is ' proper debut album. The first three (of seven) parts of a conceptual work entitled , issued as 7", 10", and 12" singles preceded it in the same calendar year. Produced by 's , the album's 14 tracks are the epitome of adventurism. Here, tribal drums and edgy, spooky, detuned guitars and bouzoukis cross paths and meld with synthesizers and primitive drum machines in an onslaught of off-kilter creativity where everyone from , , and even are called in for reference in a brew that is dangerous, primal, and excessive. Two androgynous frontmen in the foppish and alluring create alternate ambiences from warped yet sweet Irish balladry to shrieked . And while the set is messy to be sure, it is far from off-putting. In fact, it is easily the band's most consistent and enduring effort. The albums opens with the haunting, nocturnal minimalism of an intro with tom toms and drifting keyboards layered carefully in the background, wordless chanted backing vocals and an electric bouzouki courtesy of guitarist . It immediately gives way to its antecedent It's the same tune, only is out in front of it digging deep into the temporality of childhood and what remains of it. Its effect is startling, nocturnal, and tense. In the theme is given dimension as and wail like muzzeins over a reverbed guitar coming from the netherworld and augmented by a soprano saxophone and a synth bassline. the album's proper single, is one of the most angular cuts on the set. Here, the employ a riff straight out of early , chant their refrains, and swirl the keyboards and drum machines a la yet keep everything so gothic and strange; it's not only compelling, it's infectious. The rest of the album follows suit, with the raucous of and the mainstream rockist that sounds like a wrong-speed outtake, and the version of This is a wonderfully confounding and sometimes campy and often disturbing exercise in unfettered creativity that has stood the test of time very well. It is the most necessary record of all and captures best what they were capable of when focused. ~ Thom Jurek