BOURBONESE QUALK - HOPE @ 40

 

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this month is the sophomore LP from Bourbese Qualk, Hope, which was released in September of 1984. Bourbonese Qualk began in Southport (UK) in 1979 when Simon Crab and his brother Ted began working together to create experimental music. By the recording of Hope, the band were a trio consisting of Simon Crab: Instruments and electronics, Julian Gilbert: Voice and electronics and Steven Tanza: Drums. Although they get lumped in as part of the second wave of the UK "industrial" scene, their style was diverse enough that the fit into that box was always misleading, though their style could come close to early Cabaret Voltaire in terms of their penchant for funky grooves combined with strange noises.

Like their punk counterpart, CRASS, they were highly politically active and, by the time of recording this album, had squatted a large abandoned building, The Ambulance Station, converting it into a studio and communal artist space. Working independently, they released their albums on their own label imprint, Recloose Organisation. Though Hope was their second vinyl LP, the group were also extremely active in the cassette tape exchange culture, where they released a number of cassette only titles. Hope saw the group expanding its musical palette to incorporate a wider variety of styles and instruments.

During the 1980s the group were quite visible as they were often contributors to numerous compilation releases of the time. That's where I first encountered them, on releases like The Elephant Table. They fell into neglect after their peak in the mid 1980s, though they continued to release albums sporadically up to 2003, mostly with Simon Crab as the principal contributor. I'd nearly forgotten about the group through the 1990s and early 2000s, but found myself rediscovering them at the beginning of the new millennium. Their entire catalogue was initially archived on their website and available for free for many years, but a reissue campaign in recent years has helped revive interest in the band as their albums can now be purchased via Bandcamp.