The Photos - Crystal Tips And Mighty Mice

British band the Photos stayed together only long enough to release one--self-titled--album in 1980. The follow-up, the curiously titled Crystal Tips And Mighty Mice, lingered in the vaults until its eventual exhumation in 2008. Like its predecessor this almost mythical record shows a punchy band mixing punk energy with power-pop hooks and new-wave production touches, with dynamic lead singer Wendy Wu simultaneously channelling Debbie Harry and Patti Smith, while still retaining her own style. Produced by the legendary Tony Visconti and, by their own accord in the liner notes of the CD, a major step of musical growth from their 1st LP, this, their 2nd studio album does in fact show that the band was evolving. The songs are more diverse, yet, at the same time, they seem to be getting more comfortable with just playing these new tunes for what they are.

Both opener My Life Story and the one song that was actually released from the collection way back when - Life in a Day, as a 7" single - are punchy numbers sung from the perspective of disenchanted souls plodding through everyday society. Luke Come Back is a catchy plea that sounds sort of like ABBA on steroids, while Kill That Girl is a dismal tale of deadly jealousy set to a bouncy tune. Quite possibly the star of the record is the stunning For Beauty's Sake, which features a truly dreamy melody and thoughtful lyrics.

Thanks to Cherry Red Records, the album has been issued on CD with bonus tracks that definitely sound more poppy than the first eleven songs which sometimes call to mind the Passions, another great female-led band of the time that has been almost entirely forgotten. For over 25 years Crystal Tips remained in the vaults, only to be heard by a select few new wave fanatics who managed to track down mp3s ripped from a promo copy of the record. That all changed in July 2008 when Cherry Red Records secured the rights to the album and released it for the first time.

Ripped rather curiously from a CD released in 2008 to FLAC

1.       My Life Story

2.       Life In A Day

3.       Luke Come Back

4.       Let's Pack Our Bags

5.       Kill That Girl

6.       The Final Scene

7.       We Fight

8.       Thinking Of His Girlfriend

9.       Wish You Well

10.   For Beauty's Sake

11.   Time Of My Life

12.   More Than A Friend (B-Side Of "Life In A Day")

13.   You Won't Get To Me (B-Side Of "We'll Win")

14.   It's Always The English (Unreleased)

15.   We'll Win (Single)

16.   Charlotte (Unreleased)

17.   Shy (B-Side Of "Irene" Double Single)

18.   Cridsilla (B-Side Of "Irene" Double Single)