Desmond Simmons - Alone On Penguin Island

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 17 / 12 / 2010

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Released in 1981, reissued in 1995 and now on CD with bonus tracks, 'Alone On Penguin Island' has and probably will continue to receive not much attention. I vaguely remember it because it was released on a label related to Wire and Rough Trade. Desmond Simmons' album definitely has an authentic 1980s new wave sound to it. It's very low-key, obsessed and gloomy. On the verge of the unremarkable, you, however, keep listening, thanks to his emphatic voice. When he sings that is - Simmons' chanting slogans are a different story altogether. Listening 29 years later - I'm 49 now - I have no change of opinion. The reason that the album got ignored remains obvious. Why listen to this, when we were busy listening to This Heat, the Teardrop Explodes, or to be really obscure now, the Passage with great excitement? The album sounds pleasant enough though. It is largely tranquil and only now and then a bit agitated. Very sparsely arranged, it is certainly a must for Wire completionists. To a lot of contemporary indie rock fans, this level of authenticity will come as a shock. The twenty songs here build a blueprint for many of today's releases. With edgy riffs, nervously popping basslines and a hollow feel throughout, the album serves the purpose of being a document of the era and time, rather than a much delayed reissue.

Track Listing:-

1 A Caste From Hawaii
2 To Be Lost
3 Beacon Hill Six
4 April Waits
5 The Gymnast
6 Bing Crosby's Hat
7 Man The Lifeboats
8 Phone Ringing
9 Counterpane
10 By Air Or By Sea
11 Panthenon
12 Tracers
13 Alone On Penguin Island

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