These Blackpool musical anarchists burst upon Thatcher’s ’80s like an angrier, punkier colleague of Gang Of Four or PiL. ’Twas fucked-up post-punk for slamdancing, with bassist John Robb’s vocals grating as much as the guitar work, not to mention the rhythms Nick Brown’s hyper-adrenalized drums sent skittering all over the map.
Reuniting in 2009 (at the behest of no less than My Bloody Valentine) for their first studio release since 20 years before that, the Membranes take on heady stuff : a concept LP tying in quantum physics and, as Robb puts it, “the story of everything—it’s also about sex and death.” It works best on third track “21st Century Man,” as Robb snarls over a cement mixer bump-and-grind, “I’m a hanged man/I’ve got my head in my hands, man/I know too much, and I feel everything/And it disgusts me!” In 24 words, the Membranes pose the only sane reaction to the modern world.
—Tim Stegall
