By Jim Rowland
Back in 1995, the wonderful and sadly missed Poly Styrene put a new version of punk legends X-Ray Spex together and recorded a new album, the second and final X-Ray Spex album, ‘Conscious Consumer’. It received a limited CD release at the time, but due to Styrene suffering serious injuries from an accident, the band were unable to promote it and it quickly disappeared. Officially unavailable for the past 27 years, now it finally gets the proper release it deserves.
The original punk-era incarnation of X-Ray Spex, existing between 1976 and 1979, only recorded one album, ‘Germfree Adolescents’. Released in 1978, for me ‘Germfree Adolescents’ is not just one of the best albums of the punk era, but one of the most perfect albums ever made, with the lyrical themes, artwork, concept, and of course the great songs all combining to make it one great work of art. With its theme revolving around modern day consumerism and throw-away culture, the band even threw themselves away after that one perfect album too.
Seventeen years later, the line-up that recorded this album, ‘Conscious Consumer’, featured original bass player Paul Dean, original sax player Lora Logic, who had been fired from the band following the release of their debut single ‘Oh Bondage, Up Yours!’ in 1977, and Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills under his then pseudonym Red Spectre.
The task of recording an album as good as ‘Germfree Adolescents’ was virtually impossible, and indeed this album not surprisingly falls short in comparison, but still has plenty of appeal. Recorded in a different era of the mid-90’s, it still retains some of the anti-consumerism lyrical themes of the first album, as well as some of the punk sensibility, albeit in a more pop oriented format. In some ways it sits in between ‘Germfree Adolescents’ and the quite superb Poly Styrene swan song album ‘Generation Indigo’ that she would release shortly before her untimely passing in 2011.
The likes of ‘Cigarettes’, ‘Junk Food Junkie’, ‘Dog In Sweden’ and ‘Party’ are quality slices of catchy, up-tempo pop-punk, with the slower, more laid back ‘Crystal Clear’ and ‘Melancholy’ echoing the vibe of the ‘Germ Free Adolescents’ track from the first album. Elsewhere, ‘Sophia’ and ‘Peace Meal’ head in a slightly rockier direction, whilst ‘Prayer for Peace’ has a more 60’s pop vibe to it.
I must admit that I, like many others, didn’t even realize that this album existed, given that it disappeared largely without trace upon its original release. Whilst not as good as its classic predecessor, it makes for a great companion piece to the first album, and is available as download, CD and, in true X-Ray Spex spirit, eco-vinyl, which is basically a random colour where the pressing has been made from recycled cut offs from other vinyl pressings, which is a truly admirable concept. This reissue has been remastered from the original master tape and lands on vinyl for the first-time ever with unpublished lyrics and original sleeve notes from Poly Styrene.
- ‘Conscious Consumer‘ is released on Friday (15 December).
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.