Records

Rip It Up, Issue 107, 1 June 1986, Page 20

Records

‘RECORDS’ FROM PAGE 18 Questionnaire days and Alexei's routines (lyrics?) usually revolve around feeble attempts at outrage. Heavyhanded swipes at matters political, religious and sexual are further soared by gratuitous scatology and swearing. However there is one track which, for me anyway, is almost up to the standard of 1981's ‘Stoke Newington:. ‘Romford By Pass' is another wickedly funny monologue parodying English social rituals and speech patterns. It’s also one of the few tracks without music.

So while dance (?) tracks like ‘Ullo John’ and ‘Brother’ may largely succeed as soundtracks to — or reminders of — a visual performance, it's a couple of the nonmusical routines that best survive on audio alone. Funny that. Peter Thomson

King Kurt Big Cock Festival With a title like that and pressed on “throbbing red vinyl”,

don’t expect anything subtle. But those of a delicate nature would be safer remaining at a distance. King Kurt's live shows have this habit of erupting into mass food fights, where everybody gets covered in some form of muck. Sounds like a mess of fun, and this album is the aural equivalent. Belonging to that particular English form of rockin’ riot — part rockabilly, part punk and part fairground music. The rockabilly bits are great, especially a version of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Nervous Breakdown’, and the beginning of ‘Horatio’, which takes off Roy Orbison’s ‘Domino’ and then turns into something completely different.

This is a real noisy album, lots of yells, screams and loud backing vocals, a beer drinker's record that is far from sober. Tracks like ‘Big Daddy’ have this great call-and-response bit, and ‘Alcoholic Rat’ just about sums up this bunch of English wide boys, with names like Maggot, Thwack and the Smeg, how can you lose.

~ Like a Beano comic come alive — King Kurt invite you to a rave up.

Kerry Buchanan