THE RAINCOATS

The Raincoats (reissue, 1979)

WE THREE 9/10

Golden reissue of The Raincoats’ paranoiac debut

A 40th-anniversary vinyl reissue of The Raincoats’ debut LP, which combined the familiar post-punk itchiness with a unique sense of lo-fi avant-folk. Less abrasive than Cut by The Slits, the band that inspired Ana Da Silva and Gina Birch to form their own group, The Raincoats featured defiantly outof-kilter harmonies and a touch more humour than found in many of the ’78/79 generation – best seen in their deadpan, deeply skewed rendition of The Kinks’ “Lola”. The band’s fondness for songs embedded in weird melodies, unusual instruments and odd time signatures but which still sounded strangely soothing was epitomised by “The Void”, one of many songs that place a female protagonist on the oppressive streets of London, where they are surrounded by dark thoughts, danger and paranoia. That theme reaches its peak on “Life On The Line”, about a suicide on the Tube. The poetic drone of “No Looking” closes the LP and gave an indication of the direction the band would take on their equally good 1981 follow-up Odyshape. Extras: 8/10. Edition of 1,000 in gold vinyl; download code; limited-edition prints by Gina Birch and Ana Da Silva