Name: Courts Or Wars
Brand: Second Layer

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

197211

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2023-02-13

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Revol­ver

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

852545003912

Total Cap

Black LP

Artist

Second Layer

Genre US

Label US

Second Layer was a post-punk musical act formed in 1979 by Adrian Borland (vocals, guitar) and Graham Bailey (keyboards, bass guitar, drum programming), both later in The Sound. Their unique sound blended elements of punk rock with experimental electronic music, creating a distinctive and influential style.

Inspired by artists such as Bourbonese Qualk, The Outsiders, and Colin Newman, Second Layer's music pushed the boundaries of conventional genres. With their thought-provoking lyrics and innovative use of synthesizers and drum machines, they quickly gained recognition within the underground music scene.

Other notable artists that share similarities with Second Layer include Dark Day, Section 25, Eyeless In Gaza, The Passage, THE NAMES, Minny Pops, Chris & Cosey, Modern Eon, Iron Curtain, Chrome,Swell Maps,Siglo xx ,Isolation Ward,Lives Of Angels,Solid Space,and Snowy Red. Their contributions to the post-punk movement continue to inspire musicians today.

New Wave / Post Punk

Adrian Borland and Graham Bailey might be better known as members of legendary post-punk group The Sound, but the two were childhood friends and had been playing together even earlier in The Outsiders, and continued their deep musical rapport as a duo, creating these intense and engaging songs as Second Layer at the same time as their higher profile band output. Combining their early recordings, including the 1979 Flesh As Property EP and 1980 State Of Emergency EP, Courts Or Wars takes its title from the first song that served as the pair’s introduction to listeners. Right from the beginning you are enveloped in what The Quietus described as, “a monochrome worldview morbidly obsessed with the dehumanizing effect of war, nuclear weapon annihilation, and the fracturing and negation of the self within an increasingly distorted and technologically mediated society.” Where The Sound fit snugly next to Echo And The Bunnymen, Second Layer had far more in common with the pulsing menace of Suicide. Borland’s familiar vocals and sense of melody hold a connection to his other songwriting, but within these songs he takes far more risks in his guitar work to suit the subject matter. What really drives everything is Bailey’s propulsive bedrock, formed by his homemade pre-drum machine rhythm generators, creating an innovative mechanical approach that somehow inserts a jittery neurotic touch that merges perfectly with his electronic layers driven by the wasp synth, various unique effects boxes or tape loops. Adding in Bailey’s own distinctive bass playing, the results feel personal and experimental, pointed and harsh, while also bracingly accessible and covered in dark manic energy. Over forty years later, these recordings feel shockingly appropriate. In painting a bleak reality and frightening future, there is real desperate beauty here.

Courts Or Wars

Music US