The ritual embrace of strobe lights, strawberry jelly and magic paisley pills amongst London's self-styled New Psychedelic crowd may well have provided some laughs for Manchester's Blue Orchids. During the last twelve months they've been playing regularly throughout the country producing a crushed. wavering style of post-punk neurodelia which owes plenty to the past. but sounds strong and relevent to the present. Here is their debut album at last more in the spirit of the Velvets (in fact they've been backing group to Nico for many of her recent shows) than dafties like the Floyd. Blue Orchids' sound is built on bleary mid tempo rythms, using discordant guitars and a deathly keyboard sound which threads a sinister course amidst most of the songs. Songs called 'A Year With No Head',and 'Mad As The Mist And Snow' may suggest tedious ramblings from the pharmaceutically inclined. but I gauge the predominant mood to be a deadpan kind of irony. 'Bad Education' for example is a right old hoot at liberal dampness, and 'Sun Connection' is at least part a self-mocking satire on aquisitive tendencies... well I think so. Its not remarkable enough to be essential, but The Greatest Hit is an intriguing and often pretty evocative album, nicely pitched to please the wasted frame o mind.

Dave Hill

CITY LIMITS MAY 21-27 1982