Love And Rockets - Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven

When Bauhaus fell apart, nobody expected the three remaining members to come back sounding like this. Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins regrouped in 1985 as Love and Rockets, and Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven traded the clenched gothic drama of their old band for something looser, warmer, and considerably more psychedelic.

The record is built on long, patient songs that take their time getting anywhere. "If There's A Heaven Above" opens on shimmering guitar and a vocal that floats rather than declaims, "The Dog End Of A Day Gone By" stretches past seven minutes without ever feeling padded, and "Haunted When The Minutes Drag" became the album's enduring calling card. Producer John A. Rivers gave the whole thing a spacious, reverb-heavy sheen, and the closing "Saudade" drifts out on strings and electric guitar rather than a hook.

It is the sound of a band deliberately walking away from what made them famous, and forty years on the gamble reads as one of the more graceful post-punk reinventions. The trio would go on to bigger commercial success later in the decade, but this debut remains the one their devotees return to.

This edition is a gatefold LP reissue from the Beggars Arkive series via Beggars Banquet. A beautifully presented pressing of a record that rewards a full sit-down listen.