Oh well, the reissues of the year are already here. If this is not the best possible news, what is? The two LPs by These Immortal Souls are finally being reissued by Mute, together with a new live recordings and rarities LP! I managed to get their first quite a few years ago, but never found the second for a decent price, so I guess this is exactly what I needed. Rowland S Howard is one of my favorite artist ever (and don't get me started with Epic Soundtracks), so I'm truly delighted about this. Been looking for an active Rowland S. Howard thread, but couldn't find anything at all. The post we opened some years ago, when his solo LPs were reissued (also by Mute), is now closed. Anyway, I'm leaving you with a previously unreleased cover of Alice Cooper’s Luney Tune that the Mute guys have posted: And, more importantly, with all the info you need to know about the reissues: These Immortal Souls Announce Long Awaited Remastered Reissues - Mute Records Happy days! I cannot wait for April 12th!
Ooooh great! Never got why Mute let them stay oop for so long. “I’m Never Gonna Die Again” is an instant vinyl purchase. Even though I suspect there won’t be any signed options….
Excellent news! Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered the 3 LP bundle from Mute at quite a reasonable deal compared to picking them up individually. I only have Get Lost on CD, so it’ll be great to finally own it on vinyl.
Hugely stoked about this. The two LPs are instabuys, but I’m a little torn about the “Extra” record. I have all the studio tracks on vinyl, and I’m debating whether it’s worth dropping $30 on a few live tracks. Btw, “Looney Tune” was on a Sub Pop double 7” tribute to Alice Cooper: https://www.discogs.com/release/1507728-Various-Alice-Cooper-Tribute Who am I fooling? I ordered all three.
Also, they missed one track - “You Can’t Unring a Bell” from a Tom Waits tribute. But that’s a minor quibble, I am deeply grateful that these are coming out at all.
In the Mute Bank UK store.. £58 for the bundle. These Immortal Souls - EXTRA + Remastered Albums Vinyl Bundle | Mute Bank
Woah, you have “I’m Never Gonna Die Again”? That’s one of a handful of 90’s album I missed out on on vinyl. A local store bought a huge collection with lots of Australian stuff a couple of years ago and were positive it was in there…. no dice!
Ok, looks like the bundles were only in the UK store. I ended up ordered from Drift for $24 a record. Sorry, I was only referring to the studio tracks on the Extra LP/CD. I have those on the Marry Me 12”, King of Kalifornia 12”, and the Sub Pop 2 x 7”. Unfortunately, when Never Gonna Die Again came out, I was very much in my CD-only period. By the time I decided that I’d like it on vinyl (about 10 years later), it was already very expensive (and it’s probably four times that now). I’ve only ever had the albums on CD. TBH, I have no real complaints about the CDs, but I tend to want albums I really love on vinyl (honestly, records I really love, I usually have in both formats).
I need to get Marry Me on 12" one day. I would love to own that. I was a huge fan of The Birthday Party back in my teens (still am, of course). But it wasn't until the Peel Session of Marry Me (Lie! Lie!). when it really clicked for me that, as much as I loved the ferocity of Nick's vocal delivery, it was Rowland's glassy, razor-sharp guitar sound that underlined what really got to me about their music. And his vocals in the final part of the song made it better than the first half! It just sounded so right. Marry Me remains to this day one of my favourite songs of all time... either version, by The Birthday Party or These Immortal Souls.
I had a very similar experience, except for me it was seeing (well, really HEARING) Crime + The City Solution in Wings of Desire. That version of C+TCS was so fudging amazing. It’s a shame that it only lasted a couple of years. Of course These Immortal Souls were kind of the spiritual heirs to that band.
