One day 30 years ago my elder brother bade me listen to Road to Domestos, the opening track to an album called 101 Damnations by a newish electro-punk two piece called (ahem, stands up to mention their name) Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine aka Carter USM aka The Greatest Kick Ass Rock and Roll Band of All Time™️, something resonated. Stuck. Remained. The music of JimBob and FruitBat became the soundtrack to my life. It was on in the fucked up years, on in the cave, on in the wars, on in the ups, on louder in the downs. // I remember pulling over in to a layby on 22 Nov 2014 and listening to Steve Lamacq compere their last ever live gig from Brixton. I felt his genuine sorrow that something unique in music died that day. // Then, behold, thirty years after 101 Damnations comes The Good, The Bad, The Average and Unique. All is well. They remain unique. The demo version of ‘A Perfect Day To Drop The Bomb’ is sublime. The demos of ‘Everytime A Churchbell Rings’ and ‘A Sheltered Life’ are better than the album versions. Fact. // The fuckupedness of the world desperately needs lancing by the lyrics of Carter. This is a wonderful collection of old stuff, i live in hope that before long the blindingly white lights will flicker on on a stage somewhere and ‘when you’re younger you can eat what you like, drink what you like and still climb in to your 26 inch waist trousers and zip them closed … then all of sudden you reach that age .. 24 … 25 your muscles give up, they wave a little white flag and without any warning at all you’re suddenly a fat bastard’ blares out, heralding their return. But until then … thank you Jim Bob and Fruit Bat x