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7"
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ON 504EP
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/19/2024
By 1986, Nikki Sudden had found a home at Creation Records releasing Texas, widely considered Sudden's solo magnum opus. Co-produced by Sudden and his brother, Texas is a masterpiece. Like Young's After the Gold Rush or the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, Texas holds together as a damaged, atmospheric take on Americana. At this time in rock history, Sudden was nearly alone in referencing Brian Wilson's Smile album. "Jangle Town" was the opening track and only single that was taken from the album. This reissue uses the 12" artwork. Part of The Optic Sevens 5.0 reissue series. Limited to 500 copies worldwide. Pressed on blue vinyl. Includes poster.
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7"
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ON 503EP
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/19/2024
Debut single by The Flatmates. Originally released in 1986 on The Subway Organization label, giving them a Top 20 indie hit and an appearance in John Peel's Festive Fifty. Part of The Optic Sevens 5.0 reissue series. Limited to 500 copies worldwide. Pressed on pink vinyl. Includes poster.
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7"
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ON 501EP
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/19/2024
Second single released by The House of Love in 1987. Previously issued as a 12" only single on Creation records. It appears here for the first time on 7" and includes all three tracks from the original. Part of The Optic Sevens 5.0 reissue series. Limited to 750 copies worldwide. Pressed on white vinyl. Includes poster.
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7"
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ON 502EP
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$14.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/19/2024
The Primitives' second single was originally released in 1986 on Lazy Records. This issue contains all three tracks from the 12" (none of which were included on their debut album), with a slightly different sleeve design that is a mixture of the original 12" and 7" release. Part of The Optic Sevens 5.0 reissue series. Limited to 750 copies worldwide. Pressed on purple vinyl. Includes poster.
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CD
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OPT4 054CD
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Expanded version of the 1987 mini-album released on Creation Records. Described as a "minor classic" by Luke Haines. Band features Luke Haines, Martyn Casey (The Triffids, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) and Alsy Macdonald (The Triffids). Includes: Dave Westlake's Westlake album from 1987; BBC session recorded with members of The Go-Betweens plus two studio demos of unused songs. David Westlake's first album finally gets a new day in the sun in the wake of his brilliant current LP My Beautiful England. 36 years after it first appeared in 1987 on Creation Records David Westlake formed The Servants in 1985, who released two excellent singles and appeared on the NME compiled C86 LP. Searching for a stable Servants line-up to release an album he recruited Luke Haines (The Auteurs/Black Box Recorder) via an NME advert, who came on board, and stayed for five years. After failing to find a committed rhythm section, he enlisted the help of Martyn Casey and Alsy Macdonald and recorded the 1987 Westlake album for Creation. Overlooked at the time, the record was later described as a minor classic by Luke Haines himself. It is included here. It also contains the previously unreleased Janice Long BBC session recorded in the summer of 1987 featuring Go-Betweens members Robert Forster, Amanda Brown, and Robert Vickers. As chronicled in an interview in US music magazine The Big Takeover (issue 53, 2004), Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch was a huge Westlake fan and tried to locate him in the early 1990s in hope of forming a band with him, before launching Belle and Sebastian in his school class instead. Sleeve notes by Luke Haines.
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LP
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OPT4 054LP
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LP version. Clear vinyl; printed innersleeve. Expanded version of the 1987 mini-album released on Creation Records. Described as a "minor classic" by Luke Haines. Band features Luke Haines, Martyn Casey (The Triffids, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) and Alsy Macdonald (The Triffids). Includes: Dave Westlake's Westlake album from 1987; BBC session recorded with members of The Go-Betweens plus two studio demos of unused songs. David Westlake's first album finally gets a new day in the sun in the wake of his brilliant current LP My Beautiful England. 36 years after it first appeared in 1987 on Creation Records David Westlake formed The Servants in 1985, who released two excellent singles and appeared on the NME compiled C86 LP. Searching for a stable Servants line-up to release an album he recruited Luke Haines (The Auteurs/Black Box Recorder) via an NME advert, who came on board, and stayed for five years. After failing to find a committed rhythm section, he enlisted the help of Martyn Casey and Alsy Macdonald and recorded the 1987 Westlake album for Creation. Overlooked at the time, the record was later described as a minor classic by Luke Haines himself. It is included here. It also contains the previously unreleased Janice Long BBC session recorded in the summer of 1987 featuring Go-Betweens members Robert Forster, Amanda Brown, and Robert Vickers. As chronicled in an interview in US music magazine The Big Takeover (issue 53, 2004), Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch was a huge Westlake fan and tried to locate him in the early 1990s in hope of forming a band with him, before launching Belle and Sebastian in his school class instead. Sleeve notes by Luke Haines.
