Amps for Christ - 'Circuits' (Vermiform)

The "British Isles trad meets the Terminator" sound of Amps for Christ was like a burning meteor hitting my crust, especially as my introduction to them was their first LP Thorny Path which was all homebuilt electronic buzzing sounds. Combining these schematics with beautiful classic vocal melodies was a stroke of genius and this album is one of their finest efforts. There's some non-traditional covers as well -AFC's take on Nico's 'Janitor of Lunacy' shatters it's haggard precedent (blasphemy?  then start your own alphabetical blog!!) - and Donovan's 'Colours' gives the yin to Van Dyke's yang. There aren't any credits but I think a few of these are originals. The male vocals remind me of a teenage argument with oneself and the female voice soars over the groaning instrumentation. Beautiful and traditional can be new and strange. Even more awesome is that I first came to Amps for Christ because they were a Man is the Bastard side project. You can hear it certainly in the pulsing murk, with all the sticks and twigs and Cornish pies slowly turning grey.  So it's the soundtrack to grindcore kids cashing in their Spazz records for Maddy Prior; ain't nothing wrong with that, cause there's a vicious side to lots of these tunes too.