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Underground > Radio & Music >

Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia...

10:48 / 13.12.01

I just acquired a copy of 'Indian Ink', the debut album from one of my fave up and coming bands, Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia..

The music sometimes sounds like Mogwai, sometimes like My Bloody valentine, sometimes like Aphex Twin and often like a sort of mixture of them.

And over all this racket, a young lady recites slightly scary stories and poems, frequently concerned with substance abuse, squalor and ill-advised sexual relationships.

Extremely good, I get the feeling I'm going to be listening to it a lot and, unusually for a post-rock weirdy sort of thing, it's pretty short and to the point - 8 songs, none of them longer than 4 minutes, sells for £7.99 (punk-post-rock?).

If that sounds like your idea of fun and you fancy making an 'interesting' record purchase, it comes highly recommended.

<John Peel>
It appears to be on 'Jitter' records, catalogue number is JTR4CD..
</John Peel>

12:42 / 14.12.01

quote:Save my thread on them from oblivion and I might get time to type out the lyrics..

The only track I could download is "Morning After Pill"... and I have no idea what the vocals are, as they're a bit muffled and down in the mix. Their official site (here) doesn't have any lyrics, although it does have a very punk feel to it which has to count for something.

ok, now I've done my bit

Pin

19:27 / 14.12.01

Woohoo! Fell in love with them when I heard Morning After Pill on the Peel Show, fell in love with Rizla after he put it on a mix tape.

I'll get it tomorrow...

*wanders off grinning, this has been a good day...*

Red Cross Iodized Salt

20:49 / 14.12.01

I do so miss John Peel...

11:55 / 16.12.01

OOOH! This sounds like a lot of fun. I'll have to keep my eyes open.

10:44 / 17.12.01

I was gonna post the lyrics requested by Alex - I even typed them up and put them on a text file. But now I've forgotten the disk. Darn. Be with you tomorrow.

20:32 / 17.12.01

Oh yes. Thanks for putting them on that mix tape, Rizla. Brilliant.

10:25 / 19.12.01

don't mention it.

As promised:

quote:
MORNING AFTER PILL:

I thought of the poem with the line about the smoke being a huge cat curling around the house. A clownish figure, measuring out his life in coffee spoons, he said the idea of bondage made him laugh, conjured up an image of some middle-aged couple thinking they were being a bit risqué, trying to spice up their lagging sex lives with an array of contrived and clichéd devices. Well whatever, with his mother’s apron strings to hand, I can’t imagine him saying no. You say you don’t feel fully fledged, and then crawl into your mothers womb. You’re too scared to agree or disagree or even think about what you want. You say you’re scared of feeling trapped and then you lock yourself in your mother’s house.

*

It started in a dangled duvet covered in pictures of chubby infants, mixed drinks and the sticky sweet taste of vomit clinging to my teeth. Scene two was a damp, smelly room. Marilyn, Manga and bondage covered the cracks in the paint work; day upon day cocooned in a sheet smeared with sweat and make-up. Three months later trudging through daffodils and dogshit he talked facetiously about having gone full circle. He dragged symbolism out of football matches and nausea. We looked drugged and battered. I felt him force the roles around, making me nurse him as though the emotional betrayal was something I’d done to him. He took the 4:16 back home, leaving me standing on the platform with sweat on my skin and cum in my hair. Please keep in touch? I couldn’t see the point…

Regrettable Juvenilia

11:06 / 19.12.01

TS Eliot references and bondage? I'm sold... And after Electrelane, I do so trust Riz's judgment.

14:51 / 24.12.01

Just downloaded Morning After Pill of Audiogalaxy, liked it, sort of a more musical version of Jools, but it doesn't make me want to crash me car.
Anyone spotted this on sale in London? Where might I purchase 'Indian Ink', friendly local record shops for preference.

18:17 / 26.12.01

apart from the pavement sticker on one gitar, this band truely disappoint live. i thought they were really sucky. especially when the geek-esque keyboard player thre a pint of water over the crowd who were standing there, not heckling or anything, just waiting for smog. he even apologised for it. it was really embarrassing. the singer wanted to fight my chum, or maybe it was the other way around, but all i remember is her looking incredibly uncomfortable when standing on the stage. it was difficult to watch. i went and sat near the back and listened to them as i would a record, and it did sound quite intense, tho i'm not sure they're in the same league as mogwai just yet. and at the end the boys kicked their guitars in making everyone wince. not a fun show. and i said to my chum after they played, in a couple of years, they'll be really good, but he told me they'd already been around for ages. maybe it was just this particular live experience which sucked for them; but it has really put me off them.

08:01 / 27.12.01

oh, thas a shame. (But then again it sounds like the sort of slightly chaotic kind of thing I'd have really enjoyed).

Out of interest, who are they? what do they look like? how many of them are there?

(the record doesn't answer any of these important questions).

15:38 / 27.12.01

i could go into a lengthly description, but i have found this page for you: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/birmingham/alt_pulp.shtml
go to the bottom of the page, under all the pulp izzo and there you will find snaps of the band.
the fourth one along from mr. john peel is the geek who poured water on the audience.