New - Wolfhounds, The - Bright And Guilty - 2xLP

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.