The Three Johns: Death Of The European

Folder

Abstract Records 1985.  ABS 034

Discogs

Today’s post is a journey into somewhat darker territory than yesterday’s jaunty Robert Lloyd single.  The Three Johns have a more gothy sound than I usually go for, but this is a great song which Peel played quite a bit.  According to Wikipedia it was also an NME single of the week – and deservedly so.  The sound on this 7″ single is decidedly murky.  Whether that’s deliberate or a duff recording I have no idea, but it really works with this material I think.   The sound is also made unusual by the use of a drum machine which is rarely effective with a guitar band I think, but here it adds to the atmosphere created by the murky sound.

4 comments
  1. Are you sure you are not sneaking into my house at night and copying my record collection? If so, can you share some McCarthy (Should The Bible Be Banned) with the rest of the world.
    Seriously, excellent stuff.

  2. Ha, these music blogs often look like that don’t they.
    I’ve got no McCarthy stuff, although there’s at least one track by them on an excellent Pink label comp I’ll be posting at some point.

  3. […] single from the ever reliable Three Johns, this one being the follow-up to Death Of The European.  I doubt I’ll be posting much else by them, because according to their web site, […]

Comments are closed.