Magazine - Real Life

Howard Devoto had the foresight to promote two infamous Sex Pistols concerts in Manchester, and his vision was no less acute when he left Buzzcocks after recording Spiral Scratch. Possibly sensing the festering of punk's clichés and limitations, and unquestionably not taken by the movement's beginnings, he bailed (effectively skipping out on most of 1977) and resurfaced with Magazine. Initially, the departure from punk was not complete. "Shot by Both Sides," the band's first single, was based off an old riff given by Devoto's Buzzcocks partner Pete Shelley, and the guts of follow-up single "Touch and Go" were rather basic rev-and-vroom. 

Yet, like many punk bands, Magazine would likely cite David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Roxy Music. However (this point is crucial) instead of playing mindlessly sloppy variants of "Hang on to Yourself," "Search and Destroy," and "Virginia Plain," the band was inspired by the much more adventurous “Low”, “The Idiot”, and "For Your Pleasure". That is the driving force behind Real Life's status as one of the post-punk era's major jump-off points. Punk's untethered energy is rigidly controlled, run through arrangements that are tightly wound, herky-jerky, unpredictable, and proficiently dynamic. The rapidly careening "Shot by Both Sides" (up there with PiL's "Public Image" as an indelible post-punk single) and the slowly unfolding "Parade" (the closest thing to a ballad, its hook is "Sometimes I forget that we're supposed to be in love") are equally ill-at-ease. The dynamism is all the more perceptible when Dave Formula's alternately flighty and assaultive keyboards are present: the opening "Definitive Gaze," for instance, switches between a sci-fi love theme and the score for a chase scene. As close as the band comes to upstaging Devoto, the singer is central, with his live wire tendencies typically enhanced, rather than truly outshined, by his mates. The interplay is at its best in "The Light Pours out of Me," a song that defines Magazine more than "Shot by Both Sides," while also functioning as the closest the band got to making an anthem. Various aspects of Devoto's personality and legacy, truly brought forth throughout this album, have been transferred and blown up throughout the careers of Momus (the restless, unapologetic intellectual), Thom Yorke (the pensive outsider), and maybe even Luke Haines (the nonchalantly acidic crank).

Still it's shameful that Magazine weren’t considered one of the best acts of the post-punk period. Devoto led one of the shortest ever careers with Buzzcocks and then resurfaced ten thousand years away from the punk hooliganism casting a handful of creative musicians to form Magazine. Listening to Magazine it's like being in the presence of an idiosyncratic and exhilarating blend of Peter Hammill's tragedian, Brian Eno's lush quirkiness and post-punk energy.

"Real Life" is like a steely cathedral surrounded by snow. And is also a terrifying study on loneliness. At these times, only Wire has reached the same detailed level of enthralment. At these times, Magazine was not fucking joking...
"Definitive Gaze" and "My Tulpa" are two formidable openers to any album. "My Tulpa" is the best keyboard-driven song from the post-punk years. A masterpiece in nine (um 13 now) movements. 

Taken from the 2007 remastered and expanded CD and ripped to MP3

Track Listing

1. Definitive Gaze
2. My Tupla
3. Shot By Both Sides
4. Recoil
5. Burst
6. Motorcade
7. The Great Beautician In The Sky
8. The Light Pours Out Of Me
9. Parade
10. Shot By Both Sides
11. My Mind Ain’t So Open
12. Touch And Go
13. Goldfinger