Cleaners from Venus Offshoot Brotherhood of Lizards Honoured with Captured Tracks Comp

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Jun 20, 2016

Following a string of reissues celebrating English post-punks Cleaners from Venus, Captured Tracks has now announced it will be putting some much-needed attention on another one of Martin Newell's projects: the Brotherhood of Lizards. An all-out compendium titled Lizardland: The Complete Works comes out August 19.

A press release explains that the Brotherhood of Lizards was a short-lived project between Newell and Peter Nice (a.k.a. Nelson). The pair had made a self-titled, self-released cassette in 1988 and would follow it up with their 12-song Lizardland LP for Deltic Records in 1989. Both releases, as well as a song called "Carmosine" that first appeared on a split 7-inch with Captain Sensible, are included on this forthcoming compilation.

Like Newell's Cleaners from Venus, the Brotherhood of Lizards trafficked in lo-fi sounds, with influences and touchstones including XTC, the Beatles, the Kinks and more.

Beyond their musical legacy, the duo gained media attention near the end of the '80s as "the First Eco Rock Band." In October 1989, Nelson and Newell took off on a 600-mile busking tour of Southern England by bicycle. Their instruments were strapped across their backs while their amplifiers were mounted to the fronts of their rides.

Despite the buzz, the band imploded in 1990 when Nelson was drafted into Bradford, England post-punk project New Model Army to play bass. It was a position he'd hold for over 20 years.

You can sample Lizardland track "The World Strikes One" down below, where you'll also find the tracklisting info for The Complete Works, which will arrive on LP, CD and digitally.

Lizardland: The Complete Works:

1. It Could Have Been Cheryl
2. The World Strikes One
3. The Dandelion Marine
4. Rusty Iron Sun
5. The Happening Guy
6. Clockwork Train
7. The Day After Yesterday
8. Market Day
9. Dear Anya
10. Love The Anglian Way
11. Sand Dragon
12. She Dreamed She Could Fly
13. On Planets Where I Was Young
14. Carmosine
15. In Fireglow
16. April Moon
17. Hey Hey Hey We're The...
18. Tinny Rain
19. The Radiant Boy
20. Bruvverhood
21. Duck House

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