Jo Callis - Woah Yeah 7", 1981

Jo Callis - Woah Yeah 7", 1981

Well, let me start by saying that of course, I got my facts mixed up. This is not the brunette from the Human League, this is the (male) guitarist. Although I found out her name is Joane Catherall, so hey, a Jo and a last name starting with C...haha. Give me a break :) I bought this single because on a post-punk compilation I found called Atomic Shockwaves, there was a song that was listed as being on this that was SOOO good that I had to have the record. But it turned out that sadly, that song must have been tagged incorrectly because it's not actually on this single at all and now I don't know who did it. :( :( OH well.

So, let's see. How do I describe this? A-side doesn't have any synth. Not exactly adventurous post-punk, but it's okay. Reminds me a little bit of The Knack's "My Sharona" in one place. It's definitely trying to be tuneful. I hate to mention "power pop" again, but you know this is probably along the lines of that band Propaganda I posted earlier (not the German band). It's just sortof tuneful...not really mod, though. It's okay.

B-side songs are much more interesting. "Sinistrale" is a little darker. Still no synths. The guitar sound/progression is kindof like Siouxsie & the Banshees for some reason. This is not goth, though. We're still sortof in everyday post-punk. Nothing really spectacular. It's okay. It's all in the guitar breaks on this one. Hey, at least the guy can sing. After about 3 minutes I'm bored as hell, though. NEXT!

Okay last song, "Dodo Boys" is more like it. He takes some risks! This kindof reminds me of that band The Homosexuals, actually. Not quite herky-jerky post punk, but damn close. Much better tune, too. Oh yeah, this is nice. This is the kind of thing Brits can pull off that Americans only try and fail at.

Oh also! This single is on the Pop Aural label. That's actually quite significant. That was the Scottish label that Bob Last started up after his earlier label, Fast Product closed down. Fast Product were the SHIT, man. Oh yeah. They had a compilation (which I actually have on my computer now but haven't unpacked, I used to have it on cassette) which had Gang of Four, early Human League, good early Mekons stuff. Hell yeah. I'll have to dig that up.

Another thing that was on the Pop Aural label was a 12" I have by the Scottish band Boots For Dancing that I always meant to post here and didn't. I was asking myself recently why I never seemed to get around to that band, here, and I don't know why. So yeah, look Pop Aural up online and you'll see they had the Fire Engines, and Flowers, too. Good stuff. (I'm not a Fire Engines fan, though, sorry)