I bought this album many moons ago, in a sale in a short lived Fopp outlet in Canterbury, and I don't recall ever listening to it. It seems to be a compilation of early (1977-78) demos by the duo on CD1, and some live material from the early 1980s and demos from 1993 on CD2.
I'm not sure what to expect - I did own Sulk on vinyl and enjoyed it immensely.
Bearing in mind these songs are mostly demos, the quality of recording isn't at all bad, credit to Michael Dempsey, the band's (and original Cure) bassist, who compiled and remastered the album. The opening tracks hit the listener straight away, The Shadow Of My Lung combining a Batman type theme with a catchy verse (did Porcupine Tree hear this before making Jupiter Island?) and cabaret interlude; while Do The Call Girl is high energy fast rock, and wonderful. Not Tonight Josephine also rocks infectiously, while 2000 Years Of Mental Torture is much more torch song, and does seem to drag a bit. The rest of CD1 doesn't quite hit these heights, but certainly has its moments. There's a superb version of the Bowie/Eno song Boys Keep Swinging, apparently recorded and released as a single without the authors' permission, to attract the attention of record companies. A very early version of 18 Carat Love Affair is worth a listen, and worth checking out the 1982 hit single version, which had combined the original song with the instrumental Nothinginsomethingparticular which closed the Sulk album.
Saline Drips and Mortice Lock have a certain minimalist charm with Billy Mackenzie's distinctive voice shining, while Geese is a fantastically little catchy song, which didn't seem to see the light of day before this collection.
CD2 consists of tracks from the Sulk years, and demos from Rankine and Mackenzie's reunion in 1993. Opening with a live Gloomy Sunday, dark and swooping, almost made for Mackenzie's voice, and it's followed by demos for a couple of their hits - I Never Will, the song which became Party Fears Two (the line "I'll do what the atheists do" morphing into "So what if this party fears two" to make it a hit). But it still sounds great in its original basic form, with the hook familiar to Radio 4 listeners; and Club Country sounding pretty much as it ended up, with a bit of polishing. Waiting For The Loveboat is an unremarkable, extended instrumental, apparently the only track on the collection not to feature Alan Rankine. The remainder are from the 1993 sessions, which never developed into anything concrete. While they're all listenable songs, the magic doesn't seem to be there any more, stand outs being International Loner, the extended Edge Of The World, and the curious Stephen, You're Really Something, a reply to Morrissey's William, It Was Really Nothing, which some believe was written about Billy Mackenzie.
This isn't a 'greatest hits' package, but it is a broad sweep across the band's lifetime, and a poignant reminder of the fantastic voice of the much missed Mackenzie. Not everything here is brilliant, but it's certainly worth a few listens with much enjoyment.
4* - a fascinating reminder of the unforgettable Billy Mackenzie
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