Officer!

Genius art-rock pop shots chipped from Officer!'s '8 New Songs By Mick Hobbs' (AAA, 1983) tape by avowed fans, Blackest Ever Black. Making their first appearance on vinyl following BEB's issue of 'Dead Unique', they give two sublime glimpses of Hobbs' gift for "ambiguous, ecstatic, anguished" songwriting and arrangement that may well have lain undiscovered by the rest of us otherwise. A-side finds the confessional catharsis of 'Life at the Water's Edge', consolidating Hobbs' blackly grim lyrics about a tortured childhood with redemptive backing of pastoral strings, sorrowful bassline and wheezing keyboard melodies that beg to be heard to be heard over and again. B-side, a different version of 'Dogface', which was formerly found on the 'Ossification' album (AAA, 1984) contrasts with a much lighter, sylvan vocal by Judy Carter framed by lilting folk melodies and scuffling drums reminding of Leven Signs, but with the eldritch appeal of Flaming Tunes. These songs are exactly the sort of gems BEB specialise in unearthing and reviving. A big tip. (Boomkat)