This is a welcome double album re-issue for Prolapse's 1994 debut Pointless Walks To Dismal Places, that has to be a contender for greatest argument albums ever, as the twin vocals of Scottish Mick Derrick and Linda Steelyard bicker as they describe all sorts of awful events, over dark indie motoric clattering rock. They were not trying to be like the more commercial Britpop acts of the time thankfully. Although this album is on Burgundy Vinyl it's as Noir an album as you could wish for. The most surprising fact about the band is they come from Leicester, as on hearing the album I assumed they were Glaswegian through and through.
The album opens gently fading into Serpico giving no clue as to what's about break out, as this builds with the twin bickering vocals of Scottish Mick Derrick and Linda Steelyard slowly coming to the fore as the arguments as a typical Serpico scenario unfolds, against the clattering guitars strafing the room. The song ends with a nasty threat.
Headless In A Beat Motel is simply a great song title, that they easily live up to, as the raging frothing vocals clash against the desperate music, the horror of what's happening in that Beat Motel, as the sounds of hacking guitars are set against the blood spattering drums. The song ends with what sounds like a circular saw.
Surreal Madrid feels like a Teenage Jesus & The Jerks update, dark swirling guitars, pained drumming as the antics of the football supporters and players unfolds, with prostitutes, back handers abound, this feels perfect to listen too as the most corrupt World Cup ever has begun in Qatar, as this looks at footballs dark under belly, with the workers dying as they build stadia, the guitars go off like an old school football rattle.
Doorstop Rhythmic Block has a clattering motoric beat as the argument starts to unfold, as he gets tempted by the scantily clad women, this is dark seedy a tale from the dark side of existence. As they look at all the people who died too young in the tenements, as they also take in the Falklands and pointless battles elsewhere as guitars engulf.
Burgundy Spine starts like a fey indie pop song, as the mumbled male vocals come in, set against the clear female vocals describing the scene of another terrible crime against the jangling guitars.
Black Death Ambulance has tsunami guitars and coal black lyrics as everything goes terribly wrong, like they have been on a weeklong bender, totally lost the plot, are swirling round the drain of despair, as this breaks down in the middle things become more fraught with Linda's whispered vocals etiolated guitar that build towards the cataclysmic ending.
Chill Blown slowly builds as Linda starts to narrate this tale of non-mutual love and domestic unrest, with the normal cliches that she never meant to hurt you. As the Guitars get fiercer, she starts to wonder what went wrong this time with feedbacking intensity cacophony at the desperation the answers lie within.
Hungarian Suicide Song feels like a polar opposite of The Jazz Butchers Hungarian Love Song, the opening is full of radio static with a carefully played guitar as the radio announcer reads the news of what happened.
The original album closes with the brilliant almost Indie Pop of Tina This Is Matthew Stone, it opens with them being introduced to each other before she starts to rail against all sorts of things, egging him on as this argument starts to unfold, come on she cries and screams as he lets rip at her, this gets nastier and nastier, the barbs run from classics such as take a look at yourself, through the threats of violence as the guitars and drums rage, screams as the barbs get more personal as they scream to not bring there families into this brilliant bile ridden fight, that reaches its peak after she accuses his mother of being a whore, truly this is a masterpiece of a domestic abuse drama unfolding over seven taut tense minutes that become increasingly violent and nasty, this is horrific and compelling in equal measure.
The bonus album opens with Psychotic Now a pulsating motoric scowling brawling scuffle between the always arguing couple who really would be better off if they never knew each other as the jealousy and bile increase.
P.D.F. doesn't sound like a computer document that's for sure, as this fraught relationship drama unfolds like an episode of Silent Witness, as the twin vocals bicker, the fight punctuated by nasty wailing guitars that make you afraid to ring that doorbell.
Screws has long tonal opening as she asks if she was mad to get involved with him, he describes what he's wearing and all sorts of other stuff as the mania sets in musically, as he claims to be a well-read man, not that it will save him or her from the mess they are in. This song also has the oddest reference ever to Charles Mingus as this sounds nothing like his jazz. The guitars distorting with feedback, go mad a total cataclysm.
Kilometrica Blanca sounds bright almost optimistic at the intro, the vocals are almost buried in the mix as the guitars go off it's unclear exactly what's gone on, but well it wouldn't have been good would it, as the odd line emerges from the murk.
Pull Thru' Barker sounds more like a normal clattering indie song as she sees her boyfriend get off with another girl, while trying to ignore it as she breaks her heart once more. This is speedy clatter pop as he's excuses finally arrive, as he tries to justify his bad behavior you know it won't end well.
Dirge sounds in places a bit like Elastica as the Dirge unfolds and Scottish Mick lets us know all the details we need to hear sung in that thick accent as we find out what she said to you to make her leave you.
They Slept In Darkness has acute observations of the malaise they are in as the possibility that a vague friendship is something more or that the events that unfolded having only seen each other twice in seven weeks might be worth scratching your eyes out for. The music fights as much as the couple do.
E.O.P.O. opens to some ambient noise before the nasty guitars arrive, the suicidal main characters collapsing lives are described in super-fast spurts as we figure out what drove them to despair once more. No idea if this is really about an Equal Opportunities Programs Office or not.
The bonus album closes with Pile tent one last fraught tense argument to make clear they should never have got together in the first place as he claims he only took a couple of swipes at her, the dysfunctional relationships they sing about feel very real and nasty in ways that make this re-issue totally compelling listening.
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