After amicably departing the Buzzcocks in 1978, Howard Devoto(nee Trafford) formed Magazine. Taking their cues from early Roxy Music and Bowie’s ‘Low”,the group added atmosphere and existential angst to the punk template.
Their second album opens with “Feed the Enemy’, stately sax and grandiose keys give way to Barry Adamsons’ flanged bass and the first of many killer riffs from John McGeoch(See Siouxsie & the Banshees ‘Juju’ and PiLs’ ‘Happy’ for further proof) The albums’ recurring themes are revealed here-isolation, despair,the distance between thought and action.“Rhythm of Cruelty” is a rollicking study of masochism.“The Thin Air” is a Floydian instrumental that, along with the albums’ gatefold sleeve, caused much consternation amongst the punks.“Back to Nature” shows the bands’ breathtaking grip of dynamics,and the necrophiliac classic “Permafrost” closes out the album with a wash of icy synths and gurgling guitars.