Sex Gang Children - Blind!

Few figures in the original British gothic underground were as unpredictable as Andi Sex Gang. On Blind!, his unmistakable vocals and eccentric songwriting take center stage, creating a record that moves between jagged post-punk, theatrical gothic rock, and the more experimental fringes of the early Batcave scene.

Originally released in 1985 as an Andi Sex Gang solo album, Blind! emerged during a turbulent period following the dissolution of Sex Gang Children's original lineup. Although the record ultimately appeared under his own name, it was initially intended as a Sex Gang Children release, making it an intriguing chapter in the band's complicated history.

The album retains much of the restless energy that distinguished Sex Gang Children from their contemporaries. Where other gothic bands were developing increasingly polished and atmospheric sounds, Andi embraced a more chaotic approach, combining angular guitar work, unusual rhythmic arrangements, and vocals that could shift from theatrical shrieks to unsettling whispers.

Opening track “Dead Metal” immediately establishes the album's eccentric character, while “Ecstasy and Vendetta” revisits another song familiar to followers of the band's live performances. Both tracks demonstrate Andi's ability to turn unconventional melodies and dramatic vocal phrasing into something strangely infectious.

“Ida-Ho” and “Last Chants for the Slow Dance” explore more atmospheric territory, while “The Quick Gas Gang” captures the nervous, unpredictable energy that runs throughout the record. The second side moves through “Dying Fall,” “Immigrant,” and “Oh! Henry,” before “I've Done It All Before” and “Strike Blind!” bring the album toward its conclusion. The brief “Gas Reprise” provides a suitably peculiar final moment.

What makes Blind! particularly fascinating is its refusal to settle into a conventional gothic rock formula. The music draws from punk, cabaret, experimental post-punk, and the theatrical excesses of the early 1980s underground, resulting in something far stranger than the genre's more familiar romantic melancholy.

Andi Sex Gang's performances remain the album's defining feature. His extraordinary vocal delivery, often abrasive and deliberately exaggerated, gives the songs a sense of danger and unpredictability that has always distinguished his work.

This special Cleopatra Records reissue restores the album's originally intended artwork and presents its eleven tracks on limited blue vinyl, with just 300 copies pressed worldwide. It also preserves studio versions of the live favorites “Dead Metal” and “Ecstasy and Vendetta,” making it a particularly worthwhile addition to the Sex Gang Children catalog.

Blind! remains a fascinating document of the creative restlessness that defined the original gothic underground. Strange, theatrical, and defiantly unconventional, it's a reminder that early gothic rock was often at its most compelling when it refused to follow the rules.