic New Order”, but more often than not they were described as the UK’s answer to the Beastie Boys. Oddly enough it was because of the Beastie Boys that the band made the decision to use samples, drum machines and rapping. After going to a Run DMC/Beastie Boy’s concert, that was it, they decided to change their style. Strangely enough the Beastie Boys stated out as NYC punks in the early 1980’s and turned to rapping a few years later.
The album was produced by Robert Gordon at FON Studio who had already remixed their “Love Missile F1-11” for the 12” version which was dubbed the “Designer Grebo Mix”. An altered version of that mix appears on this album. It was Gordon’s work with Age of Chance that so impressed PWEI that they decided to work with him. They were a similar band to PWEI, though a bit more serious and polished. In fact they also used pretty much the same set up with a band and samplers and a megaphone on some tracks. In some quarters and in the liner notes of this album, you get the feeling that PWEI were creating this album in some kind of vacuum. People have to remember what was going on musically in England at the time. In 1985 Colourbox released the sample heavy “Just Give ‘Em Whisky” and in 1987 the similar “Hot Doggie”. They were also the core of the group M/A/R/R/S and their infamous “Pump Up The Volume”, released around the same time as this album. You also have Sigue Sigue Sputnik who were doing similar things to PWEI in 1986 (even though they were ridiculed, especially because of their audacious promotion and appearance. However in retrospect the music was ahead of its time). In the first half of 1987 you also had stuff like Coldcut’s “Say Kids What Time Is it?” and the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (aka The KLF) with the single “All You Need Is Love” and their follow up album “1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)”. Of note is the fact “Rockman Rock (Parts 2 & 3)” from that album is sampled on both “Let’s Get Ugly” and “U.B.L.U.D.” on “Box Frenzy”. This album was rereleased in 2003 by Castle Music with nine additional tracks. However this new remastered and expanded compilation is far more of a satisfying release.
Tracklisting:
1.Grebo Guru (3:56)
2.Beaver Patrol (3:09)
3.Let’s Get Ugly (4:03)
4.U.B.L.U.D. (3:51)
5.Inside You (2:36)
6.Evelyn (3:18)
7.There Is No Love Between Us Anymore (3:55)
8.She’s Surreal (4:11)
9.Intergalactic Love Mission (3:55)
10.Love Missile F1-11 (4:11)
11.Hit The Hi-Tech Groove (5:09)
12.Razorblade Kisses (1:51)
The album itself is a mixed bag really. It starts out quite strongly with “Grebo Guru” which incorporates their burgeoning mix of guitars, sampling, drum machines and rapping. The humour remains with a very funny sample at the beginning which doubles as a clever intro for the album. Next we have the first real single from the album, absurd and maybe rather misogynistic “Beaver Patrol”. Daft by itself, but somehow it slots in perfectly on the album. “Let’s Get Ugly”, a remake of “Ugly” is more Beastie Boys than anything else, as is “She’s Surreal”. “U.B.L.U.D.” is a simplistic track but works very well. However the next two songs, “Inside You” and “Evelyn” are pretty awful. Many of the songs on this album are reworkings of older material done in PWEI’s former minute and a half pop punk style or their slightly more mature indie pop style that developed out of the “Sweet Sweet Pie” single. These two are of the latter variety and have gone though absolutely no transformation except drums being replaced with a drum machine. These two tracks rank as possibly two of PWEI’s worst and certainly don’t belong on this album. To be fair this album was done a budget and in a very short frame time, so probably these two songs didn’t get the attention the others did.
Side two begins with the fabulous “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore” which is pure indie pop meets dance music. One of PWEI’s best ever songs. So simple yet so great. We also have the alerted remix of “Love Missile F1-11” and a rather fun instrumental piece layered with some vocal samples called “Intergalactic Love Mission”. Second to last is the much maligned “Hit The Hi-Tech Groove”. Personally I think this is really fun song. It’s obviously a piss take and quite possibly a dig at house music. There’s samples here from Adam and the Ants’ “Stand and Deliver”, Mel & Kim’s “Respectable” (yes, really) and Jack 'N' Chill’s “The Jack that House Built”. What a combination. The final track, “Razorblade Kisses”, is album filler. It’s essentially a dinky keyboard version of “Evelyn” with a couple of samples to make it sound like a music box. I think overall that it’s a bit of scattershot album, however there are some really fun and outstanding tracks here. It’s probably PWEI’s least successful album, both artistically and financially. Maybe their worst if we discount the latest album, 2011’s “New Noise Designed By A Sadist”, in which Graham Crabb is the only original member of the new reformed PWEI.
13.Picnic In The Sky (2:50)
14.Kiss That Girl (1:48)
These two tracks are from the “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore” single. While “Picnic In The Sky” is a fun song more indicative of their direction before they found samplers and drum machines, “Kiss That Girl” is a dreadful piece of shit. It’s a dopey ditty with a horrible sing-along chorus and dopey lyrics. One can wonder why they decided to waste valuable studio time and tape on this shit. Quite arguably the worst PWEI song ever.
