Alternative TV - Direct Action (Special edition) CD

Maybe this is my divine purpose? Telling you about a CD reissue of Alternative TV’s 2023 album ‘Direct Action’. For me their first two LPs ‘The Image Has Cracked’ (1978) and ‘Vibing Up The Senile Man’ (1979) are the best, most bold and baffling 1-2 punch of the punk-into-post-punk era. 

I didn’t track this one down on its initial vinyl release, not wanting to sully their particularly special place in my heart, but these instrumentals feel like a great modern continuation of the legacy of ‘Vibing Up The Senile Man’.

‘Vibing’s legacy is the silent partner in particular contemporary dynamic of somewhere between wonky band and avant soundwerk. The type of new release record that’d tout “for fans of The Shadow Ring” on the hype sticker. ATV’s late 70s embrace of free improv and industrial music continues here but with impressive use of the type of synth doodahs and effects units you’d buy off of facebook marketplace. 

Compared to the (sometimes unknowing?) new bands that have continued the ‘Viibing’ legacy, groups you might hear on Horn Of Plenty, Discreet Music or Ever/Never, there’s something a bit gristled and menacing about even the most meditative spots. A full hearted embrace of being the old man that yells at cloud, but with no actual yelling. A surprising extra notch in the belt of one of the best bands to ever do it! - Nic