Play Dead - The First Flower

In response to a request on my previous Play Dead post, I suggested that I would post The First Flower…this was back in 2019. Lady and Gentleman, I apologise for the four year wait and finally, posted here in all its glory, I give you both, The First Flower.

The band's longest original release in its earliest days, The First Flower on the whole is a step below the dark, surging power of bands like the early TSOM and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Still, it has enough aggressive post-punk edge for hardcore fans of the era and sounds to warrant further investigation, and certainly sounds far sharper all around than the earliest, scattershot singles. Part of the band's appeal (and consequently its lack of true stature) is the semi-cloning of other popular groups. Thus, there's more than a little Cure in both Green's guitars and Waddleston's bass, while Smith's pounding, rolling drums call to mind many other groups working in a similar "tribal" vein like UK Decay. Generally, though, The First Flower captures both a mysterious, epic edge and brusquer slams with equal appeal, with Green in particular having a nervous, screeching style that establishes its own extreme identity far more than original guitarist Re Vox did. Hickson's singing at points almost sounds like what would happen if Jello Biafra had a slightly calmer English cousin who liked Peter Murphy, a comparison not as off as it might sound. The six songs skip from style to style, more than once stumbling across a neat new fusion -- the snarling funk of "Propaganda" sounds like it was a clear role model for the Cult's later hit "Resurrection Joe."

Over all this is a very nice debut LP from this rather unknown Goth band. Musically, it's powerful 80s dark rock, among which two hits stand out: "Tenant" is perfect, absolutely dark, psychotic Goth, and the brilliant "Propaganda" should still make every Goth shake his or her ass today or, of course, do a depressed two-step forward-two-back-shuffle. I also enjoy the rest of the record, even if it's perhaps not the most varied, Play Dead really get the 80s Goth sound right. The bonus tracks on the CD version are absolutely exemplary: Instead of any stupid demo/live tracks, the band's first five singles (1981-84) are available here in full as a bonus, which makes it easy to understand the early development of the band – sadly this confirms that that the band is not one of the most creative; The "Propaganda" riff appears on the 1981 B-side "Final Epitaph", complemented by a nice Diddley beat.

 

Ripped to MP3 @ 320kbps

1 Time
2 The Tenant
3 Propaganda
4 Sin Of Sins
5 In Silence
6 Don't Leave Without Me
7 Shine
8 Gaze
9 Promise
10 Propaganda (Mix)
11 Propaganda (1984 Mix)
12 Sin Of Sins (1984 Mix)
13 Poison Takes A Hold
14 Introduction
15 T.V. Eye
16 Final Epitaph

Also, don’t believe a word on the CD’s cover…it’s the original 6 track album plus 10 bonus tracks…