What happened to The Computers? They seemed to be on the edge of breaking through to being quite huge, and then just vanished into thin air. The last time I saw them they were supporting Rocket From the Crypt and the time before that they had every person in McClusky's getting into their thing; the album they released after this one was produced (or recorded?) by John Reis, which is a pretty deal by most people's standards. (That said, I didn't buy that album, so maybe I'm part of the problem.) There was a whole load of hype about that album, then they went quiet almost as soon as it came out. There was no "the band is over" message, just a fade into oblivion.
There was an argument from the very beginning that they were style over substance, but it worked - wearing matching red shirts and trousers, or these swanky suits or whatever followed certainly got them noticed. And live you couldn't help but buy into Alex's conviction; I never saw them play a bad show. These songs sound nothing like the band that I got into on the first EP, but as I mentioned before, I'm ok with that. Love Triangles Hate Squares is a million times catchier than the punk-rock songs they used to write and you could play this album in most situations and people would be ok with that - You Can't Hide From The Computers doesn't go down so well on the hifi when you've got your wife's friends over for dinner as this one does.
I definitely like these songs (except for C.R.U.E.L. which has a very annoying chorus) - they're too catchy to not like - but I feel like I shouldn't. It's a strange one. I wonder what I'd have made of them if I hadn't been introduced to them as a punk rock band (I met them before I saw them - they were friends with Rez from The Cut Ups and were staying at his house in Cardiff one evening when we were round there). The cynic in me suspects (/knows) I would have written them off as a gimmick. I like to think I'm better than needing bands to have proper punk-rock credentials to be enjoyable, but it turns out I'm not. I definitely wouldn't have given them the time of day if I'd been introduced to them through this album. I'm a bad person, I know that. I'm ok with that.
Format: 12", picture sleeve, poster, numbered (#1731)
Tracks: 11
Cost: £12 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 18/07/13
Colour: Red
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
