There's nothing better than a good re-up, especially when it dovetails with the post above
Originally released in 1984, Cindytalk's debut album
“Camouflage Heart” melded post-punk sensibility with early industrial /
electronic music. Recorded at Gateway Studio in London during 1984, except
"Everybody Is Christ," recorded in 1982, Gordon Sharp (originally in
Edinburgh punk band, Freeze), with David Clancy, John Byrne, and Birthday Party
member Mick Harvey also appearing on the album. Exceedingly dark, cathartic,
and at times, virtually unhinged, Gordon Sharp's early-80s incarnation of
Cindytalk was a dazzlingly self-indulgent gloom-fest that anticipated the
industrial-rock movement years before the genre even had a name. Best known for
his fine contributions to the first This Mortal Coil project, It'll End in
Tears, Sharp's work in Cindytalk is far more visceral and far less ethereal than
what was emanating from the 4AD label at the time. The pulverizing "It's
Luxury" is led by incisive guitar riffs that rival Big Black's chain-link
fence battering. Bad Seed and Birthday Party member Mick Harvey appears to have
stopped by the studio for all of two minutes to lend thudding drums to
"Under Glass," which is rife with sax bleats and lumbering bass. When
not dabbling in isolationist electronics ("The Ghost Never Smiles")
Sharp's eerie, wailing vocals sound like they are emanating from the bottom of
a well as a dull tribal beat and guitar feedback carry the song toward what
feels like a free-fall into the abyss Cindytalk don't deal in conventional
forms. This is demanding music, yet infinitely reachable and rewarding,
sounding unlike anyone else I can imagine, offering real invention and ignoring
old, oft-trodden paths.
