Space Flower

Limited edition of 750 numbered copies on purple coloured 180-gram audiophile vinyl. The Wild Swans are a post-punk band from Liverpool, England, formed by Paul Simpson in 1980 shortly after he left the Teardrop Explodes. Members of the Wild Swans have also been members of Echo & the Bunnymen, the Icicle Works, the Woodentops, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Lightning Seeds. Their second album Space Flower is a fun, infectious, colorful album that came at a time when college rock was becoming increasingly dour and bland, replacing the earnestness of their previous Bringing Home the Ashes album with unabashed, playful psychedelia. The cover depicts a big, sticky ball of pastel-coloured candy - a perfect reflection of what's inside. "Melting Blue Delicious", a groovy piece of bubblegum pop, was the first single. The album ends with the 10-minute trancelike space-out, "Sea of Tranquillity". The record was poduced by Ian Broudie (a veteran of the Liverpool scene) He had played in the post-punk band Big in Japan with Bill Drummond (future Bunnymen manager and KLF member), Budgie (future Siouxsie & the Banshees drummer) and Holly Johnson (future Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer) and went on to produce some of the first Bunnymen tracks. Space Flower is a guitar-pop album at heart and still sounds pretty fresh 36 years after it's original release.