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CD
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OPT4 055CD
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New band-compiled album of The Pooh Sticks hits and misses. "'Mellifluous'... is a word you won't hear much when conversation turns to early Pooh Sticks records. But "noise pollution", sure: that comes up. I've even used it myself. So look away now if you must: Straight Up: Noise Pollution C88-90 is a selection of some of the most loved/despised/ignored tracks released by The Pooh Sticks on however many records it was before it all went wilfully 'American' sometime around dotted-lining for BMG mega-corp in 1991. The record has highlights and lowlights. You and me, we'd probably agree on most of them. We chose a reasonable cross-section, I think (although there could've been more tambourine), including: -- 'On Tape' -- zeitgeist-nailin' strum and strangle. 'I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well' -- long title -- 'Teenage High' -- breathy sweetness sneaked onto the depraved Sympathy For The Record Industry label. 'Dying For It' -- the Vaselines cover which beat Nirvana by a full two years (though theirs sold better)... and more! It's like Christmas (no, blocking up the chimney won't help: we've cut spare keys)..." --Trudi xx LP version comes on blue vinyl; gatefold sleeve; includes repro poster for the March '89 Pastels/Pooh Sticks/Vaselines London gig.
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LP
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OPT4 055LP
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LP version. New band-compiled album of The Pooh Sticks hits and misses. "'Mellifluous'... is a word you won't hear much when conversation turns to early Pooh Sticks records. But "noise pollution", sure: that comes up. I've even used it myself. So look away now if you must: Straight Up: Noise Pollution C88-90 is a selection of some of the most loved/despised/ignored tracks released by The Pooh Sticks on however many records it was before it all went wilfully 'American' sometime around dotted-lining for BMG mega-corp in 1991. The record has highlights and lowlights. You and me, we'd probably agree on most of them. We chose a reasonable cross-section, I think (although there could've been more tambourine), including: -- 'On Tape' -- zeitgeist-nailin' strum and strangle. 'I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well' -- long title -- 'Teenage High' -- breathy sweetness sneaked onto the depraved Sympathy For The Record Industry label. 'Dying For It' -- the Vaselines cover which beat Nirvana by a full two years (though theirs sold better)... and more! It's like Christmas (no, blocking up the chimney won't help: we've cut spare keys)..." --Trudi xx LP version comes on blue vinyl; gatefold sleeve; includes repro poster for the March '89 Pastels/Pooh Sticks/Vaselines London gig.
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LP
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OPT4 053LP
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The origins of power pop. In these songs you'll find the DNA of The Direct Hits. Although very Elvis Costello-like in both style and vocal delivery, these early recordings, dating from 1979 show a remarkable pop sensibility that had come on leaps and bounds since the release of the band's first single, the now highly sought after Fashion Plague/Cheam released a year prior to these being recorded. Songs like "We Broke Up Today" have all the hallmarks of classic Merseybeat, while out and out power pop like "Holiday Shots" and "Fool To Fall In Love" encapsulate perfectly the sheer exuberance of the genre. More than a few steps ahead of several of their contemporaries, the band's built-in tunesmiths Buckmaster and Swan were writing catchy songs that carried a powerful punch performed with the energy and excitement of the period. The Exits left behind a wonderful set of recordings that are worthy of a comprehensive vinyl retrospective release. These recordings first saw the light of day on a CD-only release back in 2007 when Cherry Red released the CD The Legendary Lost Exits Album through its Rev-Ola offshoot. Reportedly the band members were disappointed with the overall mix on the finished release for being a little lo-fi. There are no such issues with this specially remastered version for vinyl. The tracks sound fresh, punchy, and full of annoyingly great hooks. Optic Nerve add yet another great addition to their catalog with the long-since undisturbed sleeping giants, the Exits. Remastered and pressed on gold vinyl. Includes printed inner sleeve.
