After recording two astonishingly beautiful singles, Red Sleeping Beauty and Frans Hals, the first album by
McCarthy is a slice of three-minute, three-chord guitar pop reminiscent of
the Byrds. The wonderful, if slightly twee, jangly guitars and upbeat drumming support Malcolm Eden's rather weedy vocals. While this form of indie pop was widespread in '80s underground Britain,
McCarthy brought left-wing anarchist politics to the genre. Religion is attacked in "God Made the Virus," while the return of Victorian values espoused by Margaret Thatcher is compared to medieval oppression in "In the Dark Times." While this album may not be musically groundbreaking, if you're looking for perfect pop, you would be hard-pressed to find better than this album. [The 2007 edition features bonus tracks.] ~ Christian Smillie