Rema Rema - Fond Reflections

I have been a huge fan of 4AD noise band Rema Rema since I first encountered their EP in the early 80's and was super psyched to hear about this expanded package. Two CD's featuring the aforementioned EP along with early demos, several extra songs and a great booklet with a brief history (and photos) of the group by their drummer, Max.

The demo CD starts things off with different takes on "Feedback Song" (a truly apt title) and their theme song, "Rema Rema" - the slow, plodding thump of "Feedback Song" is extended with swells of chaos wafting over the rhythm until we get into the positively raucously rockin' "Rema Rema" with its shouted/chanted/singalong vocals and insistent, incessant beat. There are a few differences here'n'there from the EP versions, but essentially, these songs were fully formed by the time of these early recordings. Some sharp, biting guitar opens "Gallery/Oh Rock'n'Roll" before the ferocious bass comes in and demolishes the whole concept and drives it into a primitive frenzy with multiple starts'n' stops and swirling, single note guitar lines fighting with raw chords and shouted, repetitive lyrics. A Vox Jaguar organ was found and pieced together enough to give "Lost My Way" a bit of a 60's feel, but only a bit, as there is plenty of jaggedness to it, as well, and the repeated, hypnotic refrain of "lost my way" becomes downright psychedelic. In "Short Stories", bright, chiming guitars interact with the loping bassline and the Mo Tucker-esque beat but in "International Scale", fuzz'n'distortion dominate both the guitar'n'bass while beautiful feedback layers on top and the drums are a simple pulse behind the vocals in an insanely catchy manner.  Slow'n'brooding, "Fond Affections" has a basic hum of a note/chord and spurts of synth noise in an almost Bauhuas-ish fashion followed by another new-to-me number, "Why Ask Why", that has an unusual staccato bass line, pulsing drums and waves upon waves of distortion'n'feedback that threatens to engulf the entire song, which is quite a treat! The ironically titled "Instrumental" (it's not) does have a lengthy introduction filled with their usual clamorous elements before the chanted "you hit me right between the eyes" comes in over the cacophony before they close with the echoed oscillation of "Entry" with synth blurps'n'slides and shrieking guitar wails and call'n'answer vocals - the only time they use this effect, I believe - and more changes than any other number.

The second CD has the full, Wheel in the Roses EP along with another take on "Entry" and two extra songs, "No Applause" (self fulfilling prophecy, maybe?) and "MurderMuzic". The organ comes out again for "No Applause" but moves in'n'out of waves of dissonance and throbbing backwards masking creating a percussive effect along with the simple drum work while vocals are shouted over it all and "MurderMuzik" is awash in feedback'n'guitar riffs that shifts back'n'forth from a frantic beat to sparse ambiance, without changing the insistent singing or that layers of noise, to great effect.

This is a truly exceptional release - one of my favorites in a long time - highly recommended for fans of 4AD-style noize!