Despite all of their critical acclaim, I somehow managed to miss the first two albums from Echo and the Bunnymen, and the first song I recall hearing from them was the single "The Cutter", which received considerable airplay. As I liked the song, I bought the new album, more based on the reputation of the band rather than anything else. I had missed some of the poor reviews from the critics at the time for "Porcupine" not being "commercial", but I saw it had got to number 2 in the album charts !
The pictures for the album cover were shot in Iceland, which critics tended to think was appropriate given the cold and oppressive nature of the album.
I wasn't sure what to make of it. Being heavily into The Cure at the time, I was all for dark, moody, introspective music and "Porcupine" didn't disappoint in that respect. However, despite regularly playing, I found it difficult to fully get into. Looking at the album now my impression of the LP was that in someways it was similar to Toyah's "The Blue Meaning" where at times it seemed as if any hints of melody had been bashed out of the songs, but nevertheless it was quite compelling.
Forty years on, "The Cutter" is the only song I can remember how it went but I was optimistic that many of them would come flooding back once they started !
"The Cutter" opens side one and features an eastern strings intro, and motif throughout. There's a good bass line, a rising chorus and a fantastic, joyous musically break. "couldn't cut the mustard, conquering myself, until I see another hurdle approaching. Say we can, say we will, not just another drop in the ocean".
I was surprised to learn that "Back Of Love" had been released as a single nine months ahead of the LP and was the Bunnymen's first top 20 chart success in the UK. It has a frantic pace, manic drumming, staccato guitar and another rising chorus.
The pace changes with "My White Devil" which has a slow intro, a dominant bass line and some weird noises. It's actually quite a nice tune and I had totally forgotten this song. "Change in the nether, do I get the choice. Chance in forever, when do we get the spoils ?"
Listening again to "Clay" was a huge surprise. There is more driving bass and nice guitar to drive the chorus. It's as close as it gets to being a pop song on the album ! "When I came apart, I wasn't made of sand. When you fell apart clay crumbled in my hands".
The title track "Porcupine" closes side one. It has a dark, morbid sound, an almost monastic style vocal "There is no comparison" but an unexpected lively outro.Side Two opener "Heads Will Roll" was also a shock to hear again. After a short acoustic guitar beginning it has more eastern strings similar to "The Cutter", a good guitar riff and a chorus reminiscent of early U2. "What if no-one's calling. God must be falling". It's topped off with a psychedelic middle eight with Indian violins.
The funky guitar lines on "Ripeness" reminded me a little of Haircut 100's "Favourite Shirt" ! But with driving drums and a throbbing bass the rest of the track sounds completely different. "When you grasped the question, did you miss the meaning ?"
"Higher Hell" is another slower number with soft, jangly guitar and the bass to the fore "Just like my lower heaven, you know so well my higher hell".
The highlight of "Gods Will Be Gods" is the urgent guitar that The Stone Roses would have been proud of, whilst the top-tapper "In Bluer Skies" has a keyboard motif from Kraftwerk's "The Model".
In conclusion it was a joy to again hear "Porcupine", and having to rearrange my paradigms ! Rather than being dark and tuneless, it is a tremendous album.
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. The Cutter
2. Back Of Love
3. My White Devil
4. Clay
5. Porcupine
1. Heads Will Roll
2. Ripeness
3. Higher Hell
4. Gods Will Be Gods
5. In Bluer Skies
UK Chart Position : 2
Singles :
Back Of Love ( No 19 - 1982 )
The Cutter ( No 8 - 1983 )
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