Colossal Youth


Colossal Youth is the only studio album by Welsh post-punk band Young Marble Giants, released in February 1980 on Rough Trade Records. Young Marble Giants were offered the opportunity to record the album after Rough Trade heard just two songs by the band on the local Cardiff music compilation Is the War Over?
The band emerged from the remains of a former band "True Wheel." Singer Alison Statton, Philip Moxam and his brother Stuart to form the band in 1979, when they were all barely in their twenties. Quickly snapped up by the prestigious Rough Trade label, the band recorded their debut album over the course of five days in a tiny studio in North Wales.

Recording

Colossal Youth was recorded in five days at Foel Studios, located near Welshpool in North Wales. The group had no prior knowledge of formal music production and as a result the production on Colossal Youth was kept deliberately simple, with the band utilizing many of their first takes on the record and minimal overdubbing. The only two overdubs on the record are a slide guitar on "Include Me Out" and distorted vocals on "Eating Noddemix".

Influence

According to critic Richie Unterberger, Colossal Youth is "one of the most highly regarded indie cult post-punk recordings, with a unique hushed and minimal atmosphere." Nirvana singer-songwriter Kurt Cobain said in a 1992 Melody Maker interview that Colossal Youth was one of the five most influential records he had ever heard, and he also included the album in a list of his top 50 albums in a 1993 journal. Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, would later record "Credit in the Straight World" with her band Hole in their second album, Live Through This, released in 1994.
In May 2009, the album was performed live in its entirety by the group as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series.

Track listing

All songs written by Stuart Moxham, except where noted.
  1. "Searching for Mr. Right" – 3:03
  2. "Include Me Out" – 2:01
  3. "The Taxi" – 2:07
  4. "Eating Noddemix" – 2:04
  5. "Constantly Changing" – 2:04
  6. "N.I.T.A." – 3:31
  7. "Colossal Youth" – 1:54
  8. "Music for Evenings" – 3:02
  9. "The Man Amplifier" – 3:15
  10. "Choci Loni" – 2:37
  11. "Wurlitzer Jukebox" – 2:45
  12. "Salad Days" – 2:01
  13. "Credit in the Straight World" – 2:29
  14. "Brand - New - Life" – 2:55
  15. "Wind in the Rigging" – 2:25
The re-release includes the following bonus tracks, taken from the Testcard EP, the "Final Day" single and a track from a various artists compilation:
  2. "This Way" – 1:41
  3. "Posed by Models" – 1:25
  4. "Clock" – 1:39
  5. "Clicktalk" – 2:42
  6. "Zebra Trucks" – 1:33
  7. "Sporting Life" – 1:04
  8. "Final Day" – 1:43
  9. "Radio Silents" – 1:53
  10. "Cake Walking" – 2:49
  11. "Ode to Booker T" – 3:03

    Personnel

Musicians