The Pop Group - Y

Dear friends! This is something, this. The Pop Group is maybe a pop group, if you accept that pop means delivering irresistable energy and an abundance of twisted, noisy songs with a minimum of traditional structure or coherence. Basically, Y is cool post-punk, the New York hipster branch, even though these thugs come from Bristol. Y is from 1979. Dubby, jazzy at times, and fairly often inspired by funk music, Y is not really a traditional punk album at all. But never difficult. Does not feel dated. The guitar lines are splashy and percussion is sometimes drowned in dubby echo, sometimes contributing positively to a sense of menacing chaos. The saxophone sounds play the same role as in James Chance & the Contortions - on the magnificent "Don't Call Me Pain" the saxophone howls and moans and stutters. "Don't call me pain/ My name is mystery / Don't call me pain /This is the age of chance /This is the age of chance/ Don't call me pain/ Being afraid is power......... Fire your finger in the dark" The singer, xxxx, might have inspired Nick Cave & the overall sound bears some resemblance to Birthday Party even though latter band has a polished sound compared to these scoundrels. Somehow, all of the songs seem to fall apart all the time but somehow they are glued together by this or that element.
The lyrics? Impressionist left politics, some fucked-up love songs. "Teeth beckon you / who says guns speak louder / who says guns speak louder / money's a weapon of terror / money's a weapon of terror / Spiders I can trust open my chest" - may give you a hint. But it is not always possible to make out the words because the words are usually either wheezed or shouted. The mix adds to a sense of restlessness, which is a good thing. The instruments and the vocals collapse into a jumble.