Girls At Our Best - Politics! 7''

THE SECOND JOLT FROM THE LEEDS MAFIO

🔥 ROUND TWO! After leaving the indie scene completely stunned with their debut, Girls At Our Best! refused to let the fire fizzle out. In November 1980, they dropped their highly anticipated sophomore strike: "Politics!" b/w "It's Fashion!" on their trusty Record Records imprint (RR2). With original drummer Chris Oldroyd moving on, the band drafted in Paul Simon (fresh out of Neo and Radio Stars) to bash the traps and help steer their next sonic evolution. Backed by the mighty distribution web of Rough Trade, this sleek piece of plastic didn't just crawl into the underground consciousness—it smashed right into the UK Indie Chart Top 15, peaking at an impressive No. 12.

This wasn't just a local victory, either; the record holds the legendary title of being the very first Rough Trade distributed single to be simultaneously unleashed on both sides of the Atlantic! Boasting a vastly improved, crisp production profile courtesy of Laurence Diana, "Politics!" proved that the Leeds crew weren't an accidental one-hit wonder. They were a sharp, calculated, and beautifully subversive indie-pop engine hitting their absolute stride, sealing their place as John Peel’s new favourite sweethearts.

GLOSSY PRODUCTION & SATIRICAL BITE

Drop the stylus on the A-side and "Politics!" hits with a brilliantly refined punch. It trades the raw, serrated, lightning-fast chaos of their debut for a tightly coiled, bouncy post-punk groove that leans heavily into a jangling, danceable art-pop territory. Judy Evans delivers what can only be described as her signature vocal triumph—soaring into a beautiful, warbling "choirboy" pitch while dead-panning a satirical checklist of global entities like the CIA, KGB, and FBI. It is incredibly catchy, impossibly witty, and features a driving guitar line from James Alan that proves you can write a smart socio-political commentary without taking yourself too seriously.

But flip the platter over, because "It's Fashion!" is where the band truly opens the box to their future blueprint. Driven by a pulsating, relentless bassline from Gerard Swift, this B-side is a glorious, fast-paced attack on the cyclical nature of high-art trends and societal style-obsession. Paul Simon's rhythmic thud provides a razor-sharp backdrop for Evans to flex her vocal gymnastics, cooing and sneering over jagged, syncopated guitar stabs. Together, both sides of RR2 feel like a meticulously crafted manifesto: older, wiser, much cleaner, yet absolutely overflowing with that chaotic indie DIY magic. Look out for the master lacquer engraving too—the run-out groove brilliantly reads "All Quiet..." on the flip and "...On the Western Front" on the A-side!

Ripped to MP3

A: Politics! [3:12]

B: It's Fashion! [2:23]