Giulio Erasmus & The End of the Worm - Hard Sell

Back in stock having sold through super quick on initual release is Giulio Erasmus' third long player, which with the addition of his The End of the Worm live band, fleshes out his mutant dub-punk into something ultimately more supple and strange. If allegiances weren't already made clear by that distinctive surname (a gift from his Factory co-founding father, Alan), then Hard Sell makes it certain: 15 elastic, lissom re-configurations that impressively extend the rich lineage of the kind of  post-punk experimentation that we routinely associate with these (un)fair Isles. The influence of Factory is inevitable and understandable (and why should it not be), though it's not the only one, with equal parts Rough Trade, Y Records, Fast Product and all manner of obscure one-and-done DIY oddities mashed into its DNA. More to the point, Hard Sell doesn't sound especially like any other one thing, but does share the sensibility of an era, displaying a loose, agnostic approach to genre and form, building clattering drums and wonky electronics around a liquid bass that never quits and Erasmus' alien vocal gesticulations and abstract proclamations. What is being got at here isn't entirely clear, the song titles abstruse, the song structures loose and unpredictable, the ghosts of Martin Hannett solo experiments certainly at work within the machine. And it's such opaque workings that make the whole thing so enticing and addictive - I've come back to this one numerous times trying to find some obvious answers, but leave every time with more mysteries to unravel. It's an increasingly rare experience. And so, if you've found the anodyne appropriation of 'post-punk' into something approaching mainstream formula a little predictable, then the enigma code of Hard Sell might be the antidote you're looking for.
 
FFO: early Cabaret Voltaire, Windows, ESG, A Certain Ratio, The Names, Second Layer, Artery