But this is of course only part of the story. Death Is Bigger: 1984-1985 rectifies history's error, collecting the group's entire vault of demos and unreleased songs alongside liner notes and a photo gallery capturing Getting The Fear in all their high libertine glory. The compilation's 10 tracks are alternately brooding, spiky, and sneering, fixated on dreams, sex, and Charles Manson (the sleeve of Last Salute famously features a detail from Manson's embroidered waistcoat, unbeknownst to label execs). Razor wire guitars slice across tense rhythms, veering between minimal and melodic, occasionally flowering into psychedelic poetry, revealing Bee's deep affinity with Psychic TV.
Taken as a whole, the album showcases the breadth of forking paths facing UK post-punk in 1984: pop eating itself, new wave while still new, transgression as alternative not affectation. Getting The Fear's music feels eclectic and unfettered, following whim, lust, and impulse, glinting with darkness against the fires of youth: “The earth is still beneath my feet, I start to sink to lose myself / Friends and lovers stand around unconcerned, their eyes in flames.”
Bone White vinyl limited to 400 copies!
Released Mid June 2021 by Dais.
Track Listing:
01. Rise (Demo Version) 03:42
02. Dune Buggy Attack 04:37
03. Last Salute (Demo Version) 03:03
04. Against the Wind 03:39
05. We Struggle 04:45
06. Sometimes 03:50
07. Yurune (Demo Version) 04:33
08. Fatal Date 03:42
09. Getting the Fear 02:49
10. Swell (Demo Version) 04:42
11. Michael (Row the Boat Ashore) 02:52
12. Spirit of Youth 03:48
English