Sarandon / The Membranes - Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder

Sarandon and The Membranes proclaim Death To Trad Rock!

Once upon a time there was a thing called punk, and it gave open-minded musicians the license to be creative in any number of ways. While the initial burst of activity (arguably 1975-1978) quickly homogenized and codified into "punk rock," the lessons of freedom gave birth to post-punk, as vague a term as "rock and roll" itself. Enterprising labels like Rough Trade, Fast, Postcard, Factory and countless others purveyed everything from the Marxist funk of the Leeds brigade to the dark industrial gloom from Sheffield/Manchester to Glasgow's sharp New Optimist pop.

The Membranes represented the scabrous, enraged and just plain noisy end of the spectrum. Finding common cause with bands like The Three Johns, Big Flame, The Shrubs and Stretcheads, The Membranes were a harsh reflection of Thatcher's England. Taking rage and frenetic noise to their logical extreme, these bands approximated a British version of the US noise rock scene as represented by bands such as Big Black, Butthole Surfers and Killdozer.

The Membranes' instigator John Robb has just published Death To Trad Rock, 900 pages that cover nearly 50 bands in that defiant, discordant DIY underground. To celebrate this important book, we've released this excellent single, which features a smashing cover of The Membranes' 1984 classic "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" by Sarandon, and on the flip the scarce original 7" version. This insane noise was a key part of the 80s underground and a crucial complement to the smart pop being released by labels like Pink and Creation, and we're very pleased to be able to bring you a small, influential slice of it. Go to the single info page for more info and a preview MP3.

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