Friday, June 7, 2019

The 1985 Listening Post - Play Dead - Company of Justice

Play Dead - Company of Justice


#212
June 15 1985
Play Dead
Company of Justice
Genre: Goth Rock
3.75 out of 5



This is my first Play Dead record and their last, apparently. 
I find myself thinking about PiL for some reason. Not that it sounds like it but it sort of does. But also that there was a time when all those punk bands were trying to define or redefine themselves. Play Dead claims they are not a Goth Rock band (Even though the latter day compilations they appeared on are called “Gothic Rock”). They thought they were a post-punk band but I don’t know that they are. The second track here (“caught on the Thorns”) sounds more like they are aping U2 than anything else. And, sure, why not? U2 had some massive influence on the post punk bands of the time. That was the sound of the future, right? Or A sound of the future. But they also can’t decide if they wanna be The Cure. 
Anyway, Play Dead is a paler version of both. More accessible than Christian Death but not exceptional. 


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