Godspunk – Unpolished, unpretentious, and unmistakably Pumf

Label: Pumf
Artist: Various
Format: CD
Title: Godspunk (Volume 1) – released July 7th, 2003

“Possibly the strangest music on the planet”

Now up to Volume 27, we thought we’d have a look at the evolving multi-headed monster that is the Godspunk music compilation series. And what better way to start than right back at Volume 1 in 2003.

Godspunk Volume 1 opens with Howl in the Typewriter’s “Jesus!”, a strangely devotional jump-start to the godspunkosphere. Its refrain — “jesus in your heart, revolution in your life” — loops over an almost-eighties pulse, while a reptilian, sore-throated rasp writhes through the mix. It’s both sardonic and sincere, as only HITT can manage.

What follows is an unexpected run of four tracks from Loc Dogg B (LDB), whose subject matter leaps from the dark depressive tones of “Death Wish” to the autobiographical grit of “Never Go Back Again”. The work — unmistakably that of the under-appreciated Lawrence Burton, once of Kent, now in Texas, and (as he tells it) the overlooked inventor of rap in 1979 — is one of the highlights of the compilation.

Burton’s own blog, Englishman in Texas, is a minor treasure trove of self-mythology and sharply observed misadventure. I found myself reading the entire LDB anthology and laughing out loud more than once. Two excerpts capture his voice perfectly:

“Andy — our main man — had proposed a number of Doctor Who themed tracks, one of which was to be called Travels in the TARDIS. Deciding I would rather repeatedly slam my penis in a fridge door than be involved with such tomfoolery, I brought my guitar home.”

And:

“In that moment I heard the lyrics through his ears as borne of Peter Glaze wearing a backwards baseball cap on Crackerjack whilst complaining about Bernie Clifton’s comedy ostrich to Don Maclean in rhyming couplets.”

The LDB material here — recorded some twenty years before the blog entry — still stands up: laconic rap-poetry, acerbic, observant, neurotic, and yet deeply charismatic.

After a brief return to HITT and some exploratory sketches from The Taurus Board, the compilation shifts gears with two tracks by Litterbug, a personal favourite incarnation featuring Karima Francis on drums and vocals. “Codeine”, drawing from the darker wells of J&MC and The Pixies, drips with alt-noise and lyrical gloom, a swirling cauldron of Max’s Kansas City-style emotional static. “Delmario” follows: loose, jangling, and very Cecilia Ann-era Pixies. Rough around the edges, but all the better for it — pure DIY warehouse energy.

HITT return with “The Body”, an early signpost toward the band’s later experimental abstractions. While their subsequent work achieves a kind of Beefheartian structural discipline — chaotic forms organised into strange, precise geometries — “The Body” is rawer: heavy synths, cut-up samples of human dissection, and a jagged scratch-rhythm that feels like it’s sawing through its own frame.

Stream Angel (presumably another of Stan Batcow’s many sonic avatars) bring “Day That Will (excerpt)”, a headphone piece built from overlapping samples, collisions, and collapsing structures. It’s a short but effective plunge into the deeper end of the Pumf pool.

Four tracks from UNIT supply the album’s most muscular sequence. “Incandescense” is a standout — all angular lines and a tight 7/8 gait — followed by the classic post-punk inflections of “God of Grumblers”. “A Head Wound & A Fracture” closes their contribution with a punchier, more immediate edge. UNIT have reinvented themselves through numerous line-ups since 1994, orbiting post-punk, prog, and the avant-garde; their website is well worth a wander for the curious.

The compilation ends as it began — with HITT — this time through the discordant techno-gristle of “Love Camp #7”. It’s a fitting, abrasive finale: Kraftwerk meeting Throbbing Gristle in a back alley and deciding, against all odds, to collaborate.

Godspunk Volume 1 sets out the stall for what would become a sprawling, defiantly oddball series. Unpolished, unpretentious, and unmistakably Pumf. We’ll take a look at some of the other highlights of the series in future pieces.

3.9 out of 5.0 stars3.9