By
Rob Jones
“Suicide made some of the coolest, most uncompromising music ever inflicted on our species.” – Henry Rollins
Mr Rollins is right and as well as being the outsiders outsider Suicide could also pen a fine commercial tune as well as create disturbing soundscapes that broke the barriers. The band’s name obviously distanced themselves from mass radio play
Suicide were the first act to describe their stance as punk music and that was in 1970. Their attitude was certainly representative of the anti-establishment angle that was soon to become a rallying call from the new breed of angry young protagonists who were soon to swell in numbers. Suicide stripped down their sound to a basic electro background and a voice, but so much was achieved with this minimalist momentum. Reputation for repetition, beauty and the beast, urban but not urbane, confrontational, charismatic and cool – please check out the new collection.
| SUICIDE – SURRENDER
CAREER SPANNING COLLECTION WITH TWO PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS OUT 25 MARCH ON MUTE / BMG
SUICIDE (Alan Vega and Martin Rev)’s distinguished career is celebrated with their first official collection, Surrender, out on Mute / BMG on 25 March 2022.
With sleevenotes by longtime fan and friend of the band, Henry Rollins, the 16-track album features previously unheard material, and will be available on blood red double vinyl with an embossed, mirror-boarded gatefold sleeve; CD with embossed outer sleeve and digitally.
Listen to a previously unreleased version of ‘Frankie Teardrop’, with alternative lyrics, and watch the accompanying short film directed by Douglas Hart (My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain) below…
Intended to serve as an introduction to their incredible five-decade long career, Surrender includes tracks from their debut album Suicide (1977), through to their final studio album release, American Supreme (2002). As Rollins explains, “This gathering of songs is not a “best of” nor is it a “definitive” all-you-need-to-know compilation. It is an introduction that will hopefully compel you to explore the albums.”
The tracklisting, which has been collated by Martin Rev, Liz Lamere (Alan Vega’s collaborator and wife), Henry Rollins and Jared Artaud, includes two brand new, unheard tracks: ‘Girl (Unreleased Version)’ and ‘Frankie Teardrop (First Version)’, alongside classic tracks such as Dream Baby Dream, Cheree, Rocket USA, Surrender and Why Be Blue? – all fully remastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering, who previously remastered the recent acclaimed Art of the Album reissue of their debut album. The album artwork’s concept and design- presented on the vinyl as an embossed, mirror-boarded gatefold sleeve – is by Michael Handis, with art direction by Jared Artaud.
Suicide formed in the early 70s, reemerging in 1976 at the heart of the New York punk scene. Their debut album – which was given barely any credit at the time – has had an incalculable influence since its release in 1977, and went on to feature in numerous magazine’s Greatest Albums of All Time lists. The volume of artists and musicians they went on to inspire throughout the decades is huge, with New Order, Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen, Moby, Soft Cell, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream and Nick Cave just a few who have acknowledged their debt to the duo. The band continued releasing and performing for 40 years, until 2015’s acclaimed Punk Mass at the Barbican in London and Alan Vega’s passing in July 2016.
Surrender is released on Mute / BMG on 25 March 2022.
RECENT PRAISE FOR SUICIDE
“For all the legend accrued by their 1977 debut album – and this is an album with a sturdy, heroic, undeniable reputation – it’s still a shock…” – Uncut Reissue of the Month
“… a definitive statement, as unsettling now as it was over 40 years ago” – The Wire
“Their impact on synth-pop, post-punk and techno, to name just three genres, was profound” – Sunday Times Reissue of the Month
“Eventually, what sound like simple loops become fishhooks that puncture your skin, leaving marks as indelible as this band’s singular five-decade career.” – Pitchfork
“The band that will always sound like the future.” – Dangerous Minds
https://linktr.ee/suicidebandofficial
NB Check out this review as well: https://www.rhonddacynontaff.com/2015/11/suicide-lives-dream-baby-dream/ |
