Au Pairs - Sense And Sensuality

Released on 1 June 1982 via Kamera Records, Sense and Sensuality is the second and final studio album by the influential British post-punk band Au Pairs. Following the raw, guitar-driven urgency of their 1981 debut Playing with a Different Sex, this record marked a significant sonic evolution for the Birmingham four-piece. The band expanded their sharp, dance-punk foundation by absorbing elements of free jazz, funk, cabaret, and art-pop. Driven by driving basslines, prominent horns, and vibraphones, the album peaked at number 79 on the UK Albums Chart and showcased a more rhythmically complex, experimental side to their songwriting.

Lyrically, frontwoman Lesley Woods continued her fierce exploration of the intersection between personal relationships and institutional politics. Tracks like "Sex Without Stress" and "Don't Lie Back" used sharp wit and unflinching honesty to lampoon societal pressures, sexual taboos, and emotional intimacy. Although the band imploded shortly after its release, Sense and Sensuality has earned a lasting legacy as a post-punk classic. Today, its enduring influence on alternative music is celebrated through various high-quality vinyl reissues, cementing the Au Pairs' reputation as ahead-of-their-time pioneers of feminist punk and danceable political rock.

Au Pairs - Live In Berlin

Recorded at a women's festival in Germany, Live in Berlin is an effective document of an economical, measured, and purposeful band, who were always well regarded for their live performances. The Au Pairs weren't the first feminist post-punk group on the block, but they were more accessible than the Slits and generally easier on the ear than the Poison Girls. Lesley Woods' voice dominates proceedings, as usual, and the set list includes most of the notable moments from the Au Pairs' limited catalogue.

Au Pairs - Equal But Different (BBC Sessions 79-81)

Equal But Different: BBC Sessions 79-81 is a vital historical compilation by the British post-punk band The Au Pairs, released by RPM Records in 1994. The album gathers 20 tracks recorded during the band's peak creative years for BBC Radio, including their celebrated sessions for legendary DJ John Peel. Known for their sharp, danceable funk-punk grooves and aggressive live energy, these sessions capture the Birmingham four-piece at their most immediate and unfiltered. The tracks offer a raw alternative to their studio albums, showcasing Lesley Woods' commanding vocals, Paul Foad's jagged guitar work, and a driving, propulsive rhythm section.

Lyrically and culturally, the compilation serves as a powerful time capsule of late-70s and early-80s radical feminism and socio-political critique. The Au Pairs used their platform to dissect gender politics, domesticity, and sexual power dynamics with uncompromising wit on signature tracks like "It's Obvious", "Come Again", and "Pretty Boys". By tracing their trajectory across three distinct radio sessions from October 1979 to January 1981, the release maps the band's rapid musical evolution right up to the launch of their seminal debut album, Playing With a Different Sex.

Au Pairs - Playing With A Different Sex

Opening with the tongue in cheek "We're So Cool," The Au Pairs debut record is a stunner, from Lesley Woods' scratchy guitar and declamatory vocals to lead guitarist Paul Foad's brittle soloing. This is an uncompromising, defiant record that asks for and gives no quarter; gender roles are turned upside down, hetero and homosexual relationships put under a microscope, and theories about sex and sexuality turned inside out.

"Come Again" refers to the social pressure to achieve orgasmic equality depicting sex as a dreary ritual in which partners as joyless as lab rats press bars and nose buttons in the hopes of an orgasm as dry and quantifiable as kibble. Directed at those who changed the game and brought in new rules, it asks "Is it real? Are you feeling it?", before turning into a dialogue between the female lead and male backing who is evidently attempting to satisfy her: "Am I doing it right?" he asks, and the woman reassures him, "You're not selfish/You're trying hard to please me – please, please me/Is your finger aching?/I can feel you hesitating".

Describing the albums taut rhythms and aggressive lyrics, Playing With A Different Sex makes it a classic example of how the influence of punk could steer rock into exciting new areas. The song "Diet", originally released as a single in 1980 was described as a masterpiece of feminist rock with an almost unparalleled power and pathos. An unflinching look at the world from 35 years ago, Playing With A Different Sex is one of the great, and perhaps one of the forgotten, post-punk records. The CD reissue adds eight significant bonus cuts from 1979-1981 singles, which include different versions of tracks from the LP and some songs which didn't make it onto the album.