Razorcuts "A Is For Alphabet"

I'm going to admit something rather silly, but in the interest of honesty, it must be done. After having heard the Razorcuts' wonderful anthology, R Is For Razorcuts, I've been tempting to start a petition drive towards Messers Gregory Webster and Jimmy Tassos. I'm thinking of calling it the "Release the Razorcuts NOW!" movement.

There's not all that much left to release, and considering the things that have seen reissue over the past few years, there really seems to be no excuse for the remaining songs to go out of print. So, if you write for Tangents, Pennyblack, Dagger, In Love With These Times, or are Everett True, please keep an eye out for a mass email, a legit mass email petition from me, because these songs NEED to see the light of day.

A Is For Alphabet is a really great start, as it's a most wonderful--albeit brief--taste of sugary pop, and it really proves my case. Matinee were clever to make this a CD-single from R Is For Razorcuts. "A Is for Alphabet" is a wonderful song, and the other four songs are also worth their weight in pop gold. "First Day" is the final song from their Flying Nun 12" EP. It is a shame that it was left off the anthology; it is one of the best tracks that the Razorcuts had to offer, jangly in that wonderful Razorcuts way. The wonderful "Snowbound"--an album cut--also serves as evidence that their albums had plenty of magic. The last two tracks, while demos from the mid-1980s, were released in 1991, on a super-rare single."Sometimes I Worry About You" and "For Always" both predate the Stone Roses by a few years, and it's scary to think that, had things been different, Matinee might be releasing the new bands by Ian Brown and John Squire.

Okay, maybe I'm being a little impatient. Maybe a more thorough visit through the Razorcuts' back pages will take place soon, or at least I'd like to think so. This little single proves that there's more in the vaults in terms of this great little band, and if you've wanted to check them out but don't want to commit to a full-length, you really cannot go wrong with this release. This is essential for you if you loved the retrospective, and wonderful for everyone else.

--Joseph Kyle