Mute has reissued Rowland’s Teenage Snuff Film, the post-Rowland Crime records, and now the TIS records. The logical next step is Rowland-era Crime, which I hope happens for the sake of my fellow RSH fans. Crime might be peak RSH for me. I’m almost ashamed to say it, but I might like them better than the Birthday Party. My vinyl Rowland-era Crime collection:
Great news this. For all the Crime fans, not sure whether many were onto last year's great release, 'The Killer', but here's any length chat with Mr Bonney for those interested. Free Spirit: In Conversation with Crime & The City Solution’s Simon Bonney
Neither of the reunion records really clicked for me, but I should probably give them another shot. I’m actually a bit shocked that Mute reissued the MKIII records, as I don’t think the band has ever been a big seller. I bought original ‘80s pressings of Just South of Heaven, Dangling Man, and Kentucky Click through Mute shop in the early ‘00s. The fact that they had unsold copies 20 years later tells me that they weren’t exactly flying out the door.
C&TCS are the most unexplored area of Rowland's catalogue, for me. I grew up with The Birthday Party, got into TIS, enjoyed Rowland's collaboration with Lydia Lunch and went from there to his solo stuff, and have only ever paid passing attention to Crime. I don't know why or how that happened. I'm only really familiar with their stuff on a superficial level, which is probably a crime unto itself! I've been meaning to fill that gap for years, but just never got around to it. Now's as good a time as any. I've genuinely spent all day today revisiting favourite Birthday Party and TIS records thanks to this thread. Need to dedicate some of that time to getting to know C&TCS better. Teenage Snuff Film is a favourite album - Rowland's renewed collaboration with the wonderful Genevieve McGuckin, with whom I think he has magnificent chemistry, on Silver Chain is a joy to behold.
I really love the RSH-era Crime. To me, it sounds like a continuation of where Rowland was heading on the last two Birthday Party EPs, which are easily my favorite BP records. If you are in the UK or Europe, the Crime records are still pretty cheap. If you are in the US and don’t mind CDs, the Room of Lights CD is a good option, as it features a good chunk of stuff from the EPs as bonus tracks.
I'm in the UK. Just ordered the EP and first album off discogs for less than any potential reissues would probably cost me. So I look forward to spending some time with those.
Yeah, in Europe and the UK, the C+TCS records are pretty cheap. It’s only the shipping to the US that makes them pricey for me, otherwise, I’d probably buy backups of Kentucky Click and Just South of Heaven. I actually bought a promo of The Bride Ship recently for less than $10.
Aaaaah, ok! I thought you were referring to These Immortal Souls. Even if it’s not as expensive as the second album, the debut isn’t exactly a 10€ disc. Never was interested in C&TSS. Back then I had “Shine” and found it ok but a bit boring. Their vinyl is pretty plentiful here in Berlin.
Shine is C+TCS MKIII, i.e., post-RSH. MKII included 3 out of 4 members of TIS (Rowland and Harry Howard and Epic Soundtracks) and was a very different band. Here’s a little sample:
'The Killer' is definitely worth another go, I reckon. First two songs along are worth their weight in gold
Nice to see these being reissued, and brilliant for an “unreleased” LP too. Had no idea that they were hard to find (the originals) have had them for years. Great records though, for me, the first Crime & CS were better.
I received my copies of The Dangling Man and Just South of Heaven and am throughly enjoying them. As someone who was a teen fan of The Birthday Party back in the day but skipped C&TCS, while having heard the other RSH related material, it still sounds familiar - it's much more like an extension of The Birthday Party's last two EPs than I'd expected. Less the noisier bits. I'm quite surprised how much Simon's vocal delivery is similar to Nick's - despite the fact his voice has a distictively different tone. Rowland's trademark guitar is all over this stuff and it sounds wonderful for that. That's the most bewitching thing here,, just as it was in The Birthday Party. But with TIS you could hear the undercurrent of The Birthday Party, but it was something new entirely. These first two C&TCS records sound more like a progression from The Birthday Party than I'd anticipated, rather than a new start. They sound ****ing great though. Can't believe I've been missing this link in my collection for so long. Of the two records, on these first listens, the second side of Just South of Heaven is my favourite. Five Stone Walls and Trouble Come are just magnificent. Got lucky with discogs this time - Just South of Heaven cover was rated as VG+ but turned out to be in shrink with original hype sticker and HMV price sticker on the shrink honouring the price promise! It's an immaculate copy.
