Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
No human being alive can lay claim to seeing the exact moment in which a star was born, we can imagine the fire, the explosion and the aftermath, but that spark, that singular new cosmic breath in which the bribe of the universe came to into being, no one can truly understand the awe in which such a twinkle of mischief resounds into a crescendo and cacophony of overwhelming universal dominance.
The closest we can perhaps come to such perception is when we witness structure begin from the ground up, or the initial burst of imagination that might spark in another’s eye, the same flash of the eternal happening before us, but like a star being born, the initial moment is all too brief, blink and it is gone.
The pay-off we would gladly give to see such instances take place, the inducement to the celestial and the backhander to the Muse, such is the payment it takes to seek the experience of the point of infinity, of beginnings and in the sublime appreciation available in which Vee VV stood alongside the piper at the gates of dawn and sneered with impeccable joy at what was to be the seizing of their own heavenly reminder being conceived.
One cannot easily compare the start of a solar system with that in which a group of disparate musicians come together and create luminosity, but it is worth remembering that the circumstances have to be just right to see the Payola work.
To put together a set of songs in which encapsulates the ferocity and absolute fierceness of the ashes of one-time Factory Records favourites, Tunnelvision, is no small task, a burning star is unpredictable, unfathomable in its intensity, and to get in the way of even the smallest flare is to put your soul at risk.
And yet in this compilation of songs from a period of time which understood the harsh realities of inner city life, songs such as Ready Made Aid To Private Noise, Shoot The Moon, Bite The Bullet, Cloak and Dagger, Fish On Friday, Prick Up Your Ears and the live recordings of Bird At The Roost, Kindest Cut and Romance Is Over, what is essential to understand is that some stars are born without having had the moment, they were just always there, burning bright, the fire all consuming, and a marvel to witness as they glide across the heavens.
You should never need an inducement to listen to the storm of a star in full rage, payment comes in kind and in Payola that recompense comes in how it will improve your day considerably.
Ian D. Hall