Battered

They were responsible for the most curious noise were Stump; so many notes, slithering, tumbling, writhing in an aural soup all visceral and sloppy.
Whammy guitar notes conceived at the elbow; the rhythmic flick generating the pulse of bodhrán; synergistic bass notes risen from the flurry of fingers (meanwhile, Mick Lynch is desperate not to sound too much like Julian Cope, but the band help pull it off - Stump produced music way beyond the normal parameters of 'Progressive').

I've said what I know of Stump in my previous Quirk Out & Chaos post; mentioning that they were one of my favourite live bands of the time; that they were just as tight live as any of their studio products and that their career ended rather sadly due to record company pressure and the fact that they weren't prepared to turn into The Cure or something similar.

A Fierce Pancake was the band's only LP release, and it wasn't long after its release that Stump finished, turning up as separate halves on the 1989 Ed Barton tribute album Edward Not Edward.

It was all great fun while it lasted, and this album timelessly and effortlessly evokes the period.
A Fierce Pancake was a real devil to mix apparently - one can imagine - but the end result was well worth the struggle.
It's a shame a few more weren't sold.
But I for one am ever so pleased Stump stuck to their artistic principles; personally I think they were bloody genius.

Stump - A Fierce Pancake (1988)

Living it Down
In the Green
Roll the Bodies Over
Bone
Eager Bereaver
Chaos
Alcohol
Charlton Heston
Heartache
Doctor (A Visit to the)
Boggy Home

Excellent rip from cassette @320kbs
Get Fierce here