Echo & The Bunnymen The John Peel Sessions 1979-83 180g 2LP

Double LP set features 21 tracks recorded for John Peel's Radio 1 show during the band's early years. Pressed on 180g Black Vinyl.

In seventies Liverpool the bloated corpse of the fab four slumped against the door of The Cavern, shutting out all life and light. Punk eventually kicked that door open, the city bulldozed The Cavern and Eric's opened across the street. If in London, punk was some kind of scorched earth year zero in Liverpool it allowed in a wider musical world. Bowie and Iggy, Kraftwerk and Can. The 13th Floor Elevators, James Brown, Roxy Music, Donna Summer, The Modern Lovers, Television and more tumbled belatedly into the music of the bands forming at Eric's. None picked up the torch of rock 'n' roll as hero's journey quite like Echo & the Bunnymen did.

If you were just looking for an introduction to their charms, I'd probably suggest Songs To Learn and Sing, the impeccable singles collection covering this same period, but this album offers more than a completist fan's release. The first session (Aug '79) was recorded before they were persuaded to get a real drummer. Echo was the name of their drum machine. The beats are stiff, like someone hitting a sheet of A4 with a biro. It makes the songs thin and clanky, underscoring the swing and space Pete De Freitas' playing would soon bring. Still, they turn in confident, well rehearsed versions of songs that would end up on their debut album Crocodiles. But it opens, perfectly, with 'Read It In Books'. Let's blow the dust off and crack the spine on that chapter shall we?