Magic Of The Marketplace – The Spectators Are Leaving (CD EP Review)

Label: JSNTGM and Engineer Records
Cat No.: JSNTGM 046, IGN 481
Format: CDr

There is a particular strain of northern underground music that never quite disappears. It simply mutates, regroups and re-emerges in different forms – fuelled less by commercial ambition than by an enduring need to communicate frustration, solidarity and survival. Andy Higgins has long operated within that continuum, from the DIY urgency of Blackpool’s punk underground to the quietly influential work of JSNTGM. With The Spectators Are Leaving, Magic of the Marketplace deliver one of the strongest statements yet to emerge from that lineage.

Released jointly through Engineer Records and JSNTGM, the EP immediately establishes its intent with When The Story Ends. There is no easing-in process here. The opening moments arrive fully formed – tense, abrasive and propelled by a band that sounds utterly locked together. The production from Rock Hard Studios deserves particular mention: powerful without becoming over-polished, preserving the physicality and friction that gives these songs their force.

The title track pushes things further still. The Spectators Are Leaving carries the same sense of confrontation, with Higgins’ vocal veering into something reminiscent of Jake Burns at his most cutting, while backing vocals introduce an off-kilter melodic counterpoint that recalls the tension-and-release dynamics of Pixies. The guitar work throughout the EP is particularly effective – jagged and economical rather than indulgent – allowing riffs to function as structural punctuation as much as hooks.

Elsewhere, There’s a Darkness pivots around a bass line that subtly evokes The Jam, grounding the track in a distinctly British post-punk sensibility beneath the hardcore momentum. The Natural Order of Things slightly lowers the tempo without sacrificing intensity, its refrain of “Let’s break some things” feeling less nihilistic than cathartic – a release valve for accumulated social exhaustion. The layered backing vocals provide a surprisingly melodic balance to Higgins’ raw delivery, while the appearance of glockenspiel adds an unexpected tonal texture without diluting the song’s urgency.

Closing track What’s the Remedy? channels flashes of early Buzzcocks in its guitar phrasing, though the overall energy of the EP more readily recalls the emotional velocity of Hüsker Dü and Stiff Little Fingers. Yet what prevents the record becoming an exercise in influence-spotting is the conviction of the performances themselves. These are clearly musicians who have lived inside this music for decades, but who still sound fully invested in its possibilities.

The wider punk press has already begun recognising the EP’s impact, with one recent review describing it as “a snapshot of the world right now” and praising its balance of aggression, melody and emotional weight. That assessment feels accurate. Beneath the distortion and momentum lies a persistent sense of disillusionment – social, political and personal – but also a refusal to disengage completely.

This is arguably one of the finest releases yet associated with JSNTGM, which perhaps should not come as a surprise given the personnel involved, drawing together former members of Erase Today, Litterbug, Sick 56 and Sonic Boom. What emerges is not nostalgia for a vanished scene, but proof that the underground which produced those bands remains creatively alive.

At fourteen minutes, The Spectators Are Leaving is over almost as soon as it begins. Yet like the best punk records, it leaves behind a lingering sense of urgency that far exceeds its runtime.

Available at Engineer Records: https://www.engineerrecords.com/post/new-magic-of-the-marketplace-cd-ep

4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5