Playing With Fire [Original recording reissued]

'Playing with Fire' remains their peak (the posthumous 'Recurring' would be let down in its latter half- as Jason Pierce's contributions weren't up there with Peter Kember's)- a minimal take on sounds that would influence the brief-shoegazing scene of the early 1990s, and would be given more epic treatment by Pierce with his band Spiritualized. This epic two-disc version takes in the original nine-track album, the two live bonus-tracks that turned up on the tape/cd, various b-sides ('May the Circle Remain Unbroken', a cover of Suicide's 'Che') & various demo/alternate mixes of 'Fire'-tracks and a demo of 'Anyway That You Want Me' (a Troggs cover that would become the first Spiritualized single in 1990).'Playing with Fire' remains one of the peaks of the late 80s take on rock music, an era when guitars were given more avant-treatments- see 'Isn't Anything','69','Heaven's End','The Young Gods','You're Living All Over Me','Daydream Nation','Ultra Vivid Scene' & 'Locust Abortion Technician.'

At this point Kember and Pierce (or Boom and Spaceman) were writing songs apart - the only co-written song here is 'Suicide', a tribute to Martin Rev & Alan Vega more potent in its epic-live version.... Kember's drones from 'Transparent Radiation' are key on opener 'Honey', the kind of sound that would be advanced on with 'Just to See You Smile' & Sonic Boom's solo-single 'Angel.' Pierce's 'Come Down Softly to My Soul' is gorgeous, minimal beauty- sounding like Robert Wyatt fronting a track from the first Suicide album. The minimal-approach should be noted when you realise Pierce re-recorded 'So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears)' & 'Lord, Can You Hear Me?' for later Spiritualized albums in 1996 and 2001 (!!!!). The versions here are less O.T.T. and a lot purer; 'Lord, Can You Hear Me?' would later be covered by Low - who included it on their recent box-set 'A Lifetime of Temporary Relief.'

Kember dominates the centre of the album - 'How Does It Feel' opening with some stoned-spoken word before veering off into droning guitar loops, while 'I Believe It' is closer to Pierce's material here. A peak remains indie-hit-single 'Revolution' - a song that nods to the intro to The MC5's 'Kick Out the Jams' (John Sinclair's "...takes five-seconds" prior to 'Ramblin' Rose')& a track that would be massacred by Mudhoney- who fused it with a nasty music critic's rambling (quite rude when Kember did a great version of Mudhoney's 'When Tomorrow Hits'!). Kember's 'Let Me Down Gently' is great stuff, like Terry Riley doing a track from 'T.B. Sheets' (or Silver Apples playing something from 'Veedon Fleece'). It could be about love, drugs, or a girl - possibly all of them; the droning climax of 'Suicide' & Pierce's transcendental hymn of despair,'Lord Can You Hear Me?' concludes a classic album and Spacemen 3's ultimate statement. Read more ›