Heavyweight vinyl is always that much more satisfying to hold, so hats off to Au Pairs and their team for issuing their classic first album in this sought-after format. Opening with the tongue-in-cheek “We’re So Cool,” the Au Pairs’ debut record is a stunner, from Lesley Woods’ scratchy guitar and declamatory vocals to lead guitarist Paul Foad’s brittle soloing. This is an uncompromising, defiant record: gender roles are turned upside down, as are theories about sex and sexuality, and hetero- and homosexual relationships are put under a microscope. Similarly, the tense political situation in Northern Ireland is harrowingly addressed in “Armagh,” which details Tory-sanctioned torture and sexual abuse of wrongly imprisoned Irish women. An unflinching look at the world, “Playing with a Different Sex” is one of the great, and perhaps forgotten, post-punk records.
Musically, Au Pairs were at their most overtly post-punk here, with funky rhythms and scratchy Gang Of Four-esque guitar stylings. ‘We’re So Cool’ sounds like the best that moments of Hanover underground group 39 Clocks; ‘Repetition’ sounds like it could have influenced Goat Girl’s first moves as a band signed to Rough Trade; while ‘Come Again’ is up there with anything by The Slits, and ‘Love Song’ is reminiscent of Entertainment!-era Gang Of Four.
The most striking cut here, however, is ‘Headache For Michelle’, which sits beautifully in the middle of the album and offers a bit of respite from the generally high-octane rhythms. It’s a dreamy cut, seemingly about drugs and government overreach. The following stinging, bitter lines, delivered with so much heart, bring this epic number from a cracking album to a beautiful close: “They are closing down – communications / They’re taking control – of our situations.”
The Fat Angel Sings 