15.There Is No Love Between Us Anymore (Specially Extended Dance Mix) (4:44)
A great remix for the 12” single. In fact it sounds almost nothing like the original. This is a different and vastly superior remix of the song than the version than the one that appeared on the Castle version of “Box Frenzy” in 2003. This remix also formed the basis of “Psychosexual” which appeared on “Cure For Sanity”.
16.Grebo Guru (Sonic Sounds EP Mix) (4:13)
This appeared on a 7” vinyl single given away free with the now defunct Sounds magazine in the UK. Despite saying it’s a “mix”, it’s not. It’s a completely different recording with very different percussion and some a line or two of alternate lyrics. I suspect this track has been mastered from the a 7” vinyl single as apparently all of the master tapes from the Chapter 22 era have gone walkabout. Still, it doesn’t sound too bad at all and it’s certainly a very welcome addition to this compilation.
17.Supersonic Human (Graham’s Home Demo) (0:36)
18.Intergalactic Love Mission (Graham’s Home Demo) (1:59)
Two of Graham’s demos from the period. “Supersonic Human” is an acoustic number that eventually would morph into “Grebo Guru”. Unfortunately only a snippet of this song only seems to exist as you can tell by the runtime. The track just cuts and we only hear the end of it. “Intergalactic Love Mission” is surprisingly relatively unchanged in structure from its final album version, save for its acoustic guitar, improvised percussion and lack of samples.
19.Def.Con.One (Clint’s Home Demo) (1:50)
Surely one of the best bonus tracks on this compilation. The basic ideas here are pretty much what ended up on the studio version. The “Funky Town” sample is more pronounced in this version and it sounds like the same bassline from Bomb the Bass’ “Beat Dis” is being used here. The lyrics aren’t fleshed out here (though the chorus is partly the same as the studio version), but Clint’s alternate lyrics are hilarious; “I play guitar!/Wanna be a real rock star!”.
20.Def.Con.One (3:43)
21.Def.Con.One (Doomsday Powermix) (5:54)
Issued in July 1988, this is arguably the moment that PWEI found their groove. This song was the template they used for the next two albums. Like the album, this was produced by Robert Gordon at FON Studio. This was their last outing with Chapter 22 and Gordon. As I understand it, the band had already signed to RCA at this point (after singing then being unceremoniously dumped a few days later by London Records), so the question is why did they decide to release this on this label? At any rate it makes for fine bridge between what they were and what they were to become.
The song itself combines the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” with Pseudo Echo’s cover version of “Funky Town” (apparently, the sample sounds like the original Lips Inc version to me) and various samples and ton of pop culture references, mostly comic ones, Alan Moore comics in particular. The artwork for the single also marks the first time the band would use the Designers Republic. So you could say that this single truly marks the first “true” outing of PWEI. I must also note that this particular version is somewhat different to the one that appears on “This is the Day”. The guitars are much more muddier here, Graham’s megaphone bits where rerecorded and there are some sample changes and additions as well in the “This is the Day” version. What is so amazing about this track is that it was meant to be a B-side to “Radio PWEI” which was recorded at FON at the same time. In the end the FON version of “Radio PWEI” was dumped and forgotten. The “Def.Con.One (Doomsday Powermix)” is a little forgettable. It’s nothing more than just an extended mix.
Missing Stuff
Not a great deal of stuff is missing from this release. The B-sides from the “Beaver Patrol” 12” single, “Oh Grebo, I Think I Love You (New Version)”, “Bubbles” and “Ugly” appear on Cherry Red’s compilation of “Now For a Feast” as well as Castle’s 2003 compilation and a variety of other sources. The track “...On the Razor’s Edge...” which appeared on the “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore” 12” single can be also found on Castle’s 2003 compilation of “Box Frenzy” and 1991 reissue of the single as a 8 track CD. However it’s not really an essential track in my opinion. It’s a just an instrumental remix of “Grebo Guru”. There’s also the live versions of “Inside You”, “She’s Surreal” and Hit The Hi-Tech Groove” which originally appeared on the “Def.Con.One” 12” and CD single. They’re also available on Castle’s 2003 compilation releases of ” Now For a Feast” and “Box Frenzy”, inexplicitly split between the two releases. These tracks are kind of bad and aren’t the Poppies best performances. They’re also edited badly. Again, not really essential. The previously mentioned FON version of “Radio PWEI” is available on Cherry Red’s 2011 remastered and expanded “This is the Day”. The track I’m a little disappointed about not being included is the single version of “There Is No Love Between Us Anymore”. It’s not too different from the album version, but it would be nice to have. The compilation album "PWEI Product 1986-1994: The Pop Will Eat Itself Anthology" or Chapter 22’s 1991 CD reissue of the single are the easiest ways to find it.
This is the third time I’ve bought this album (original Rough Trade version, 2003 Castle Music reissue and this version). Personally for me I think it was worth it for the demos and obscurities, as well as the liner notes from guitarist Adam Mole. However in the last couple of days I have discovered that Cherry Red decided to release a compilation of the bonus tracks on both “Now For a Feast” and “Box Frenzy” as a download on Amazon. This would have saved me some cash if I knew about this. I’d prefer to download and shove them on to CD-R and make my own compilation. Oh well. Next time I’ll have a look at Cherry Red’s Remastered and Expanded edition of PWEI’s second and arguably their best album, “This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!”.
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