Unavailable since its original release on the Crass side label Corpus Christi in 1987, the much bootlegged compilation The E.P’s Of R.P. finally gets an official reissue on Sealed Records.
The LP collects both Rudimentary Peni 7” releases pre-Death Church LP, completing the trilogy of Rudimentary Peni’s first era recordings before their first hiatus.
The A side contains the band’s stunning debut. A breakneck 12-song 7” EP recorded in 1981 at Street Level Studios and originally released on the band’s Outer Himalayan label. From the first track Rudimentary Peni pull you in and aurally assault your ears creating the template for many to follow. It’s abrasive, sharp, intricate with supreme musicianship and a unique dark sense of humour. They created a perfect, demented universe of twisted, poetic and needle in the red punk often imitated and truly never matched.
Flip over for the follow up, the 11 track 7” Farce that was originally released in 1982 on Crass Records. Like most records on such label it benefits massively from John Loder’s engineering and Penny Rimbaud production. Farce never lets up the intensity with twisted melodies, a locked in rhythm section and Blinko’s much copied anguished vocals that he sings like his life depends on it. It energetic, manic and 40+ years later nothing comes close to both EP’s.
While both EPs were originally packed in Nick Blinko’s artwork, he created a masterpiece of dark and intricate art with microscopical detail to house their collection. You can literally get lost for hours in it. This reissue replicates it, adding a new printed inner-sleeve and lyric insert.
