The Lo Yo Yo - s/t

Another tribute to the unremembered 80s with this first time vinyl pressing of the second tape released by London outfit The Lo Yo Yo, a splinter formation of Family Fodder's John Pearce and Mick Hobbs from Officer!, who were also joined by Joey Stack and vocalist Carrie Brooks. It's surprising there's much left from this period to still uncover, and Concentric Circles aren't the first to make their way down this particular path - you might remember Staubgold's re-press from a few years back of the 1985 LP Extra Work, an album also notable for having been made with This Heat's Charles Bullen and featuring some similar material to that present on the self-titled cassette from the year before. Whether you missed that or not, these demo recordings are unquestionably revelatory, one of those perfect documents that captures the early energies of a new group working out their preferred shape with instant understanding. 1984 is perhaps a bit late for their concoction of dub-flexed, post-punk herky jerky melodicism to have felt new, but their shared intuitions and impulses are undeniably infectious, existent somewhere along the same thread that ties The Raincoats and Flying Lizards with the proto-indie impishness of Girls At Our Best. Why this didn't catch on at the time is anyone's guess, but like with so much stuff from that era, they might just have found their ideal time to exist right now, what with DIY post-punk now seemingly the default language of a good proportion of UK led guitar music. 41 years is a hell of a stint to wait, but to paraphrase the words of one of the other records out this week, a hit's a hit even if no-one is listening. YOLO The Lo Yo Yo except when you get a second chance to live again... 
 
FFO: The Raincoats, Girls At Our Best, Flying Lizards, Skeet