A bit on the side







PENETRATION
'Race Against Time'
(Clifdayn Ltd)***1/2

  When is a bootleg not a bootleg? When it's produced by the band 
themselves and their record company.
  The sleeve is black and white no-design with nary a mention of Virgin
Records and no serial number. The only other piece of type other than
track listings and dates is the wildly informative 'Clifdayn Ltd'. The
game is given away by the cover photograph being only of vocalist 
Pauline Murray and bassman Robert Blamire. As drummer Gary Smallman has 
now flown the coup along with guitarists Neale Floyd and Fred Purser
these two are Penetration, a point that a bootlegger wouldn't 
know or care about. (Although, to be more accurate 'Penetration' the
entity is now dead and the duo's future output will be issued under 
Pauline's name).
  They were going to put out 'Race Against Time' themselves on the 
quiet. Virgin got wind of the idea and they came to an agreement where
Virgin would issue it in it's current form and allow Rob and Pauline 
studio time for mixing and track selection. The scheme is to keep 
everything as low key as possible. Or, as Pauline told me: "We didn't
want it to be a big publicised album. We just thought it would tie up
both versions of the band. What we didn't want was a Rezillos type live
album, put out without the band's approval after they'd split. 'Race
Against Time' is something we've put together mainly for the people who
followed Penetration."
  The whole caboodle sells for around four quid and consists of (side 
one) nine demos recorded in 1977 and January '78 by the original four 
piece with Gary Chaplin on guitar and (side two) six live tracks from
the December '78 and October '79 Newcastle City Hall gigs with Mark II
of the outfit. Plus an unreleased studio version of 'Danger Signs'
which has, I think, an extra verse, is more restrained and not as good 
as the single. Three of the songs on side one haven't appeared anywhere
before, so let's take them first.
  'Duty Free Technology' has Gary Chaplin's honed down version of 1977
punk guitar well back in the mix with the vocals and bass as clear as a 
bell. Pretty well par for the whole album, and not surprising 
considering the circumstances. The band's blossoming songwriting is 
demonstrated on the title track. Reminiscent slightly of Pete Shelley's
'Nostalgia' from 'Moving Targets', 'Race Against Time' is almost but 
not quite there, but certainly more of a signpost to the excellence 
that was to follow them. 'In The Future' is a fairly standard punk opus
of the period with only the above average guitaring and Pauline to 
elevate it.
  The rest of the side are demo versions of songs that appear 
subsequently as singles or on 'Moving Targets'. 'Silent Community' is 
blunter and more aggressive than the sinister later edition, more of a
rock 'em in the mouth than a sneer, with skyrocket Chaplin guitar. On
'Free Money' Pauline sounds less passionate than she did a year later,
as though she hadn't quite got the hang of letting her voice off the
leash. The arrangement is less complex, takes off faster and finishes 
sooner.
  'Firing Squad', it's 'B' side 'Never Never', 'Don't Dictate' and 
'VIP' (flip of 'Life's A Gamble') all differ in varying, but generally
slight, degrees to the singles. They're direct and to the point, with
the band doing nothing to stand in the way of the fine vocals. 
'Dictate' in particular catches the definitive early Murray.
  The 'Live' side ('Come Into The Open', 'Movement', Lovers Of 
Outrage', 'She Is The Slave', 'Too Many Friends' and 'Killed In The 
Rush') consists of clever catchy songs niftily played. Some would say
that releasing a live (half!) album of already available material after
only two studio jobs is pushing it a bit. And in honesty they'd be 
right, especially as Penetration were always too disciplined to let
themselves stretch or stray very far. But, put on 'Movement' and marvel
at Gary Smallman's drumming, or 'Slave' for Pauline's sexy squealed 
"Take me awaaay!", or the dozens of other small but potent touches.
  That's it. A tidy epitaph for a tidy band. And please, no 'Carrion On
Penetration'. All right Virgin?
						       IAN RAVENDALE