Now it’s time for some good crowd-pleasing post-punk. This is the sole release from Montana-based Circle Seven. It was released on the venerable Ruthless Records back in 1981. It was one of the very first releases on the label. The band is often filed under or mentioned as a punk band on the web, and while they definitely had a punk edge to them, their music was more dynamic than that label implies. Their songs were generally pretty fast-paced but their guitar sounds ditched the guitar noise of many of their contemporaries for a surprisingly refined tunefulness. The vocals are especially strong – emphatic and pretty powerful, bordering on goth on a few songs on the second side. It somehow sounds as if he is yelling in a hushed voice.
The record starts out with a midtempo burst of punk energy on the titular “Suburban Hope”. The second side certainly has the strongest songs. “Cover Up” is a trackthat drives forward without losing momentum. It doesn’t even contain a chorus, it just keeps a steady pace until the last 40 seconds or so when the it ends in repeated chants of “cover up cover up cover up…”. “Say One Thing” is another unrelenting track that barely pauses for air in its 1:45 length. It also contains some pretty great drum fills that are basically substituted in place of any sort of vocal chorus. The record closes with “Look What You Got”, on which the singer sounds more angst-ridden than on any preceding track. He progressively sounds more aggravated as the song barrels on.
This is a pretty solid EP, and will certainly appeal to fans of no-frills guitar-driven post punk. The songs are quite well-written and the record is surprisingly refined, which is probably why it tends to be on quite a few wantlists. It’s a record that sounds good upon first listen, but slowly grows in potency over repeated spins.
Circle Seven: Suburban Hope EP
1981 Ruthless Records
A1 Suburban Hope
A2 I Woke Up
A3 Distant
B1 Cover Up
B2 Say One Thing
B3 Look What You Got
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3 comments:
Fuckin' great record...Distant...60 secs of pure post-punk bliss...and Cover Up right afterwards, hit right in the bull's eye...thank you!
Thanks for the (rare) records you offer us here.I would be very happy if you could re-upload these:Nuit blanche,B.troop,Perfect vision-tongues out,Things are still coming ashore,Frederick m,The stills-chorus of blows,First cut:the oxford sound,Zoo-z.Thanks anyway.
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