Cleaners From Venus ‎– "Blow Away Your Troubles" (Man At The Off Licence ‎– WOW/002) 1981

As some of you regular readers of this cyber-rag will know, I can't abide "Too clever by 'arf'" bands, like Deep Freeze Mice,The Cardiacs, and The Legendary Pink Dots. The Cleaners From Venus fit nicely into this category, but, I'll have to admit I love 'em. It wasn't always like this; just the merest nano second from any CFV track, would have me looking for something to smash up. Alas, with a more mature outlook, and the need to revisit these cassettes for the purposes of this blog, I have to reassess the merits of this group; and I can now let it be known that I LOVE this band! It may have sounded like the work of some Syd Barrett fans who were so absorbed by The Lord of the Rings and the I Ching, that they missed Punk Rock! But, if one listens a bit deeper, this is a natural progression of classic English Psychedelia,mixed with a, probably, sub-conscious absorption of the contemporary cultural climate. Which, included the oft' mentioned, 'DIY ethic', of which the CFV are a exemplary exponent, which = Punk Rock. Included on this fine C60 of classic socially observant song-craft, includes, among its many eclectic moments, what is now, one of my new favourite songs of all time; with its classic misty eyed portrayal of a lost England, "Wivenhoe Bells". A very 1980's version of 1967 style English whimsy. All this, and the obligatory(for the early 80's) awful whiteboy Reggae number, all recorded in glorious Mono; as Mr Newell says on the cover: "All selections recorded between nov. '80 and april '81 in marvy* mono on a steam-powered hand-cranked-mud-cooled reel to reel." *Note extremely Dodgy use of hippie humour in the word "Marvy" in there, so it ain’t perfect, but pretty close. ps, thanks to Peter Jolly for this superior rip of this tape.Mine was just shite!  

Track Listing:
  
Straight Side:

A1 Swinging London 
A2 A Blue Wave 
A3 Union Lads 
A4 Modern T.V. 
A5 Marilyn On A Train 
A6 Kool Of The Night 
A7 Marathon 
A8 Urban Jungle 
A9 Minimal Animal Bent 

Bent Side:

B1 I Fell In Love With A Cleaner 
B2 So This Is Modern Jazz Is It? 
B3 Wivenhoe Bells 
B4 Change Change Change 
B5 Hey Dreamer 
B6 Alien 
B7 At Home With Myself 
B8 Winter In The Country 
B9 Helpless 
B10 University Challenge 

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