HOMEGROWN SYNDROME Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Athens of the North label is a blessing for those whose tastes in soul, funk, disco and boogie tend towards the obscure and ludicrously hard-to-find. Their latest re-issue fits into both categories. Seemingly the only single they ever released, "Confrontation" came out in 1981 on Arista but copies have since proved incredibly hard to find; so hard, in fact, that original 7" singles now change hands online for nearly L300. The title track, produced by A Taste of Honey's Perry Kibble, is brilliant, though, delivering a soulful, heartfelt disco-funk jam full of smooth backing vocals, bubbling clavinet lines and deliciously righteous horns.