B MOVIE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Mansfield new wave band B Movie unearth their long-lost 1982 album Hidden Treasures, more than forty years after they first recorded it for Phonogram, an imprint of Universal. The band were on the same management and signed to the same label as Soft Cell, but their career turned out to be a damp squib by comparison and they split up in the mid-eighties, without ever releasing this great album of synth pop for goths. Taking influences from the likes of Ultravox and The Human League, they cloak it in a more brooding atmosphere, reminiscent of The Chameleons and Joy Divsion - hitting all the right notes along the way, we think.

Review: Mansfield's B-Movie were among a clutch of bands in the early 80s whose members had abandoned their formative thrashy guitar punk influences, and embraced broader, arty, keyboard-laden electronic post-punk. They had a light and catchy, yet brooding Cure-esque hit titled 'Remembrance Day', which shot them up the ranks on the UK gig scene and landed them a record deal. Most of the material they recorded once they got signed was, however, confined to Universal's vaults until very recently because B-Movie had line-up issues that hindered their ability to release an album. Now out of the clutches of contractual obligations, the band have unearthed the album that never was and titled it - quite aptly - Hidden Treasures. Ultimately, they are one of the great 'lost' bands of the early 80s and upon tuning in you can hear that they had in abundance the individuality, style and excellence to have shot them up the charts and made them a household name, had this material been their debut album. Thankfully, they have righted the wrongs of history and they can hold their heads up high forever for having made such brilliant music in their first era.