THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX

EN

As a part of the Play It Again Sam! (or PIAS for short) 40 years anniversary series, comes a release from a band that is still alive and kicking in 2023, The Cassandra Complex, although the band around singer Rodney Orpheus left its mark in the second half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s on the PIAS label. While Leeds was declared the gothic rock capital of the UK in the 80s, one Rodney Orpheus, actually an Irishman by birth, decided to combine that goth sound with electronics and thus create an electro wave, moving on to try an even more aggressive electro rock sound later.

Between 1987 and 1993 they delivered 7 albums, one every year, on the label and of course a number of singles. Some of them gave them name and fame. For example, the hit “One Millionth Happy Costumer” became a most requested track at many dark dance parties and even in 2023, you can sometimes still hear it blasting from the speakers. But The Cassandra Complex was of course more than that one, hypnotic and dragging song. Each album contained a hit or two and these songs are present here on this anniversary vinyl from the PIAS40 series.

I am talking about the electro rock of “War Against Sleep”, the wave rock or electro wave, if you like, the beautiful “Nightfall: Over EC” which you have probably already danced to at better alternative parties. The song became especially popular in the 1990s (it was originally included on the 1990 album “Cyberpunx”), as it was featured on many German compilation albums in those years.

The fact that The Cassandra Complex also had a more poppy side is illustrated with the barbed pop of “What Can I Do For You” and with “(In Search Of) a Penny Century” The Cassandra Complex proves that you can even play an electro wave ballad and still can be taken seriously. Believe me, it wasn't and isn't managed by many but The Cassandra Complex got away with it pretty well on the 1989 album “Satan, Bugs Bunny, And Me…”. Time to dig it up from my collection again!

The group was also never afraid of any surrealism. With “Give Me What I Need” from their last PIAS album “Sex And Death” (1993), the group was heavily influenced by the industrial and electro rock sound that was initiated by bands like NIN but also closer to home in those years was professed by acts such as Cat Rapes Dogs, KMFDM or Die Krupps. The Cassandra Complex should and could not stay behind.

With this collection of six very carefully chosen songs, even though “Moscow Idahow” is not there (while still a hit), PIAS once again presents a very enjoyable vinyl that you can make your own, for nostalgic reasons, but can also make new fans of a group who still regularly tour through alternative Europe. You don't even need a record player because you can also purchase everything from this series digitally in high quality via the PIAS website, although Dark Entries recommends the vinyl of course!

Kurt INGELS
11/11/2023

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NL

U kan de Nederlanstalige versie van deze review HIER nalezen bij onze collega's van Dark Entries Magazine!

Kurt INGELS
11/11/2023

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