Magazine were the critics' darlings in 1980 for their third LP 'The Correct Use Of Soap'. Not a bad record at all, but a severe disappointment after their previous epic under discussion here. Let me put it in simple terms: 'Secondhand Daylight' was one of the greatest albums to emerge from the new wave. And, I reckon, bloody influential too. Here's why.

Their debut, 'Real Life', was a glossy, John Barry-obsessed record of transitional power. Some great tracks, but not a million miles from the keyboard-dominated punk/alien landscapes of Ultravox! (back in their better days when they had an exclamation mark after their name) and the now-forgotten Gloria Mundi. Magazine could have easily followed up with more of the same. But no. They dropped John Leckie as their producer, bringing in the comparatively unknown Colin Thurston in his place. The gloss was wiped away and in its place a grey, pastel, etherial ambience took hold. 'Feed The Enemy'' plunges you straight in to a scene of post air-disaster destruction where "We could go and look and stare". A beautiful, yet disturbed, keyboard intro is swept aside by Barry Adamson's super-flanged bass, a constant factor throughout and an essential element in the misty soundscape that pervades the whole album. John McGeogh's guitar is mixed well down in the mix and provides all the more subtle power for being so. Devoto sounds indifferent, sordid and malevolent all at once in this plodding, resigned opener which sets up the album in much the same way as 'Everything In Its Right Place' on the last Radiohead album: on the downward slope, with only further downward yet to go. 'Rhythm Of Cruelty' appears to offer upbeat relief at first, but don't be fooled; that middle section brings the tension back hard and ruthlessly. 'Cut Out Shapes' and 'Back To Nature' are the standout tracks, with almost prog-rock dynamics and awesome playing: check out the instrumental riot that follows the 'We met at a psychiatric unit' section in the former and the wild, almost Purple-sounding keyboard breaks in the latter. Magazine rock with the best of'em when they want to, but this ain't no neo-metal record. There is, in abundance, that noble art of putting the wrong notes in the right place and hence creating a spine-tingling aural rush at crucial points: 'I Wanted Your Heart' masterfully shifts a note up in the ascending riff by a semitone to that expected before Dave Formula lets fly with Cecil Taylor-esque piano abandon and Devoto devolves into comical and childlike wordplay. 'Permafrost' closes the album with even more of the utter despair with which it began, the world of Bowie's 'Warzwawa' and 'Sense Of Doubt' taken one dimension further. And all this at a time when Devoto's former Buzzcock colleagues were veering into self-parody and formulaic power pop.

'Secondhand Daylight' is an unmistakably new wave album, unquestionably a product of its time but still sounding totally relevant and new. The aforementioned Radiohead reference was intentional: Magazine were ploughing the same alienation furrow nearly two decades earlier, and with much of the same instrumental and dynamic materials at their disposal. Their third album may have gained all the critical plaudits, but that was a far more conventional and indistictive record than the one discussed here. Buy a copy on CD for around £6 and leave 'The Correct Use Of Soap', and, dammit, 'Amnesiac', in the racks.


(Currently available as a low-priced Virgin CD)

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