One of my favorite bands by far musically, sonically, conceptually and politically. The Young Marble Giants were a Cardiff, Wales post-punk band formed in 1978. Their music was constructed around the powerful and minimal instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham supporting the naive untrained voice of Alison Statton.
The LP to get is “Collosal Youth”.(now with ‘Peel sessions’ and singles)
From Pitchfork;
“In one way– and it’s possibly the most significant way– Colossal Youth is a massive statement. It is the sound of Turning Down, and at no time in the history of pop music could turning down have been more deafening. Theoretically and situationally speaking, Young Marble Giants were a remarkable, refreshing contrast and yes, something of a revelation.
It’s a heavy-handed indictment, and as part of the fatalist post-punk landscape, it’s timely in its melodrama. “Credit in the Straight World”, on the other hand, plunges off that cliff–”Instant credit in the straight world/ Leaving money when you die/ Lots of credit in the real world/ Gets you high”– and spoke volumes to Kurt Cobain, who planned to record a version with Nirvana, and may or may not have demoed it before his widow ended up murdering it on Live Through This”.