Double LP
First time vinyl reissue of the iconic Never Say When compilation, first released nearly 40 years ago by Broken Flag, the industrial/power electronics label operated by Ramleh’s Gary Mundy. All this time on, this still tracks as genuinely - thrillingly! - subterranean action, under the underground sounds that have lost zero edge, and remain staunchly abrasive and head-on in intent. Some of the names are more recognisable than others, even as their work has mutated into different forms - see Ramleh, Controlled Bleeding, Total, Andrew Chalk - but the main appeal of Never Say When is how it seems to capture a moment in time, that transgressive ‘post-’ moment whereby form and function seemed entirely open to reevaluation whilst being driven by a singular spirit that retained an abrasively punk ideology. A punk that you can’t shave the edges off, and is defined by red zone electronics, metallic KO, purgatorial ambient gloom, and otherwise uncategorisable sonic expulsions. Funny, really, that such Wreckers of Civilisation music now actually sounds like a primo exercise in world building. From scorched earth a new one might emerge... Who knew that the end times soundtrack might contain a funny sense of hope.
FFO: Ramleh, Controlled Bleeding, Throbbing Gristle, Skullflower
