Easterhouse – Contenders

Underrated album of 80s post-punk guitar pop. The production is kind of murky but suits the music. Worth seeking out for seasoned fans of this type of sound. I have the U.S. LP on Columbia and the Rough Trade CD. The RT CD [ROUGH CD 94] has an edge for overall sound quality and also contains 3 extra songs not on the LP.

Avoid the Cherry Red reissue as it's made from a crappy needledrop. The label was unable or unwilling to source the masters as they often are, but were also too cheap to even find the RT CD to clone which would have been trivial to do.

This Cherry Red version is clearly taken from a vinyl source rather than the original analogue tape. If you can track down a copy of the original UK CD (sold in UK but made in Japan - https://www.discogs.com/Easterhouse-Contenders/release/2345514) then the sound quality on that version is much improved on this Cherry Red re-release.

A great record packed with jangly guitar and, bizarrely, the politics of the british Revolutionary Communist Party.

Is it just me or does this band sound like The Smiths

What an oddball promo! Side 1 features the first half of the demo version of Get Back To Russia ending with what sounds like the master tape being stopped abruptly. Side 2 begins with the second half, beginning with the abrupt start of the tape once again. I've joined the two versions together in Audacity in one long 6:06 piece...