Gods Gift - Pathology

From 1979 to 1984 other bands on the Manchester scene played larger roles, but sooner or later almost everyone who was there mentions Gods Gift in tones of aweor amazement. Here s where the rest of theworld finds out what all the racket was about.The early Manchester scene was anchoredby The Fall, Joy Division, a few straight ahead punks, and the more idiosyncratic denizens of the Manchester Musicians Collective. And Gods Gift out-did them all in diffidence, darkness, pure feral energy and gleeful musical anarchy. Their successes were epic, but their failures, too, left indelible impressions. Guitarist Steve Murphy: If things were going wrong, we d make them gomore wrong Singer Steven Edwards once shouted out to a baffled London crowd, Wotcha dancing for? it s tuneless, you pillock! This was no pose. As much as can be said of any band in rock history, Gods Gift were the product of their day jobs: Murphy, Edwards, and at least five others who played inGG all worked inside at Prestwich Asylum then the largest psychiatric hospital in theU.K. The hospital s grayness, hopelessness, and constant menace permeated not justGG s tunes and lyrics, but their very stage-presence Edwards in work-clothes, and Murphy playing (always!) with his back turned to some of the U.K. s least cuddlyaudiences. GG recorded a fight onstage and used it in place of lyrics for their self released first 45, People .Gods Gift found a champion in New Hormones owner, Richard Boon, who booked the band and put out the 12 Gods Gift EP and their landmark Discipline single, but unfortunately, as New Hormones finances crumbled, Boon s favorite track, Clamour Club , remained unreleased. Messthetics 17-song CD, Pathology , spans GG s career from 1979 to 1984, drawing material from their records, a Manchester Musicians Collective compilation, several demos and two full-length cassette albums.12-page booklet with photos and extensive bio; 75 minutes of pounding, insistent,magnificent noise.

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