Sorry State Records

 

Kleenex / Lilliput: First Songs 12"

Mississippi Records 

First Songs' combines all the pre-1982 recordings from this legendary Swiss art-punk band (in both incarnations) from the late '70s. All three Kleenex singles, the first two Liliput 7-inches and all the at the time unissued material, dating from before Liliput's debut-LP. All this material has been previously released by Kill Rock Stars and Mississippi Records.

Our take: A few years ago Mississippi put out a very reasonably-priced, comprehensive 4-LP box set of what I assume to be nearly all (or perhaps all?) extant recordings by Kleenex and LiLiPUT; this double-LP set pares that sprawling box set down to just the essentials, and while it may seem redundant (less so since the box set seems to be out of print and fetching collector's prices these days), I'd argue that this more concise collection is probably a better proposition for most Kleenex / LiLiPUT listeners. I never actually picked up one of the box sets myself, but I've found myself getting a surprising amount of mileage out of this set... it's pretty much been my soundtrack for most of December 2016. If you haven't heard Kleenex, you're really missing out... they just have such a cool vibe... they're overtly arty, but also have this kind of approachability about them as well, rather than something like the more detached art school aesthetic of Gang of Four or Wire. More to the point, they wrote simply incredible songs that combined the power of punk rock with the earworm quality of children's songs. Further, if you're looking at them in terms of historical importance, this is really ground zero for a whole feminist / feminine post-punk tradition, and whether or not it's an overt influence I feel like you can definitely hear Kleenex's legacy (combined, of course, with a ton of other influences) in a lot of modern bands, particularly recent London stuff like Good Throb and Frau. Kleenex can be a very politically charged band, and the mere fact that they were women playing in what a lot of people might call a simple or amateurish style can evoke an inappropriately hostile response from some people. If I had to psychoanalyze that reaction, I'd speculate that Kleenex's unapologetic way of presenting themselves implicitly calls into question a lot of the "right" ways that people--especially men--are taught to play and consume music. As a white dude in the year 2016 I'm probably not the best person to try to explain Kleenex's historical and cultural importance, but at the end of the day they are, at the very least, one of the best and most enduring post-punk bands ever, and if you have more than a passing interest in that style and/or era you would be doing yourself a disservice by not familiarizing yourself with their music.

About Sorry State:

• we ship every day! Most items ship within 24 hours
• most records we sell are on black vinyl, or at least the least limited version.
• all records are shipped well-packed in professional mail orders. Larger orders ($100+) are shipped double-boxed for added protection
• unless stated otherwise, all records are in new / unplayed condition. Note, however, that we often break the seal on records in order to take product photos. We also  sell many hand-assembled, DIY releases that do not come factory shrink-wrapped and may occasionally show fingerprints or other signs of light handling.
• items are not reserved for you until you complete payment through paypal; if you choose not to pay right away there is a small chance that a customer could buy your item in our retail store, in which case you will receive a full refund. This happens extremely rarely, though
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