FLY ON THE WALL “DEVON DUMB” 3-SONG 7″EP (BARNSTABLE, DEVON, U.K.- NEXT WAVE, 1979)
The artwork on the front of the sleeve is pretty Spartan but has a nice homemade,
amateur feel to it which is always charming. The sleeve appears to be rather thin
paper that easily rumples. What’s nice is the numbering on the back that they did
with a stamp- bet that took some time! I have never hand-numbered a sleeve but I
wonder if just using a marker is quicker than using the rubber stamp for which you
have to change the numbers each time you stamp a new copy. What we also see on the
back of the sleeve is that this was recorded in October of ’79 so the record probably
did not hit shops until early 1980.
Here is some GREAT, very catchy DIY-tinged punk from the land of the best DIY-ish sounds: the U.K., the United Kingdom, England, Britain- here in the U.S. you will hear people use all these different country names which probably annoys the shit out of people in the U.K. For me calling this Fly On The Wall EP “DIY punk” in that word order is important since, for my ears, switching the order around and calling something “punk-y DIY” relates to different sounds with different nuances.
Whatever the hell I obsess over calling it, all three songs on this EP are winners which is always refreshing in this world full of records that have one good song and then a bunch of clunkers. The guitar player, Bunker Brazier (great name!), fucking NAILED the guitar sound on this record and it is, to use a cliché, “to die for”. Did he mean it to sound this way, or was it one of those good old happy accidents? I could listen to him strumming away all day to something random like the national anthem or whatever and still not get tired of it.
The band in general plays at a mid-tempo pace which was the perfect idea- I think that if they played faster this EP would just not be as charming and memorable. What also adds to the charm for me is the singer, Tug, who sounds like he’s about 14 and his voice hasn’t quite finished deepening yet. Also great is the cheap-o production which makes the drums sound kinda distant and echo-y, almost hypnotic especially on the first track, “In The News Today”. Speaking of hypnotism, my favorite track on the EP- “Educated”- is a dreamy track that grabs me from the first few seconds and doesn’t let go. You can’t help but not sing along to the chorus: “I don’t want to be educated; I don’t want to be a teacher’s pet”. These guys musta been in high school ‘cuz only teenagers would craft anti-school lyrics like that, eh, and not someone in their 20’s who would be far removed from the angst of being a schoolboy. The last track, “Lucky Ones”, speeds things up a bit and again has that great guitar noise front and center throughout. Dig that guitar solo too! Gotta laugh too when an acoustic guitar comes out of nowhere at the end. You crazy kids! Stop that clowin’ around!
/files/98398-90993/02_Educated.mp3″>Educated.mp3
Back To Front #6 LP that came out back in the Summer of ’95. “Lucky Ones” was on a comp in late 1997 called Raw and Rare British Punk, Volume 2 the name of which was misleading because there were no raw, frothing, over-the-top sounds on it. The “rare” part was definitely correct, though. But, as I have found out too many times over the years, “rare” does not always equal “memorable sounding”.
For the past 14 years I’ve always been curious to hear the uncomped track and finally did this summer and was not let down. That many years of waiting to hear “the missing track” leads to much speculation like “Why was it not comped? Does it sound like crap?”. But then on the other hand I’d think that if the other two songs are good, then maybe the third one is too and I go back and forth between the two positions. I finally ended my internal struggle and was convinced it was going to be a clunker until I got the chance to hear it this Summer and was pleasantly surprised thanks to the generosity of Mr. Girls From Tahiti. Thanks again!
One more thing- the label that released this EP, Next Wave, had in late 1981 as their second release (NXT 2) the infamous Cult Maniax Frenzie 4-song EP which was dramatically “banned” by the Bristol High Court thus making it rather rare- read more about it and the band here. The Cult Maniax’s manager at the time was Bunker Brazier, Fly On The Wall’s former guitarist and Next Wave label person.
this made an old man laugh, not heard this for 32yrs when i was bass guitarist on this ep ( fly on the wall ) shame but i didn’t keep any copys just lived in the moment back then! don’t know if its nostalgia but it sounds better now than i thought back then.after finding it on your site i thought i would embarrass my 12yr daughter in front of her friends by playing it, but to my surprise they all thought it was “awesome”. thank god the X factor hasn’t closed all the kids minds. the guitar sound was worked out and played through an old hundred amp valve marshal amp (bought on hire purchase, and im sure we still owe the final payment after 30+ yrs!) we were trying out different settings to achieve that sound. thanks for your site and all the time and research you put into it. now as i have found it i enjoy listening to your choices and reading your features.
My dad was the lead singer of this band (tug). They were 16 at the time. Amazing to find it online at last with mp3s too!
Totally amazing to find this !I am married to the lead singer of this band ! Tug was actually 16 years old when they made this EP. We still have copies in the loft !!!!!
Just to let you know that the lead singer Tug is my step father. Oh, and we have a few original copies knocking about
Those were fun days when i loved local live music and was lucky to have a two of these band members as friends. After a practice session above the indian restaurant (now demolished!) i got my copy of the ep signed, not easy from this lot ! and yes it’s in the loft !
hi mate lynton from fly on the wall,
yes it will be fine for me to answer any questions you may have, just let me know when and how you want to do it
had a great time with these guys lynton,bunker and tuggy meeting up at bunkers house playing the jump in the box and tell a joke game awesome days
Thanks for leaving a comment! Always great to hear from someone who was there “back in the day”.