Prefects Amateur Wankers CD

The Prefects' sole recorded legacy at the time of existence consisted of two John Peel sessions, but it's that plus a couple of extra tracks that makes up this really enjoyable overview of a band that was at once somewhat high profile and perhaps one of the most obscure punk-era acts in the U.K. It might be a stretch to say that the Prefects would have been the natural rivals/counterparts of Wire, but there's enough evidence here to show that had they continued they might well have made their own Chairs Missing eventually. The two sessions are mixed together, in a nice change from the usual method of presentation, and sequenced to make a brief but memorable listen. The opening rips "Faults" and "Escort Girls," both under two minutes long, demonstrate how the band was very much a product of its era, with quick, slogan-chorus arrangements and unbridled energy, but the disc hits its stride with "Going Through the Motions." Perhaps as much commentary on the activity of band life as anything else, the slow, deliberate majesty of the track (Alan Apperley's guitar in particular is this mesmerizing, looped glaze) manages to balance out experimental impulses with focus just right. From there there's counterpoint declamatory call and resigned response vocals gliding over crisp thrash ("Things in General"), saxophone skronk over calm guitar intros ("Total Luck"), and their own contribution to extended rock epics with "Bristol Road Leads to Dachau," a ten-minute riff/jam that might not be "Marquee Moon," say, but keeps the tension building all the way to the end. Two live tracks -- the brief "625 Lines," recorded on the night of the legendary Short Circuit show and the hilarious ringer of "VD," taken from a 2001 reunion date but lasting only ten seconds long, fill out this great peek into the past. ~ Ned Raggett

Recording information: Electric Circus, Manchester, England (10/01/1977-09/17/2001); Maida Vale Studios, London, England (10/01/1977-09/17/2001); Wolverhampton Little Civic (10/01/1977-09/17/2001).

Photographer: Helen Apperley.

Unknown Contributor Role: Dave Whitten.

The Prefects: Robert Lloyd (vocals, harmonica); Andy Burchell (vocals, clarinet); Dave Whitten (saxophone); Eamonn Duffy, Graham "Ted The Head" Blunt (bass guitar); Paul Apperley, Dave Twist, Adrian Moran (drums); Alan "Roots" Apperley, Joe Crow.

Personnel: Joe Crow (vocals, guitar, piano); Alan "Roots" Apperley (vocals, guitar); Dave Whitten (saxophone); Paul Apperley (drums).

Rolling Stone (p.110) - "'Faults' and 'Escort Girls' are short, hot lashes of angular malcontent..."
Uncut (p.146) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]heir bathos was balanced with an existential edge."
CMJ (p.4) - "[With] two live gems and the perfect mix of tight Wire brambles and loose Faust-ian shambles."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.117) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]hey mixed wildly pounding drums and hyper-trebly guitars into compressed song structures that fused punk, dark side pyschedelia, free jazz, reggae and even prog....This is the authentic sound of 1978/9..."
Harp (magazine) (p.95) - "Tight, weird & bottom-heavy....The intelligence of their odd-punk constructions is legendary."