Delta 5

The greatest thing about revivals in music isn’t so much finding the new music, but (re)discovering the old music through the impending reissues. Thankfully Kill Rock Stars realised the importance of a band like Delta 5 (much like they did in recent years with Kleenex/LiLiPUT and Essential Logic) — one of England’s leading female-fronted acts from the late ’70s post-punk scene. From Leeds and featuring as many members as hinted in their name, just like peers Gang of Four, Delta 5 only went on to record a handful of singles and one album, the long-since-deleted See the Whirl. Though technically assembled as a bits’n’bobs compilation, Singles & Sessions 1979-81 actually plays like a proper album, for the most part. Featuring the a-sides and b-sides for singles "Mind Your Own Business,” "Anticipation” and "Try,” the second half, as the title reveals, is a series of BBC radio sessions that are of no lesser quality. John Peel’s recording of a spring-tight performance like "Triangle” gives evidence of why so many artists valued the prestigious Peel "session.” Although the last three cuts, taken from a California gig, interrupt the flow of the preceding cuts, this is still a valuable collection by a band who unfortunately weren’t around long enough to give us more. Let’s hope someone can give the same respectful treatment to the self-titled Raincoats album that’s been itching for a reissue.