Godspunk – volume three

Label: Pumf
Artist: Various
Format: CD
Title: Godspunk (Volume 3) – released 2005

The Godspunk series, released via Pumf Records and curated by Stan Batcow, is a long-running archive of outsider music, experimental noise, and surreal DIY creativity from the fringes of the UK underground.

By the time you reach Godspunk Volume 3, it becomes clear that the series is developing its own internal logic. Not that this logic would make much sense to anyone outside the Pumf universe. As ever, the compilation veers between post-punk, outsider art, spoken word, tape experimentation and moments of genuine musical brilliance, often within the same track.

Proceedings open with Stan Batcow’s Affairs of the Heart, a reflection on Nineteen Eighty-Four and its protagonist Winston Smith. Built from layered synths and shifting textures, the piece unfolds like a fractured electronic mosaic. The familiar Batcow trademarks are all present: sudden changes in pace, unexpected detours and a refusal to settle into any one style for too long. Compelling throughout.

One of the compilation’s biggest surprises comes courtesy of The 3 Ages of Elvis, making their Godspunk debut with the superb Buttercup. Lo-fi yet meticulously assembled, it blends punk energy with rockabilly swagger in a way that feels both nostalgic and entirely its own creation. Follow-up track Dishwash (My Brain) is equally impressive, recalling The Fall at their most inventive and irreverent.

Pissed Off arrive with Asylum, an almost inaudible spoken-word piece buried beneath drums and growling electronic noise. The balance between obscurity and intent feels perfectly judged. Whether you’re supposed to understand every word is beside the point.

Then comes one of the compilation’s standout oddities: Norman’s Paranoia. It begins somewhere between a lost episode of Trumpton and the avant-garde world of The Residents, before drifting through passages of syncopated silence, industrial hammering and what can only be described as a dystopian motorik fairground soundtrack. Just when it seems impossible to predict its next move, the piece settles into a straightforward blues groove. It’s absurd, inventive and genuinely wonderful.

Two tracks from the Jenny Sparkles-era Litterbug follow. Who Am I? is unfamiliar territory and may well have been left off later releases, while Looking Back Then appears here in an earlier form than the version that surfaced on Speaking Through The Gaps. Less polished, certainly, but fascinating for precisely that reason. These recordings offer a glimpse into the band’s development rather than a finished destination.

The compilation’s quality remains high with The Taurus Board and Green and Neon. Everything I’ve encountered from the group suggests a criminally overlooked catalogue, and this track only strengthens that impression. Atmospheric, melodic and quietly ambitious, it’s another reminder that the Godspunk series often hides remarkable music in plain sight.

Razor Dog inject some much-needed momentum with Gonna Catch Up and This Love’s Absurd. The former sounds like Nick Cave fronting Dr. Feelgood after a lengthy diet of rockabilly records. Both tracks possess an infectious energy that could easily have unsuspecting listeners dancing around their living rooms. One suspects they must have been formidable live.

A cup of tea is advisable before Howl in the Typewriter’s Walter & Frank, a delightful collision of electronic mischief and unmistakably Lancastrian dialogue. Equal parts comedy sketch and experimental sound piece, it captures the peculiar charm that runs through much of the Pumf catalogue.

Next come returning Godspunk heroes LDB, whose World of Cricket finds the self-proclaimed inventor of rap in typically eccentric form. Imagine John Cooper Clarke attempting to explain quantum physics while simultaneously standing trial for failing to keep pace with modern society. The result is absurd, sharp and oddly insightful.

Little is known about The Reverends, but their contribution is another exercise in gleeful surrealism. The track feels like Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci after an extended chemical adventure—playful, bewildering and entirely unconcerned with convention.

Four tracks from UNIT reinforce their growing status as one of the compilation’s most rewarding discoveries. Make Believe carries subtle nods toward David Bowie, while the group’s trademark combination of flute, drums and off-kilter arrangements remains intact. Intlatol in Tlamacazquime is as enigmatic as its title suggests. Whether it references Aztec mythology, a forgotten language or something else entirely is unclear, but its mystery only adds to its appeal.

In a Chinese Youth Club begins with a flute motif worthy of Jethro Tull before unfolding into a sharply observed tale of social awkwardness and displacement. The closing Breaking Barriers continues UNIT’s blend of humour, chaos and subtle political commentary. They’re rapidly becoming one of the most consistently entertaining acts in the Godspunk universe.

Kate Fear and Nigel Joseph follow with Little Bird, a swirling sonic maelstrom topped with what sounds like a single-take vocal performance. Raw, immediate and entirely suited to the compilation’s aesthetic.

Newcomers The Time Flies! make an impressive entrance. Mr. Jeffrey Martin Lichtmann blends electronics, trip-hop textures and trance-like atmospherics into one of the album’s most accomplished productions, while Spiritual Fornication lives up to its title with primal rhythms and a mischievous disregard for restraint.

The album closes with Howl in the Typewriter’s Personal Ads, which features an audacious amount of silence before eventually yielding to a personal rant that sounds entirely genuine. It is a fitting conclusion to another collection that seems determined to undermine expectations at every opportunity.

Like the volumes before it, Godspunk Volume 3 is less a compilation than a snapshot of a thriving parallel culture—one where experimentation, humour and creative freedom matter far more than commercial considerations. Three volumes in, the series continues to reward curiosity and celebrate the wonderfully eccentric corners of the underground.

Essential listening for anyone who suspects that the strangest records are usually the most interesting, and still available on CD from Pumf. Get one now!

4.0 out of 5.0 stars4.0