Agent Orange, I'm On Fire!

Ski Patrol ‎- Versions Of A Life (Recordings 1979-1981) [DG-001 USA 2014 FLAC]

Formed in 1979 by singer Ian Lowery and guitarist Nick Clift, Ski Patrol played moody, epic, angular post-punk. Active until late 1981, Ski Patrol’s musical and lyrical output mirrored the civil unrest of a post-punk Britain and their blend of music mirrored a time when bands found the freedom and were brave enough to develop beyond the mainstream.  

They self-released their first single in early 1980 with the help of Rough Trade and came to the attention of Malicious Damage, a label & management operation, formed to release the early works of Killing Joke. This association produced the band’s biggest success, the 1980 indie chart hit Agent Orange (featuring Jaz Coleman on synth). I have always thought this single had the same feel as early works by The Sound, they clearly could not find the master tapes as the version used here is sourced from vinyl. The downside of limiting and compressing music from vinyl is that every rumble, click and pop is amplified as well. As well as the first two singles, you also get previously unreleased mixes of their third single and three unreleased songs from their BBC Radio John Peel session.

Versions Of A Life collects Ski Patrol’s recordings in one place for the first time. This anthology also shines a light on the darkly comic, paranoid, often elegiac gutter poetry of the late Ian Lowery, who went on to form the enigmatic The Fold Devils and sadly passed away in 2001. 

01 Everything Is Temporary
02 Silent Scream
03 Agent Orange
04 Driving
05 Extinguish (March '81 Dub Mix)
06 Cut (Alternate Version)
07 Faith In Transition (Alternate Version)
08 Extinguish (April '81 Vocal Mix)
09 A Version Of A Life
10 Concrete Eternal
11 Extinguish (Peel Session)
12 Cut (Peel Session)
13 Where The Buffalo Roam (Peel Session)
14 Extinguish (Mark Lusardi's 2014 Restoration Mix)