Phil Wilson has said that the Sexual Objects’ ‘Cucumber’ set was the one of best of the year, and who am I to disagree? Now you should know that The Sexual Objects are the latest in a line of Davy Henderson’s projects, and that Davy Henderson is one of the key figures in the mythic story of (Un)Pop. Perhaps you were scratched by his Fire Engines when they first blazed briefly across the Pop landscape in 1980 or perhaps you were touched by Win and their Tennant’s Lager advert. Then again, perhaps you picked up on The Nectarine Number 9 with the resuscitated Postcard label in the early ‘90s and then in the subsequent decade with Creeping Bent and Beggars Banquet.
Perhaps too you are of an age where you discovered some of those delights only retrospectively thanks to the support of others (for you it may have been Alex Kapranos in the naughtes, for me it was Kevin Pearce in the eighties). Whatever, we should certainly all be united in our delight at Henderson’s reappearance with The Sexual Objects.
So what does it all sound like? Like a Davey Henderson record of course. Which is to say the sound of melody clashing with abrasion: an orchestration of electric energies feeding on the spirit of Don Van Vliet. It’s The Beach Boys surfing rusted, burnt out cars on council estates. It’s The Velvet Underground of Robert Quine’s tapes, and the Subway Sect in Paris. It's T-Rex dancing a last tango with Robert Frank. It’s Kurt Schwitters and Hannah Hoch cut with Manson’s cake knife. Right between the eyes. Scalpel kisses and heartbreak smiles.
Sexual Objects – 'Baby Wants to Ride'
Buy 'Cucumber' as a download