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THE SQUARE PEG
'echoes of war'
skrutt
A record from 84/85 with Big John from Exploited
in the group. The titletrack 'echoes of war'is a 5 minutes long song which is breathing Jam, skids and Joy Division. Really good actually.
'Bad Connection' is a little bit rockier thing but it never comes to us. In 'Canīt say no' it starts to look like something good,
a little bit UK Subs similar music in some marvellous way. 'Nuclear Attack' is my favourite on this record and even there they
have a sound like UK Subs tried to have for a while but they failed with it. fun to get this record on CD instead of singles vinyl.
(SIX) 3/9-04
NIHILISM ON THE PROWL
A remastered 6 track CDEP that dates back to the mid 80's. This is the alter-ego of Edinburgh ligger and Stranded Records label
boss, Lawrence Nicol. He is the Square Peg in a round hole (with stripy gloves). He's helped in his attempt at world domination by 2
old Exploited members namely Big John on guitar, Gary McCormack on bass, plus drummer Robbie Bain who was probably
kidnapped at gun point. This collection was originally released on vinyl back in '84 and has now been given a 21st century make
over returning once again on Stranded Records. It features two singles and one unreleased track.
The title track 'Echoes of War'
recorded in the nuclear rage of 1984 is pretty good in a laid back poppy kinda way. It reminds me of the late 70's new wave in style.
And comes with a clean production, but with yer typical antiwar statements that were high on the agenda in those days.
The guitars on this track have a semi-Skids reflection while Lawrence's vocals remind me of Paul Weller of the Jam. I much prefer
the next track, the more upbeat 'Bad Connection' which sounds like one of those old Vapors tracks. It's got a quirky delivery and
hilarious lyrics. Distorted guitars give it a neat punch but I dunno if the Square Peg was really aiming to be taken seriously,
I hope not for his sake. It all starts to go downhill fast from here on in. 'No Explanation' is more rhythm and blues than new wave,
and seems like just a vehicle for Big John to flex his plectrum with an over the top guitar solo that failed to save this track from
obscurity. The following year they released 'Cant Say No' which shows Big John heading for bad metal territory. Plodding riffs
and throwaway lyrics litter this typical stale stoner rock track. 'Nuclear Attack continues Lawrence's fixation with Trident but it
shows the band have hit a wall, coz it's basically different lyrics and a different mix, laid on the same guitar riff as the previous
song. Which by now should've set the alarm bells ringing in your bullshit detector manuals. By the last track I think we can safely
assume Lawrence's real love of the blues has been ousted. 'Leaving Blues' is just a jazzy acoustic lament about losing his woman.
It jumps back to life momentarily via a sloppy bluesy guitar solo, that sounds like Big John was having fun it but left us feeling
bored. This is an hilarious release that just seemed to degenerate as time went on, so cheers to Lawrence for calling our bluff and
giving us a giggle. However I don't think the younger punks out there are gonna be catapulting this up the charts this time around
either. And watch out kids coz the Square Peg is threatening to rehearse and record new material sometime this Summer!!!!
AVERAGE!
PETE DONTCARE
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