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3LP
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OPT4 049LP
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A triple-LP release of the double-CD released by Cherry Red in 2021. Among the first crop of Creation Records bands in the mid-1980s, The Loft seemed the most likely to break through. Following the success of The Smiths, guitar-based independent pop was in vogue, Alan McGee's Creation label was turning heads -- its bands blending '60s psychedelia, the melodic end of punk, and a new sound which would soon be immortalized on NME's C86 cassette. And in this London quartet, Creation had their answer to bands like Television, The Only Ones, or early Modern Lovers, offering taut, off-kilter songs with an irresistibly deadpan cool. Sadly, after just two singles, 1984's downbeat debut "Why Does The Rain" and the punchier sequel, "Up The Hill And Down The Slope" -- an indie hit which the band performed live on TV show The Oxford Road Show, The Loft dissolved, with various members founding new bands The Weather Prophets, The Caretaker Race, and The Wishing Stones. They left behind seven studio tracks, a BBC Radio 1 session for Janice Long and one track from a Creation LP documenting the scene's roots in small club, The Living Room. However, The Loft's legend endured, eventually prompting a reunion in the early 2000s with all four original members -- singer/songwriter/guitarist Pete Astor, guitarist Andy Strickland, bassist Bill Prince, and drummer Dave Morgan. Alongside various well-received live shows, that led to a new single, "Model Village" (2006) and more recently a session for Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music (2015). The Loft's reputation as founding fathers of a new breed of mid-80s indie pop continues to grow to this day, with the band often cited as an influence. Compiled and coordinated by the band, Ghost Trains & Country Lanes expands on previous retrospectives of The Loft, adding those reunion recordings (including three previously unissued tracks), the Gideon Coe session and several live recordings from that historic performance at The Living Room back in 1984. Includes many exclusive songs which were never recorded in the studio. With new sleeve-notes by Danny Kelly, this is the definite tribute to The Loft. Color vinyl - each disc is a different color; tri-fold gatefold sleeve; includes 16-page 12x12 color booklet, poster, and photograph; edition of 350.
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2LP +7"
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OPT4 052LP
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Expanded reissue, originally released in 1987. By the time McCarthy appeared on the NME's C86 cassette they had already been playing together for a couple of years and released two excellent singles. Their debut "In Purgatory" and the indie masterpiece "Red Sleeping Beauty" are both included on this release. The following year McCarthy released the brilliant "Frans Hals" before unleashing their debut album I Am A Wallet. Now recognized as an indie pop masterpiece it has gone on to achieve cult status, receiving praise from the likes of Nicky Wire (Manic Street Preachers) as one of the most important albums of the '80s. Known by today's indie acolytes as the band that spawned Tim Gane and Leititia Sadier (who of course went on to form Stereolab). It's a seamless album reminiscent of the Byrds. Wonderful, if slightly twee, jangly guitars with complex and rarely rhyming lyrics, Malcolm Eden's strident left wing political views are manifest on I Am A Wallet. Cloaked in pretty guitar and propulsive drums, Eden sets about attacking the pillars of the day, MPs, Prince Charles, Fleet Street, religion, the response to AIDS, and on almost every song, capitalism. The horrors and inequalities of the capitalist system are laid bare for all the see. The system which enables some to get rich at the expense of others is reviled and attacked.
Pressed on red vinyl and presented in gloss laminated gatefold sleeve. Double album set contains the original LP plus 13 bonus tracks taken from their first four singles and the re-recorded version of "In Purgatory" which originally appeared on the Pink compilation EP, It Sells Or It Smells (1986), plus bonus 7", a reproduction color vinyl copy of McCarthy's first 7" In Purgatory. All three tracks have been remastered from the original master tape and presented in a wraparound sleeve, just like the incredibly rare "Wall Of Salmon" original. Also includes 20-page, 12x12" full-color booklet containing all the lyrics and packed full with photos, many previously unpublished, and press clippings and other memorabilia. Introduction by Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers and track-by-track commentary by Malcolm Eden. 8x10 black-and-white press photo Reproduction European Tour poster "The Well Of Loneliness".
