GADGETS-LOVE, CURIOUSITY, FRECKLES & DOUBT, LP, 1980, UK

Though Matt Johnson would go on to garner both popular acclaim and critical huzzahs with the lighter and slighter touch of The The's later and more accessible work, his tenure with three other mutant synth pop oddniks in Gadgets resulted in two albums circa 1980 whose cumulative impact offers a decidedly tough act to follow for any artful young punter. Perfectly of piece with their Gadgetree LP, the outlandish creativity at hand here also exists on a perfect continuum with Johnson's solo debut under his own steam with his Burning Blue Soul LP from 1981 and his contributions to the Deux Filles LP's. Echoes of Swell Maps, early Ultravox and Magazine resound throughout, but they're continuously offset by the kinda of craftily drugged dislocations of post punk signifiers that I associate with the likes of The Makers Of The Dead Travel Fast. Would that my vinyl was a more perfect copy, though…