Cyclic Amp - Concrete Island (1989) C90

Now that COVID-19 has been defeated and no-one has it and we're all back to normal, kissing strangers in public and openly touching the faces of restaurant staff as we sip our Dettol mixers because 'Murica has this lil' thing we like to call the Constitution, buddy, we're likewise back to normal service here at Ferric Archaeology Towers and thus picking back up where we left off with Cyclic Amp. This is the last tape I have, and as with A Certain Sacrifice, I'm not entirely sure how I got it, beyond that it almost certainly turned up on my shelves at the same time. It's actually a tape of their vinyl releases - two albums and an EP - but without the sound of anyone dropping a needle on a record (when the drum beat goes like this) and so, I assume, almost certainly some promotional thing direct from either Probe Plus or the band themselves.

 

So here you go. If you enjoyed the last two, you'll definitely appreciate this one. I know I listened to these tapes but it had been a while and all I could remember was that they were noisy with maybe a bit of a Killing Joke vibe; but the more I listen to this stuff, now that I've dug it out, the more it becomes clear that they very much had their own sound, and it's surprising that they aren't better remembered. Maybe Probe Plus sunk all the promo money into Half Man Half Biscuit or something.

Download the eighteen tracks and cover by clicking on this link.

Tracks:
1 - Dance
2 - Carrion
3 - Him
4 - Kill
5 - Caress
6 - Turkey Shop
7 - Dead Cop
8 - Slave
9 - Power
10 - Gun
11 - Human God
12 - Ugly Thoughts
13 - Christians
14 - Meat Slab / Holiest Image
15 - Concrete Island
16 - Slope
17 - The River
18 - Eat
 

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Cyclic Amp - A Certain Sacrifice (1988) C30

Here's some more Cyclic Amp, and a little weirder than last week's tape. This stuff was recorded for a Radio Merseyside session, or some of it was, but you can read about that on the cover. It seems that by this point Cyclic Amp had replaced their guitar with what sounds to me very much like a Casio SK1, the first really cheap (and admittedly rough as fuck) sampler, resulting in this thoroughly screwy shit we have here. It's a bit rough but I remember being in bands which sounded like this, so it works for me.

Not actually sure how I came by this tape, by the way. It doesn't seem to be on Discogs so maybe it was something one of the band put together which somehow ended up in my hands.

Oh - and you'll notice from the cover that track four was originally split in half on the tape, with its hindquarters on side two. Anyway, I've spliced the two halves together so as to restore it to what was presumably its original form.

Download these eight jolly ditties and cover by clicking on this link.

Tracks:
1 - Ruby (Don't Take Your Love to Town)
2 - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
3 - Born in the USA
4 - Girls Just Want to Have Fun (mix)
5 - The Dead Hand
6 - Torture
7 - Caress
8 - Heaven
 
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Cyclic Amp - Deviations of the Impulse (1986) C60

I had vague plans to digitise and share a whole shitload of tapes from the Pumf label, and then realised that actually most of them are still very much available and as such can be purchased here. Nevertheless, having studied the catalogue I noticed I had a couple of things which Stan was no longer selling (and by a couple I mean literally two things), so having consulted with the lad, here's one of them, shared on the condition that I stress that Stan doesn't actually endorse my giving this stuff away for free and is in no way responsible for my doing so (apart from having sold me the original tape a million years ago, I suppose).

Also, the labels came off the cassette due to whatever glue Stan used not being up to the job (it happened to me too), so for once I've been able to scan those, in case any venture capitalist twats want to fake a few copies and stick them on eBay for fifty quid as rarities - as happened with a Grey Wolves cassette, actually a one off tape Trev had compiled for me personally and which the bloke trying to sell it claimed he'd taped off the radio. Wanker.

I don't know much about Cyclic Amp beyond that they were from Liverpool and had a couple of records out through Probe Plus, and that they seemed to be part of that whole spikey thing which gave us Killing Joke, Southern Death Cult, and all that bunch. This tape was a mix of live and studio stuff, presumably demos, and it's jolly good.

Download the sixteen tracks and cover by clicking on this link.

Tracks:
1 - Ugly Thoughts
2 - Carrion
3 - In a Hole
4 - Caress
5 - Uniforms
6 - Love and Napalm
7 - Dance
8 - Skin / Scared
9 - Manipulator
10 - Foetus Mountain
11 - Christians
12 - Love and Napalm
13 - Dance
14 - Caress
15 - Carrion
16 - Ugly Thoughts
 
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