Playground were a cult Post-Punk band from Herne Bay in Kent, formed in 1986. Their sound was an uncompromising and hypnotic mix of pounding rhythms, abrasive guitar noise and shouted vocals; the only comparisons I can think of at the moment are early Amebix and Swans, though no doubt you'll draw your own better ones.The band existed in 2 distinct phases: In 1989, three of the founder members left to form Splintered, who built upon the Playground template and took it into more cerebral, psychedelic realms of horror. Andy P carried on with the Playground name (sometimes referred to as Playground Mk II), recruiting bassist Patrick Murphy (later of intense Goth/Punks Jesus Fix) alongside a drum machine to create a more Industrial sound reminiscent of Ministry.
Info (Kent Band Archive)
Sorry, the links were removed from my MediaFire account.
"Seeking The Truth" 7" (1988)
01. Seeking The Truth
02. Final
03. Violence For Violence Sake
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"Sleeping Dogs" MLP (1988)
01. Knife Called Virtue
02. Put In Place
03. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
04. Position
05. Violence
06. No Sympathy
note: the scans for this one came from another version I found on Cactus Mouth Informer, though the music is my own rip.
(link removed)
"Conception Pay Off" 7" (1989)
01. Conception Pay Off
02. Scraped
(link removed)
"Resilience" CD (1991)
01. Hide
02. Inbreds
03. Two
04. A Total Lack Of Sympathy
05. Propriety
06. Victoriapolis
07. Insignificance
08. Deveneration
09. Hateball
10. Calling The Animals
11. Santa Dog
12. Perfect Love
13. Form And Function
14. Sure
This may still be available from Dirter Promotions, though I got my copy on eBay for 29p...
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5 comments:
Thanks Balbulus. Only have the 1st 7" so it's nice to hear the other stuff as well.
Good to hear Playground MkI again after all these years. I remember seeing them on several occasions in Canterbury with the likes of Naked Raygun & Fugazi. A good stepping stone for what was to come with Splintered. Not so into MkII but interesting to hear.
I wish I had been around to see them, they were a few years before my time. Whilst I agree that the MkI version was probably superior, I have a certain loyalty to the MkII lineup, as the bassist is a good friend of mine!
Out of interest, who are you, Mr Anonymous? Are you still in the Kent area?
That would be Mrs Anonymous, or Rachel to my friends. Would that be Patrick from Epidemic on bass in MkII? We had mutual friends. From what I remember it was the drum machine that spoilt MkII for me.
That was a good time for bands in Kent & there were a lot of gigs in the Canterbury/ Whitstable/ Herne Bay area. Other bands of interest were Atavistic, Swift & Obliteration.
I'm slowly making my way through your blog. It's good reading, many thanks.
Apologies for the assumption, Rachel! Yes, it was indeed Pat on bass (ex-Epidemic, now in Jesus Fix).
I does seem to have been a great time for Kent music; I run The Kent Band Archive website, and have discovered some great music from that time, including the bands you mentioned. I have got the Atavistic stuff on my blog, but I think the links need updating.
Take it easy, cheers for the comments!
John
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