Ekofisque - Tide And Bound (UK Power Pop) 1981

Various Artists ‎– "From Bromley With Love" (Alternative Music ‎– ALT 007A) 1981

Up north from the south coast to Sarf London,and the London Borough of Bromley.....yes, that Bromley, where the horrendous 'Bromley Contingent' came from.
For those of you who didn't know, the so-called Bromley Contingent were a bunch of spoilt brats from suburban London who followed the Sex Pistols because they were the nearest they could get to following David Bowie about.This Pistols entourage contained such punk rock photo opportunites as Billy Idol, Siouxsie Sioux, Jordan, Soo Catwoman, and other such middle class artschool dropouts.I think they enjoyed the early exclusivness of the early Punk scene rather than the groups and art aspects,so as soon as it became marginally more popular they melted away,moaning about how it had all been ruined.....which to some extent it had,as their favourite pop Group was handed over to us 'Outsiders'. Some of this entourage were seen on that toe-curling interview with Bill Grundy and The Pistols........jeeez,times were different then.........Now come on what was the rude word?........."Shit" answered that naughty schoolboy Johnny Rotten sinking into his seat with awkwardness.......this caused an outrage which i'm sure you're all extremly bored with.Very silly stuff.
Four years or so after the Grundy debacle, the remaining residents of Bromley produced one of those Local Band compilations, that on the whole sounds as if 'Punk'had never happened.
It seems everyone in Bromley decided to buy a synthesizer, or become Classix Nouveaux or The Cure.There's a definite 'Futurist' vibe, with ambitions to hang out at 'The Blitz' with Spandau Ballet,which stinks of the former Bromley Contingents raison d'etre.
There's a couple of decent Power Pop tunes, a couple of Adult orientated Rock numbers (awful),and the odd decent Post-Punk ditty. The stand out tune is one by The Locusts, called "Lost fight", which seems to have a singer/shouter who seems not to be listening to the backing track;a technique I always admire.
As an album,this patchy compilation deserves a prize for managing to squeeze 18 tracks on 12 inches of black vinyl.So the sound quality is not of the highest standard,but hey....value for money is always desirable isn't it?

Tracklist:

A1 –Story A - Only Dreaming
A2 –20:20 System - Dresden
A3 –Hepatitis - Risk Wet Dreams (Beyond The U Bend)
A4 –Easter And The Totem - Nothing There
A5 –Easter And The Totem - One
A6 –Thin Men - Exercise
A7 –Acid Drops - Distance
A8 –Blueprint - It's Not Easy
A9 –Aquila - Without A Care
B1 –Praxis - The Insect Within
B2 –Telegents - I've Snapped
B3 –Telegents - Touch And Go
B4 –Ekofisque - Tide And Bound
B5 –Ekofisque - Maybe Tomorrow
B6 –The Contacts - Magic People
B7 –Locusts - Lost Fight
B8 –Burlesque - Collision Of Sex
B9 –The Limit - A Tidy State Of Mind