NEWS: These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H reissues

Demon Music Group present These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H reissue vinyl and box set campaign

Released 21 OctoberVinyl reissues of:

Too Sussed?/Taxi For These Animal Men

(Come On, Join) The High Society

Accident & Emergency

Spring 1994

Self Abused + Bonus 7” single

3 February: The New Wave of New Wave

A joint 6CD box set featuring both bands output, 32-page booklet featuring an in-depth essay by former NME journalist Paul Moody, along with interviews with members of both bands, previously unseen photos and short essays from both Ed Borrie of S*M*A*S*H and TAM

BUY LINKS:

New Wave Of New Wave 6CD box set:

https://smashtam.lnk.to/thenewwave

These Animal Men

https://animalmen.lnk.to/vinyl

S*M*A*S*H

https://lnk.to/smash_vinyl

On 21 October Demon Music Group will begin their celebration of the ‘New Wave of New Wave’ scene, with vinyl reissues of These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H.

Heralded by the NME in January 1994 as part of the ‘New Wave Of New Wave’ — a term dreamed up by the music journalist Paul Moody (who has written the sleevenotes for the box set of the same name) — These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H were at the vanguard of a crop of bands who drew on the late 1970s punk explosion for inspiration.

These recordings capture a time in British music when it was trying to find its way through the thick hair of grunge, that eventually made its way to the birth and popularity of bands such a Blur, Oasis and Pulp.

In 1993 keen observers of the UK music scene noticed that a new sound and attitude was emerging from Britain’s satellite towns like the proverbial bat out of hell. At the inaugural ‘In The City’ event in Manchester in November 1993 — a music industry showcase organised by Factory Records boss Tony Wilson — a crop of spiky young bands shared a radical, back-to-basics approach. Two in particular stood out — S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men. Angry, articulate and caustically tuneful, both bands would — over the course of 18 glorious months — light up the British music scene as spectacularly as a distress flare.

Backed by electrifying live performances both bands would go to be heralded by the NME in January 1994 as part of the ‘New Wave Of New Wave’. Both signing record deals with Virgin off-shoot Hi-Rise Recordings, the bands would go onto to releases a string of EPs such as You’re Not My Babylon, Spring 1994, Too Sussed? & I Want To Kill Somebody. Before debut albums Self-Abused and (Come On, Join) The High Society released.

However, with both Blur and Oasis enjoying unprecedented chart success — Oasis’ Definitely Maybe, released in August 1994, sold 100,000 in four days — both were seen as disappointing. Internal divisions, too, were pushing both bands to breaking point. SMASH imploded and TAM would go onto release the criminally overlooked second album Accident & Emergency.

To celebrate this exciting scene and moment in British guitar music, on 21 October Demon Music Group will release 140g black vinyl reissues of These Animal Men’s two albums – 1994’s (Come On, Join) The High Society (housed in a gatefold sleeve containing photos and lyrics) and 1997’s Accident and Emergency (with printed inner sleeve, archive photos and lyrics) – and their two E.P.’s – 1994’s Too Sussed? and 1995’s Taxi For These Animal Men – combined on one LP (with printed inner sleeve, archive photos and lyrics).

On the same day, Demon will also release 140g black vinyl reissues of S*M*A*S*H’s 1994 debut mini-album Spring 1994 (with a 4-page booklet containing lyrics, photos and more), and debut album proper, Self Abused with a bonus 7” single. Spring is combined with the band’s first two singles, their tribute to feminism ‘Lady Love Your C**T’ and ‘Shame’, which were released on Le Desques De Popcorn.

These vinyl reissues will be followed on 3 February by a 6CD box set, The New Wave Of New Wave, bringing together both bands output from this short-lived scene. All of the EPs and albums are here and ordered chronologically to give the listener the best possible perspective of the how the scene unfolded.

Accompanying the 6CDs is a 32-page booklet featuring former NME journalist Paul Moody’s (the man responsible for coining the phrase the New Wave of New Wave) in-depth essay depicting the rise and fall of the scene, along with interviews with members of both bands. The booklet also includes previously unseen photos by photographers Martyn Goodacre and Andy Wilshere and short essays from both Ed Borrie and TAM.

Vinyl reissue tracklists:

Too Sussed?/Taxi For These Animal Men

Side One – Too Sussed