This is a review of "Scum" recorded by Pop Threat. The review was written by Richard Garnett in 2003.

In the mid 1980's The Jesus and the Mary Chain exposed the world to its first tastes of fuzz music with the feedback and noise set so loud that the melody was lost below a constant squeal - needless to say it was not everybody's cup of tea. A short while later a less remarkable female fronted band named The Darling Buds appeared writing and playing straighter post punk guitar pop, their hook was the disaffected female lead vocals (a style that was later adopted by 90's indie kittens Kenickie). The relevance of this somewhat irrelevant trawl through indie history? - If Jim Reid (JATM) had married Andrea Lewis (TDB) then their children would have formed Pop Threat.

So is it any good? Perhaps in 1986 it would have been, but instead this is as dated as the afore mentioned influences. 12 tracks bruise the ears with their gain set at 10 and the effect is nullifying. Purely for the lover of the alternative the songs are simple in construction and repetitive in style. Retro can work, but there are certain 80's drum effects and production techniques that have had their day. The "I don't give a sh*t" vocals don't help much either, typified on "Ripen" or closer "Rediffusion" where the 5th year standard poetry is painfully exposed.

Whatever Mook Records see in this band is lost on me and there is no appeal in a biog that boasts "a recent gig at Bath Moles saw'em so drunk they forgot half the songs, and played the rest so loud they were unrecognisable!" - sorry I missed that one then.