1979's 'secondhand daylight' improves immensely on magazine's debut, 'real life', by adding greater musical and lyrical variety to what had been a somewhat bleak and monochromatic artistic vision. perhaps more importantly, colin thurston's production is notably cleaner than john leckie's somewhat cluttered and overdramatic sound on the first album. dave formula's keyboards are front and center, with john mcgeoch's choppy guitar often relegated to fills and rhythm tracks, while barry adamson's propulsive yet melodic bass melds with john doyle's somewhat hyperactive drumming to add a new level of tension to singer howard devoto's emotional yet ambiguous lyrics. the opening 'feed the enemy' is outstanding, one of the band's very best tracks, and while some of the album doesn't match its power, 'secondhand daylight' is an outstanding example of british post-punk.