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LP + 7"
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OPT4 047LP
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East London's The Gymslips -- Paula Richards, Suzanne Scott, and Karen Yarnell -- barged their way onto the post punk scene in 1981. They openly embraced drinking, Pie & Mash, monkey boots, and double denim right from the start. Often credited with being the first female Oi! band, but they brought so much more to the table with their punky '60s influenced girl pop. Formed in 1980, the Gymslips started playing live the following year, and opened for Dolly Mixture on a 1981 UK tour. The band referred to themselves as "Renees" a late '60s term for mod girls, the same subculture that named boys "Ronees". Drummer Karen Yarnell told the NME that a "Renee was a girl who got as much shagging done as a bloke while also matching him for pint drinking, fag smoking, nose-picking, farting and the wearing of skinhead style double denim." They recorded five sessions for the John Peel show, after signing to Abstract Records their first single was a cover of Suzi Quatro's "48 Crash", which was released in 1982. The following year they released their sole album Rocking With The Renees along with two further singles "Big Sister" and "Robot Man". After Karen Yarnell left to join Serious Drinking, this ended the Gymslips. Although, they were to return two years later with a new line-up to release their final single "Evil Eye". Deluxe gloss laminated gatefold reissue with bonus 7", The Silly Egg EP; half red and half turquoise vinyl with a white vinyl 7"; includes printed inner sleeve.
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2LP
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OPT4 046LP
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Deluxe reissue of their Prolapse's debut album, Pointless Walks To Dismal Places, originally released in 1994. Completely remastered under band supervision. Combining a metronomic krautrock beat played by a monster drummer, looping guitars, and a boy/girl vocal that sounded like a bickering bed-sit argument turned into song, Prolapse had all the manic intensity of a nervous breakdown set against a backdrop of inventive guitar work and a really tough rhythm section. There were hints of the Fall, krautrock, PiL, and a touch of the pure golden pop of Blondie along with the sense of restless dislocation shared by many of the post-punk bands. Prolapse arrived in the middle of the Britpop era and their tense, almost neurotic music clashed with the stadium-filling, jolly knees-up pop that dominated the indie mainstream of the time. By 1996, indie had become the mainstream in terms of record sales and sound and was strutting around at the opposite end of the cultural spectrum to the indie bands of the '80s and their war against popular culture. Late arrivals Prolapse were the last gasp of this genuine independence. Features the original LP plus a bonus disc with the Cherry Red EP tracks, plus a 16-page booklet containing photos, reviews, and sleeve notes from Mick Derrick, Steve Mack, and John Robb. Burgundy vinyl; gatefold matte laminated sleeve with spot UV varnish.
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LP
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OPT4 050LP
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Compilation of singles recorded for Glass Records. Religious Overdose formed in 1979 and alongside the likes of PIL, Joy Division and Bauhaus helped forge the sound that became to be known as post-punk. In just two years their experimental songs were pushing boundaries. From the hypnotizing drum machine led debut "25 Minutes" and the krautrock influenced "I Said Go" to the synth infused new wave of "Blow The Back Off" and their final single. The sprawling seven-minute "The Girl With The Disappearing Head". This is a celebration of the much underrated and important Religious Overdose. Formed in Barby (near Rugby) in 1979, original vocalist left, Alex Novak joined in 1980, producing three singles for Glass Records. Initially used a rhythm generator then replaced by drummer Pete Brownjohn. Played with Wheres Lisse, Fall, Eyeless In Gaza, Trance, Mystery Guests, Bauhaus, Dance Chapter, Ski Patrol, English Subtitles, Attrition, Theatre Of Hate... the last gig was in Northampton 1982, recorded and released as a tape by Adventures In Reality label and fanzine from Coventry. Yellow vinyl with orange and black splatter; includes printed inner sleeve with posters and postcards.
