| Despite
an initial chorus of critical acclaim, the Sheffield
quartet lost their way in the early '80s and had passed
their sell-by date with a couple of record companies
before Robert Palmer's timely intercession secured
the current deal with Island. Their music seems relaxed
on the surface, but the unhurried piano on Cutting
Edge and clear un-stylized vocals throughout belie
a coruscating tension beneath; check Kevin Bacon's
doomy bass riff on The Thought That Counts and
Mik Glaisher's malevolent tom tom patterns looming
like dark visions from the deeper recesses of the band's
musical psyche. Eight group compositions reveal a compulsive,
shadowy genius at work here.
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