Yet another suppurating, septic specimen of late-80s UK hardcore, the Crippens’ second album, from 1989, is something of a tour de force of uniquely British bad-taste humour combined with industrial-strength blast-beats and light-speed riffing.
Sounding far more proficient than debut Fired From The Circus, but still displaying a delightfully grotty sonic touch, this is a step up from their debut’s rudimentary yet ferocious attack.
By this time something of a fixture on the burgeoning Britcore scene, the band stick to their frantic formula by keeping things economical on the likes of Bench, Braindead, Podbreath and I’m So Dumb, yet still find space to exercise their desire to stretch things out a touch on Nightmare On Sesame Street, and reveal a surprising level of songwriting on the relatively sophisticated Song For Guy.
This reissue comes bristling with 15 bonus tracks: a John Peel session from 1989; songs from the North Atlantic Noise Attack compilation; and the Avant Gardening EP. Inevitably it’s the Peel session tunes that best demonstrate how much the band had progressed in such a short time.
Throw in some thoroughly comprehensive sleeve notes and you have another pleasingly toxic slice of cult hardcore history./o:p