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7"
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ON 410EP
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Part of the Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue series. Dolly Mixture were as instrumental in the founding of indie-pop as Orange Juice and The Pastels. The Cambridge three-piece, comprising bassist/vocalist Debsey Wykes, guitarist Rachel Bor, and drummer Hester Smith released just four singles, an EP and an album in their six-year life span; but they revealed a remarkable gift for songwriting and a keen sense of adventure and set the template for every female indie band since. The third single from Dolly Mixture is a perfect mod-pop affair. Co- produced by Captain Sensible and originally released on Paul Weller's Respond label. Magenta vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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7"
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ON 412EP
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Part of the Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue series. Written by a 15-year-old Etta Saunders and released in 1981 on Choo Choo Train Records as a one off by members of The 49 Americans and included Oisin Little of The Weather Prophets. There were no gigs, no sessions and there are no other recordings. These two tracks represent the full discography. The original is sought after by collectors. If you can find a copy expect to pay around the £70 mark. Green vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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7"
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ON 309EP
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Part of the Optic Sevens 3.0 Reissue Series. Originally released on the Sub Aqua label in 1988. It appears here on 7" for the first time. This is a previously unreleased version of "Back Between Places". The band were never really happy with the original single release and having discovered the master tape of a superior version, it is to be mixed and released here for the very first time. Both tracks were recorded at Greenhouse Studios at the same one-day session in August '88 and are technically unreleased. "Back Between Places" is an alternate mix made at the time and better than the one we chose to release. "Violin" is a completely unreleased recording. It was planned as the original B-side but ended up being replaced by two early recordings "Her Fathers Son" and "Precious Diamond Tears" on the actual 12" release. "Violin" was recorded a few months later at Scruttocks along with "Freeze Out", "Vibrato", and a couple of others that have appeared on the Hotrod Hotel LP. Limited 7" white vinyl. Includes postcard and poster.
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LP
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OPT4 045LP
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14 track vinyl version of the 2012 CD compilation. First time on vinyl. A swish compilation LP featuring fourteen of the most memorable songs in the career of the top-notch indie band The Hit Parade. Entitled Pick Of The Pops (Vol. 1), the LP collects together the most poignant moments in the career of The Hit Parade and includes their thoughtful recording for Sarah Records, In Gunnersbury Park (1991), their tubthumping single for Minty Fresh USA, Hitomi (1993), as well as other cuts, both cheerful and desolate in style, that feature Cath Carroll (Factory Records), Amelia Fletcher (Heavenly, Talulah Gosh), and Harvey Williams (Another Sunny Day, The Field Mice). The Hit Parade was formed by Julian Henry with his school friends Matt Moffatt and Raymond Watts in 1984 when they released their first single "Forever" on JSH Records. Since then, they've clung to the sensibilities of pure pop and have become a curiosity item with their retro attitudes and songs about dead writers, disused swimming pools, and failed love affairs. Their early vinyl singles were lauded by John Peel, the NME, and Melody Maker, the now defunct weekly paper that published Julian Henry's writing. In the 1990s, the band toured alongside Edwyn Collins, The Milkshakes, and Sarah Records notables, and signed to Japanese and US labels, releasing a sequence of albums that have since become collectible. Pale blue vinyl; includes printed lyric inner sleeve, poster, and postcard.
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LP
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OPT4 051LP
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Originally released in 1983, this rewarding record acted as a round-up of the Monochrome Set's career to date and was of immeasurable value to fans. It's aged well, too. Comprising of A and B sides from their Rough Trade released singles plus extracts from sessions for Radio 1, Capital Radio, and EMI Records, this LP contains unique versions of such classic tracks as "The Jet Set Junta" and "He's Frank (Slight Return)". Oddities and jocular moments run through the album, including John Peel introducing " Fat Fun" and thinking aloud that those Monochrome boys might be having a pop at him. The fact that it includes a wish list of the band's best songs to this point in their career is another reason to recommend it. Previously they may have made a handful of slightly-off-target albums, but this 1983 compilation is a front-to-back joy, fast, restless and perfectly sequenced. It plays like a cohesive album. Includes two bonus tracks from the February 1979 Peel Session: "Love Goes Down The Drain" and "Noise (Eine Kleine Symphonie)". Clear vinyl with black, blue, and white splatter; comes in embossed gloss laminated gatefold sleeve with lyrics and printed inner sleeve.
