Silver Blades EP

In the long hot summer of 1977 the tabloids were dominated by the Silver Jubilee and the death of Elvis. On a council estate in east Birmingham a DIY punk band called Cult Figures segued from fantasy to reality. Singer Gary Jones bought a £25 Woolworths guitar and bashed out his first two chord wonder, inspired by Zip Nolan - highway patrolman from the pages of the Eagle comic. The song would become the band's first single, released to much acclaim on Rather Records, the label of their friends and fellow punk visionaries, Swell Maps. Zip became a John Peel favourite and Paul Morley reviewed the single for SOUNDS making it "Single of the Week" and identifying it as a new classification of musical genre, coining the phrase "moronic minimalism". After a second EP: I Remember was released in 1980, the band promptly fell out and split up for reasons that no one can remember.

Half a lifetime later the original band members finally buried the hatchet and reformed to resume the DIY punk ideal from where they left off 36 years earlier. Their belated debut album The I66 Ploughs A Lonely Furrow was finally released in 2018 on their own CFC Records and got great reviews in the music press. The band started performing regularly and became celebrated for their powerful and energetic performances and Jones' unpredictable off stage wanderings.

Now, in 2020 – Cult Figures are releasing their 2nd and finest album, preceded by a trio of EPs, recorded at Toerag in London's East End and leafy Leamington Spa's Woodbine Street Studio. The new songs are an eclectic mix of explosive powerpop, atmospheric nostalgia and yes, DIY punk. The music has been compared to The Fall and The Nightingales and one track has been described as "PIL crossed with 10cc".

The first of the EPs – Silver Blades/Under The Overground/Privilege – is a fitting first blast from the album to come. Across the three tracks there are echoes of epic high-(post)punk and more - a dash of Cowboys International, a sprinkle of Rich Kids, and a healthy backwards nod to The Move.