CAUTION CONTENTS HOT! When Young Marble Giant’s unique album was released in February 1980, it didn’t take long for us to notice how rare and unique the work was, but we never would’ve guessed it would become a record of choice for numerous musicians including Belle and Sebastian and Kurt Cobain. Then in their early twenties, singer Alison Statton, bassist Philip Moxham and his guitarist brother Stuart put together in only a few days, in their slapdash way, a most fascinating work of minimalist post-punk. It’s difficult to imagine that with a battered guitar, ghostly organ, dodgy bass and cheap drum machine, the Welsh trio were able to create a record that sounded like no other. Like the illegitimate child of the Velvet Underground and Kraftwerk, Colossal Youth is above all carried by the voice of Alison Statton and its strange sense of frivolity. All the more peculiar when coupled with her introspective lyrics which talk of teenage angst and frustration and are delivered with a peculiar cheekiness. To celebrate the record’s fortieth birthday, the masterpiece has been rereleased as a Deluxe Edition with an array of bonus material including two tracks from the Salad Days (2000) compilation, a track from the Is The War Over (1979) compilation, the single Final Day (1980) and the EP Testcard (1981). We leave this superb reissue knowing that the Young Marble Giants’ universe was far more complex and vaster than we may have initially thought. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz