Before The Blanche Hudson Weekend, before The Manhattan Love Suicides - there was Pop Threat. Featuring Caroline and Darren from those aforementioned bands on vocals and guitar respectively, along with Juliet (bass) Mick (drums) and, for a brief amount of time in the early days, Rob (guitar). Pop Threat only lasted 4 years, and in that time only recorded a relatively small amount of material (the majority of which is gathered here) released a handful of singles and one album (which came out after the band split in February 2003) and played sporadic gigs all over the UK before eventually imploding on stage at The Moles Club in Bath (ask anyone who was there that night and they'll tell you it was a perfect rock n' roll mess of feedback, tensions, frustrations and general drunken behaviour) But for anyone who paid attention to this band while they existed, they will testify that Pop Threat were one of the loudest, most ramshackle brilliant live bands operating in a music world (mostly) full of blandness.

Heavily influenced by bands such as The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Raincoats, Swell Maps, Sonic Youth, The Fire Engines and The Velvet Underground, Pop Threat combined a love of pop melody with experimental elements and more often than not, just pure balls to the wall noise assaults.

Their first appearance on vinyl was a relatively straightforward affair - the track Falling Spike (taken straight from their first demo CD) on Fierce Panda's Otter Than July EP, but then they unleashed their proper debut EP on Mook Records which kicked off with Amarantal Meltdown - 6 minutes of absolute mayhem. Guitars clash against one another (literally) strings are stretched and broken, amplifiers are kicked around, ears are well and truly damaged. Nobody played it on the radio. Eventually, Pop Threat settled into becoming a more straightforward pop band, but always with the volume cranked up to 12, that experimental side never far from the surface, tensions between band members running high, all the while maintaining a truly militant attitude in all that they did as well as a general disliking for most of their peers. Caroline often performed with her back to the audience, or simply walked off stage and could be seen getting drinks from the bar during the bits of the songs she didn't sing on, sets lasted no more than 25 minutes, and there was no addressing the audience or indulging in conversation. They made a few friends along the way though - most notably The Cribs who were big fans of the band and even produced 2 of the tracks on this collection, the raw as hell Cheap And Vulgar (recorded in one take live in the studio with the needles absolutely buried in the red all the way through) and the sublime 1 minute 20 seconds of Hit It ! which is pure pop sonic fury captured on reel to reel tape.

So here it is, almost the full collection of Pop Threat recordings, all in one place for the first time ever. Turn up the volume, stick your head in the speakers and enjoy going deaf.

ALL OVERSEAS [NON-UK] ORDERS

Pop Threat split up quite a long time ago. They barely made it into 2003 before deciding to end the band, following a shambolic gig at The Moles Club in Bath. They left behind a small discography of just four 7" singles, one EP, a couple of compilation appearances, and the full length album, Scum.

Scum was originally released just after the band... [more]

UK ONLY ORDERS

Pop Threat split up quite a long time ago. They barely made it into 2003 before deciding to end the band, following a shambolic gig at The Moles Club in Bath. They left behind a small discography of just four 7" singles, one EP, a couple of compilation appearances, and the full length album, Scum.

Scum was originally released just after the band split, on Mook... [more]

ALL OVERSEAS [NON-UK] ORDERS

So, this is it, folks... we're getting very near the end. This year, Squirrel Records will close its doors after 45 releases in total. Why 45 ? Well, we like that number, as it's the playing speed of a 7" single. We always said that 33 isn't enough, and 78 is too many. Anyway, Squirrel Records, throughout the years of its existence, has epitomised the true... [more]

UK ONLY ORDERS

So, this is it, folks... we're getting very near the end. This year, Squirrel Records will close its doors after 45 releases in total. Why 45 ? Well, we like that number, as it's the playing speed of a 7" single. We always said that 33 isn't enough, and 78 is too many. Anyway, Squirrel Records, throughout the years of its existence, has epitomised the true spirit of... [more]

13 releases in and we decided it was time to go down to the Squirrel Records vaults and drag up some classics. So, here we go - 27 tracks of punk pop and generally fuzzy n' scuzzy stuff - some previously released (and now deleted) many SPANKING BRAND NEW!!! We got...

• The original versions of The Cribs "Baby Don't Sweat" and "You And I".
• Exclusive track from The... [more]

Featuring "Crime Time" and "Tell Me Something" by The Real Losers - raw, scuzzy, fuzzy, messy, kick ass garage punk rock n' roll teen fun at maximum volume. OH YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On the flip side - "No Way Out" and "Cheap and Vulgar" by Pop Threat. One track sounds like a Blondie demo, the other is just NOIZE ! capturing the band in one take, full volume, no frills mode ........ and lots... [more]

Oh, this was a good one. Fuzzed up early Mary Chain pounding A side, New Wave-y B side (before new wave came back in vogue ...disgruntled music fad ed) and a third track that had a Lou Reed feel about it. Y'what ? Tell ya more ? Naaah, no point, really. IT'S SOLD OUT !! No sense in moaning about it. If you aint got a copy... TOUGH SHIT ! Try ebay, late comers ! Next ...

Featuring "Dark Black" by Pop Threat - Moody and quite beautiful. Think Chelsea Girl era Nico meets Mazzy Star. On the flip side - "I Fall Down" by The Silver Rockets. Early My Bloody Valentine crossed with Spacemen 3 and featuring guest vocal by Pop Threat singer Caroline. This is The Silver Rockets one and only recording...... so there !

When the great splatter movie director Herschell Gordon Lewis described his debut gore fest, "Blood Feast", he said "It's no good, but it's the first." The same can be applied here, we think. Catchy enough indie pop with a sinister edge and female vocals. VERY limited number remaining. BUY IT .... 'cos it's SUPER RARE and only available from US !