Cut Me Deep - A Story of Indie Pop 1985-1989

During the latter half of the 80s a new breed of guitar-orientated bands began to emerge in the UK - armed with an overt pop song craft sensibility, and enamoured with a conflicting post-punk spirit and adoration of the 60s, many of these unlikely acts – all anoraks, Dr Martens and charity shop chic – would go on to become Top 40 regulars and set the tone for music beyond these shores, culminating in The Stone Roses, an album that defined a generation.

Cut Me Deep – named for a Jasmine Minks track which captured that spirit – presents a snapshot of that time and place, via essential independent labels such as Creation, Sarah Records, and 4AD, and their major backed counterparts in Blanco Y Negro et al, alongside distribution via Rough Trade and other like-minded outlets. With an electric guitar in hand (no Stratocasters here please), and resplendent in clothes as immaculately and cheaply curated as their record collections, a new generation of British musicians kickstarted what would become the only credible challenge to the increasingly dominant synthesizer pop scene of the late 1980s.

Indeed, the entire movement might be understood as a reaction against that, and a return to the aesthetics of The Byrds and the universally adored Velvet Underground. A must for the curious, and an essential addition for any collectors of our previous titles documenting the ‘80s British guitar pop scene, Cut Me Deep chimes with familiar favorites, long lost curios, major hits and minor also-rans, all of which share a pop-minded commonality.

DISC ONE

1. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - "Lost Weekend"
2. Hurrah! - "This Boy"
3. Grab Grab The Haddock - "Wan But Smiling"
... (and so on for the rest of the tracklist)

DISC FOUR

1. The Jasmine Minks - "Cut Me Deep"
2. The Darling Buds - "It's All Up To You"
3. Ambassador 277 - "The Pop Up Man"
... (and so on for the rest of the tracklist)