Tester Housing - Over You

12" comp collecting four impossible-to-find Tester Housing tracks from 1983, the sum total of the Melbourne duos recorded output. Originally released via Rampant, the short-lived but prolific label also responsible for a few Drowning Not Waving and David Chesworth records, what we've got here is a prime example of the international language of minimal synthpop, beautifully youthful expressions that trade their guitars for synthesisers, filtered through the briefly utopic ideal of new emergent technologies. There's a big early Mute feel here, a clear pop sensibility sharing space with DIY enthusiasm and a little punk spirit. All gold, but the closing near-acapella of 'Oh' is the standout, brushed with that same lonely planet sound as Solid Space's hermetical masterpiece, Space Museum. That one track is worth the entry fee alone.