The Pop Group, one of the most wildly innovative and barrier-shattering bands to emerge from the late ’70s post-punk era, are finally seeing their rare and fabled legacy reissued for the first time.
Colour Blind, arguably The Pop Group's most wistful and melancholic moment, one full of yearning and anguish, reveals the band’s roots and signals their future musical trajectory.
The song which lyrically evokes dying on a flaming crucifix, and dancing whilst held in surreal stasis, begins with an infant’s cries and gurglings, and ends with a fractured, fluttering guitar solo. Mark Stewart poetically reflects that the song was “a glimpse of the unknown / soaring wonderlust mixed with existential teenage angst / from the boys whose heads exploded.”
The accompanying video is a compelling visual piece which mirrors the song’s intensity and melancholic brilliance with a frenetic flood of images. The creator of the piece, New York artist Rupert Goldsworthy commented: “It's the sound of a teenager trying to figure their way through the awkwardness of adolescent desires. The song's video tags these emotive cues with visual snips that mimic its keening tones, its Pere Ubu-like crooning wail, and the production's swoop and gyre, and its staccato boogie rhythms.”
Mark elaborates further, with his thoughts on the video: “The transgressive short from fellow New Banalist and NYC artist Rupert Goldsworthy tears up maps, visualising the genderquakes of the period and features psychic photographer Ted Serious projecting images onto lens-capped cameras!”
Colour Blind is a very early recording of The Pop Group which only surfaced later on their last LP We Are Time, named after one of their most infamous onslaughts.
The album has been remastered from original tapes and is set for release on 20th October on the newFreaks R Us label.
We Are Time will be available for pre-order from 18th August on iTunes with ‘Colour Blind’ available as an instant gratification track from the same date.
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/WeAreTime-iTunes
To coincide with the reissue, a seven–day UK tour will kick off on October 20th.
20-Oct- Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms
21-Oct – Nottingham Bodega Social Club
22-Oct – Manchester Gorilla
23-Oct – Bristol Anson Rooms
24-Oct – Leeds Brudenell Social Club
25-Oct – Brighton Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
26-Oct – London Islington Assembly Hall