Thursday 4 May 2017

Young Marble Giants ‎– "Final Day EP" (Rough Trade ‎– RT 043)



The best thing to come out of Wales is normally the M4 motorway right?.......but, whats the best record ever to come out of Wales?
Tom Jones's "Delilah"?......no.......that Manic Street Preachers tune?.......definitely fucking NOT!.....Catatonia's "Road Rage", which is a strong contender as thee WORST song ever written....so it isn't that?!
I think you've already guessed, as this post is about The Young Marble Giants' colossal apocalypso ode to the creeping shadow of the nuclear holocaust.
If there was ever a video made for this, it should show devasting explosions vaporising children in slow motion. The contrast with the peace and tranquility of this darkly beautiful tune, would ram home the message better than any of the recent slew of post-apocalypse movies that seem to be de rigueur these days.
My favourite nuclear attack scene (everyone has one don't they?) happens to be from a BBC production called "Threads"from 1984 (click here to watch it),an epoch when total annihilation could have happened at any second. The moment when it goes silent as ET burns in the intense heat is just one part that would fit nicely in any video for "Final Day".
Thankfully, YMG came from an era when we didn't have any video's for songs by outsiders such as they. They could maintain that long lost aire of mystery that absolutely nobody has anymore. I was shocked to find out that the YMG's were real people, so alien was their sound,and they looked ever-so slightly android-like on the dim half-light cover of their lone album.
Such stealthy power in so short a song,and such a short lived group.

DOWNLOAD finally HERE!

5 comments:

M-7 said...

Hi first I'd like to thank you - you have filled some albums/cassettes I have not been able to find.!
I do not know if you would like these I made most in the late Mid 80.s You may find them amusing. This was some of my solo stuff Cult of Decay - https://soundcloud.com/stream - They were cassette only releases in the Detroit mi area - there were about 23 different tapes.
I went on to work with the Band GLOD ..hope you like it - it seems something you may.
- Michael

Ollie Stench said...

Ask for a video and ye shall receive a video. I cut this together EXTREMELY quickly and sloppily while working on 3 other projects.

https://youtu.be/JUAGA8wjAsE

Jonny Zchivago said...

LOL, very impressive.....i like it too.....not enough vapourizing kids on it though ;-)

Michael said...

Hahahaa, I hadn´t heard "Road Rage " before and after listening to the first 80 seconds out of curiosity I have to agree. What a waste of time. It´s so hopelessly bad it doesn´t even upset me .
Thanks for the experience, Johnny.The YMG demos taste even fresher after this.
Best,
Michael

Jonny Zchivago said...

yeah, its that rolling of the tongue in that hideous welsh accent(an affliction Cardiff is thankfull virtually free of) that does my brain in....."You give me Rrrrrrroad Rrrrrrage!"
Very terrible,very shit.