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Human Baby

Here's another relic of the period, in the middle of the last decade, when I sometimes bought singles inspired by things I'd heard on the radio. This one came out on the Ra-Ra Rok label in 2016: 'Human Baby' by Phobophobes. It's a clear vinyl 7". This is a band that emerged from the same South London milieu that spat out the likes of Goat Girl and Fat White Family.

It's slightly unusual in having two tracks on the A-side: 'Human Baby' itself, a satisfyingly shambling number with some clever lyrics & a strong chorus; and 'The Ground is Friend to All', a poem by deceased former band member George Bedford Russell (who had succumbed to a heroin overdose). The latter is read, unaccompanied, by the novelist Will Self, its contents amply illustrating what a tragic loss Russell's death had been.

On the B-Side, 'Free the Naked Rambler' is a topical song about Steven Gough, then much in the news, whose determined insistence on public nudity while hiking had earned him numerous stints in prison.



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