Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds

I wonder if Kevin Martin owns a pit bull. I bet he does, he’s very street, y’know...the difference between him and most other pit bull-owners being that he knows who Stockhausen was.
   This compilation has two great titles: ‘Electro Agony In Dub’ and ‘No False Hair’. The former contains the sound of breaking glass and, like Nick Lowe, I love that, on a record, not reality. In reality, in pubs, it usually meant trouble. But what have Firehouse Crew got against wigs? Surely a terrible comb-over is worse. Then again, a dodgy rug is no better than a bald-‘ead.
   I went to a reggae sound clash once, as the (only) white man in Aylesbury Civic Centre circa 1978. Well, someone had to represent the hip face of honkies in a hick town. It was filled with dreads in military gear, and my insides are still recovering from the bass tremors – what a great night.
   One of my favourite rhythms here is on ‘Them Can’t Hold Yuh Gal’ by Parara and McCoy because it’s so stripped down, as is Team Shadatek’s ‘Yoga Rhythm’, proving that less can be more. By contrast, The Bug tries to blow your brains out with ‘Aktion Dub’, and will probably succeed.
   Fira’s ‘Hummer Version’ nicks the ‘Halloween’ soundtrack piano motif, and it’s one of the best tracks here for being more subtle rhythmically, if not exactly refined in sample choice.
   This is the voice of ‘The Mysterons’. The real ones threatened to destroy the city of London. Younger buyers of this album probably don’t know that. Captain Scarlet was a must-see for me when I was a kid. In the absence of YouTube clips from the album, here’s the great opening from that series.