SIMPLE REALITY

Description

Emerging from a first-generation punk scene and 2 Tone kids, Skeet was initiated by Gary and Nigel Meffen in 1981, merging string instruments with a Roland CR-8000 under the glow of projected visuals. After a cassette of their first performance reached Kay Booth, who was working at Inferno Records, the unsuspecting singer took the liberty of adding her own voice. Immediately adopted as a permanent member, Booth's shy performance and her open journal expressions of social alienation and romantic rejection hovered over the brothers' gritty guitar and restless bass. Playing only 10 concerts, their disturbing minimalism was recorded in a suburban home studio, borrowing a reel-to-reel from Toby Lyons (The Colourfield) and a mixing desk from Jerry Dammers (The Specials). Record labels showed interest until the day the band ceased to exist - no disputes, no official breakup, just a quiet separation and three people going in different directions. Unreleased and unloved in the vaults for nearly four decades, "Brief Call" finally resurfaced via the collection Alternative Sounds Volume 1 from the Coventry Music Museum, followed by a micro pressing of the complete follow-up on Chris Long's Almost Unknown label in 2023.