I Like Young Marble Giants

Out of the many post-punk bands that were around for the first wave of the late 70s, Young Marble Giants often get overlooked. However, they didn't really have the chance to gain prominence, owing to the band only releasing one album, two EPs, and a Peel Session when they were active. That album, Colossal Youth, was a hit on the UK Indie Charts and even did okay in New Zealand, but unfortunately it was merely the beginning of the end.

Young Marble Giants were a Welsh outfit, one that notably didn't have a drummer. Instead, some of their songs (note: not all) would use a rather simplistic drum machine that would merely keep time with the more adventurous guitar and bass playing of Stuart and Philip Moxham respectively. At the forefront of this setup were the vocals of Alison Statton, often about abstract ideas which were invariably connected to love, and that's it. Young Marble Giants weren't a flashy band, and were as minimalist as you could get. If I had to make a dubious link with Young Marble Giants to a band from this period, it would be Suicide - both took very barebones approaches to their music and were more a musician's band.

A young Alison, with synth player Peter Joyce, from 1978

Since Colossal Youth was their only album, I may as well review it. Covering thirty-eight minutes in just fifteen tracks, it feels extremely empty at times - even though there are instruments playing, when I listen to the music it's like the background is the main instrument. This does, however, set the album apart from other releases in 1980. Just looking at the charts in February 1980, you have several maximalist records with exciting drumming, and elaborate instrumentation. Yet here, you rely on Philip's fantastic bass playing for a danceable rhythm of any sort, with Stuart adding a melody and Alison providing subdued vocals. Importantly, though, it works, and several of the songs are fantastic.

I'd like to point out Wurlitzer Jukebox as a track that I quite like. You have the odd drum machine rhythm, a few spaced out guitar notes, and a rather funky bassline, and vocals about being aired by someone you admire. It's an archetypal song on this album, and represents their sound well. It works brilliantly, and proves that you don't need to overwhelm the listener with various musical tricks to get the point across. Whilst Young Marble Giants aren't my favourite post-punk act, they certainly fill a niche no other acts do, and for that I applaud them - the sound is still unique forty-five years later.

Other standout tracks include:

• Searching for Mr Right has got to be appreciated for how it takes the minimalism to its darkest extreme. Opening with a clattering drum machine, and is met by Statton's plaintive vocals and eerie bass notes; it sounds like a moving train in a way, with its grim repetition stretched out over three minutes. When paired with the more rocking Include Me Out, with its squealing guitar solo, it's a quite stark opening to the record.
• N.I.T.A has a rather cheap-sounding synth, which is paired with sweet singing by Statton about what I think is a girl reflecting post-breakup about how they long for their boyfriend. Here, the guitar is merely texture, whilst the synth melody dominates. It's a cute song, though the outro is rather more unsettling as it descends into ambience. In fact, if you want that same synth but a more danceable, upbeat background, the title track is perfect - like disco if it was malfunctioning and written on a fax machine.
• Music for Evenings follows a similar structure to the other tracks, but you have to admit - the guitar and bass crescendoes after each verse are magnificent. I'd argue the track has the strongest work by the Moxham brothers on the record, and is definitely worth a listen.
• Choci Loni is another suspenseful track, and though I have no clue what the lyrics are about, it's a lovely, if slightly off-kilter, track. One verse, a very short chorus, repeated, done in three minutes. Wonderful guitar line, too.
• Salad Days is a stunning song, rather remorseful as Statton sings about the innocent days of youth, accompanied by an even better instrumental track - the guitar especially is fantastic here.
• Credit in the Straight World is okay; I'm only mentioning it as Hole released a cover on their album Live Through This. (And as far as grunge worship of YMG goes, Kurt Cobain loved them too.) It's sharp and angular, with lovely riffs as always, though otherwise it's quite similar to the rest of the album.
• Brand - New - Life is fast-paced, has backing vocals, and is thus suitable to any minimalist disco. When I first listened to the album a few months ago, this one grabbed my attention immediately, and it makes for a fine track as you approach the end. 

Admittedly, many of the fifteen tracks are kind of repetitive, and the rough and ready lo-fi sound can be grating - the drum machine in the Man Amplifier is so clearly out of sync with the rest of the track! Even Kurt Cobain called the percussion cheesy. In that way, I'd argue that perhaps YMG actually wrapped things up when they should have - it would be interesting to see where they'd have taken this sound, perhaps with a greater emphasis on synths. When synthpop was all the rage, who knows, maybe they'd become like Suicide or Cabaret Voltaire. But as it is, even if the album is so cohesive you can't really find a single standout track, I'm not too disappointed this was their only album.

Yet I like Colossal Youth, simply because no other album came close to sounding like it back in 1980. Bleak, horrifying, yet still so upbeat - how many bands tried to do that with such a basic setup?