The Sinister Cleaners were as indie as they came, opting to split up rather than sign to a major label. And so, after a few singles, championed by John Peel, the Leeds lots first album has been left unreleased and unfinished for 20 years. Until now that is. During the in-between years, they’ve kept themselves busy musically, most notably Simon and Len with The Wedding Present, before finding each other on the internet to complete the final four songs.
But it is the 16 (more than enough for an LP anyway) that they recorded in the 80s that really captures what the band is about, mixing Bob Dylan style folk-rock with a Northern England punk attitude. The latter probably comes from their working class upbringing and the anti-Thatcher stance that goes with it that is found all over the record. Monkey And The Typewriter is a prime example of this, echoing the grim story of Kes with it’s chorus – “Don’t expect me to pick a career, cos you won’t get me in a hundred years”.
It is a very typical Northern English indie record that recalls Teardrops Explodes, The Smiths and The Wedding Present, yet like all of them, still has its own identity.
Highlights come in the form of Crazies #1, a song about all that is wrong with the country (and still relevant today) which sounds like a cross between Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ and REM’s ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’, while Life With The Sexes shows musically, a softer side to the band but it’s is a solid record throughout.
//Kirk Burton