New Fast Automatic Daffodils - Music Is Shit (1991)

The New Fast Automatic Daffodils (or The New FADS as they were later known) was formed in 1988 by former members of the punk rock group Pariah, Dolan Hewison, Justin Crawford, Perry Saunders and Icarus Wilson-Wright. The name comes from a poem by Adrian Henri that mixed an advertisement for a yellow Dutch car with a Wordsworth poem, and although they were often associated with the 'Madchester' scene of the late 1980s, they were never really part of that scene as their music was more angular post-punk than indie-dance. The band's debut single 'Lions' was released in 1989 on Playtime records (then home to Inspiral Carpets), followed the same year by the 'Music Is Shit EP', and in 1990 they signed to Play It Again Sam Records for the 'Fishes Eyes' single and their debut album 'Pigeonhole'. Further singles followed in 1991 and 1992, and their second album 'Body Exit Mind' came out in October 1992, reaching No. 57 in the UK chart. In 1994 the band shortened their name to New FADS and released two more EPs and a final album, before splitting up in 1995. This album is made up of songs from those early 12" EPs, plus a rare contribution to a 1990 Various Artists compilation, and arguably contains some of their best work (I'd forgotten how good 'Lions' is).

Track listing

01 Lions (single 1989)

02 Fate Don't Fail Me Now (b-side of 'Lions')

03 Your Dreams My Nightmares (b-side of 'Lions')

04 Beam Me Up (from the 'Music Is Shit' EP 1989)

05 A Man Without Qualities (from the 'Music Is Shit' EP 1989)

06 Music Is Shit - Parts 1-3 (from the 'Music Is Shit' EP 1989)

07 Jaggerbog (from the Various Artists compilation 'Home' 1990)

08 Big (Baka) (b-side of 'Big' 1990)

09 Fishes Eyes (Underwater) (b-side of 'Fishes Eyes' 1990)

10 White (b-side of 'Fishes Eyes' 1990)

11 Pigeonhole (b-side of 'Get Better' 1991)

12 I Found Myself In Another Room (b-side of 'Get Better' 1991)