In The Flat Field [Remastered] - Bauhaus

...- released their debut album in 1980, at the height of the indie boom.

It's clear that Murphy had been aping Bowie with his vocal style, indeed critisicm of the band would be that they were no more than Bowie clones. That's essentially unfair, as this forgotten classic shows. Ash was a good guitarist in his own right, and this is as much his record as it is Murphy's.

For 2-3 years Bauhaus (named after the 1930's German ...
...in the UK. All the trendy 14 year olds at my secondary school were listening to them!

Kicking of with "Double Dare", all screeching guitar, Murphy's dramatic vocals and thudding drumwork, leaving the listener in no doubt what to expect for the rest of this record.

Low rumbling bass opens the great piece "In The Flat Field", "I get bored, I get bored, in the flat field", howls the vocals, ... more

Bauhaus - Kevin Haskins (drums), David Jay (bass), Peter Murphy (vocals) and Daniel Ash (guitar) - released their debut album in 1980, at the height of the indie boom.

It's clear that Murphy had been aping Bowie with his vocal style, indeed critisicm of the band would be that they were no more than Bowie clones. That's essentially unfair, as this forgotten classic shows. Ash was a good guitarist in his own right, and this is as much his record as it is Murphy's.

For 2-3 years Bauhaus (named after the 1930's German art movement) were just about the hippest alternative rock band in the UK. All the trendy 14 year olds at my secondary school were listening to them!

Kicking of with "Double Dare", all screeching guitar, Murphy's dramatic vocals and thudding drumwork, leaving the listener in no doubt what to expect for the rest of this record.

Low rumbling bass opens the great piece "In The Flat Field", "I get bored, I get bored, in the flat field", howls the vocals, with more guitars again more edgier than The Edge himself. A great outro to this, echoing guitars over great fretwork

Another outstanding track "God In An Alcove" - driven along by David J and alternating between light/heavy sections, before the closing "..silllllyyyyy aaaaaa", did anybody mention Led Zeppelin? They did this kind of thing.

The thrash of "Dive" is a little bit of a disappointment, but this is only compared to what's gone before. You should be dancing around the bedroom by now!!

Things slow right down with "Spy In The Cab", another dramatic piece with stop/start sections and good lyrics.
Funk comes in with "Small Talk Stinks", a bouncy little number but not quite as good as some of the others. The forerunner to "Kick In The Eye", surely. But where is Danny Ash? Fag break? Ah ha, here he comes, just in time for the terrifying last three numbers "Stigmatyr Martyr", "St Vitus Dance", and "Nerves" (at 7 minutes plus the longest track on here), this is like listening to a horror music soundtrack, all chanted lyrics and doomerama sound, performance rock at its finest. The word gothic comes to mind, but this is goth music 5 years before the word existed.

To sum up then - this is not an easy listen if you've never heard of them, but you will also never hear anything quite like it either.
The major label move to Beggars Banquet led of course to a more mainstream sound and the ultimate breakup just three years later, however if you are looking for loud music stripped down to the bare knuckles, this should be right up your street.

 

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