Midnight Rags

Midnight Rags - The Werewolf Of London [ACE 013 UK 1980 24-Bit FLAC]

One of my most popular rips from the old ESWA days was only in 16-bit, so I recently decided we all needed a 24-bit upgrade. Apart from a little bit of fuzz caused by a tiny pressing flaw, the only (and forty year old) album by Midnight Rags ripped really well and represents a fine facsimile of this very unusual long player.

This record remains impossible to classify or pigeon-hole - the teenage Paul Roland dabbles in a multitude of influences and styles to produce a crazy, enjoyable cocktail of horror b-movie nostalgia, Numanesque synth-pop, early Stranglers-style pub rock, acoustic English folk and Bolan'ised glam. If only nineteen year old songwriters today were as good as Roland, music in the modern era could be credible. Blades Of Battenberg and Public Enemy were singles and Peel favourites at the time, Roland's unique form of English eccentrics began to build a respectable worldwide following when he moved on to become solo artist in his own right.

A1 Blades Of Battenberg

A2 Brain Police

A3 Oscar Automobile

A4 Flying Ace

A5 The Cars That Ate New York

B1 Public Enemy

B2 Werewolves Of London

B3 The Witching Hour

B4 Lon Chaney (1883-1930)

B5 Alcatraz

B6 Girls