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7"
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ON 409EP
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Part of the Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue series. Edward Ball was a member of cult band The Television Personalities alongside his school friend Dan Treacy before leaving to concentrate on The Times. "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape" (inspired by cult TV series The Prisoner) is probably the best-known track from them, originally released on the Artpop! label in 1982. The second single from The Times reissued here with an extra track from the 12" (released a year later in 1983). Optic Nerve have also decided to use the same sleeve that was used for the original 12". White vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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7"
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ON 411EP
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Part of the Optic Sevens 4.0 Reissue series. Before the term "indie pop" had even been invented, The Chefs had already nailed it. Formed by Carl Evans and Helen McCookerybook, they first appeared on the Vaultage 79 compilation before releasing two singles for the Brighton based Attrix Records. They recorded two sessions for the John Peel Show and one for Richard Skinner briefly changing their name to Skat and then disbanding. Helen went onto success and a major label deal with Helen And The Horns. Yellow vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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2LP
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OPT4 048LP
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Deluxe reissue of their 1989 sophomore album. Completely remastered. In 1989, while the musical world was fêting serial-killer worshipping noise bands, white boys with dreadlocks and the first glimmers of techno, one band -- The Wolfhounds -- was describing the times and the country exactly as they were. Or at least as they saw it. Well, not exactly. Formed as a frantic noisy fusion of sixties garage and independent post-punk in Romford in 1984, by 1986 it was the band's misfortunate to be corralled with the jangly and quirky bands of the era-defining C86 tape, given away free with the NME that year. The frustration of being lumped with the lumpen was already spilling over into a heightened creativity that would see the band release three LPs in 18 months, the first and perhaps most fully realized of which was Bright & Guilty. The band's sense of melody saw three singles taken off it, and all received plentiful radio play that resulted in enthusiastic audience responses when the band toured with My Bloody Valentine and the House of Love shortly after the LP came out. This renewed attention also saw them being threatened with legal action by the food company satirically targeted by one of the singles -- "Happy Shopper". The band's magpie listening habits also saw the first glimmers of an interest in sampling with the track "Cottonmouth", hip-hop in the drum rhythms of "Invisible People" and "Son of Nothing", discordant post-hardcore in non-specific song and even percussive hints of Tom Waits's Rain Dogs in Charterhouse. The album's lyrical themes have sustained the relevance of these 30-something year-old songs. The dictatorship of the class system over the economy is touched on in "Charterhouse", the unfairness of housing policy in "Rent Act" and "Red Tape Red Light", the desperation of not having enough money to even seek employment in "Useless Second Cousin". But there is contemplation and mystery, too: "Ropeswing"'s nostalgia for pre-teen childhood, "Invisible People"'s detailing of intangible weaknesses. Of all their peers, The Wolfhounds post-C86 output stands up straight and proud, and you'll find echoes of their sound in Fontaines DC, Idles, and many others -- but not performed with the brashness, vigor and uniqueness of the originals. Original LP with bonus disc with all the A and B sides, some compilation tracks and an outtake. Gatefold sleeve; pale blue vinyl; includes 12-page booklet containing previously unpublished lyrics and tons of contemporary reviews and photos.
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7"
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ON 407EP
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Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 reissue series. Colin Vearncombe may be forever associated with the worldwide hit "Wonderful Life" but six years earlier Black released this incredible single. Evocative of The Smiths (although this was released years earlier) it contains all the elements of a classic indie single. White vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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7"
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ON 408EP
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Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 reissue series. The Wake formed in Glasgow (Scotland) in April 1981, after singer/guitarist Caesar teamed up with drummer Steven Allen and a bassist, Joe Donnelly. Previously Caesar had played guitar in Altered Images, writing first single Dead Pop Stars and appearing on the first two John Peel sessions, but left the group shortly before they crashed into the mainstream pop charts with "Happy Birthday". With few opportunities to play large live shows the new group financed a single on their own Scan 45 label, coupling upbeat indie pop number "On Our Honeymoon" with "Give Up", a darker song featuring a keyboard line picked out by band friend Robert "Bobby" Gillespie. White vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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7"
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ON 405EP
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Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 reissue series. This version is a brand new band approved stereo mix of the only single by Liverpool cult legends The Wild Swans. Due to studio inexperience, the single originally ended up being perhaps the only 12" in history with the A-side recorded in mono and the B-side, "God Forbid", in stereo. Despite this, the 12" received rave reviews, becoming single of the week in numerous music papers. John Peel played it to death and it quickly gained cult status by ending up as the last record ever released on Bill Drummond's cult label Zoo Records (Drummond himself went on to proclaim it "the best single we put out on Zoo"). Blue vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
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