Bang Bang Machine - A Charmed Life (1996)

Following the release and critical acclaim of their first two EP's, and one further single in 'Technologica', Bang Bang Machine released their debut album 'Eternal Happiness' in 1994, which included just one song from each of the EP's alongside a number of new recordings. More singles followed in 1995, and a second album 'Amphibian' was issued later that year, but soon afterwards the band split, leaving a small, but always intriguing body of work. The 'Geek' EP had attracted the attention of John Peel, who offered them a session in 1992, where they recorded two tracks from their records alongside two new songs. In 1993 they appeared on the Channel 4 programme 'The Word' performing 'Technologica', and they were also featured in the 'Volume' magazine/CD series, contributing a cover of T. Rex's 'Life's A Gas', which later turned up as a b-side to their 'Give You Anything' single. They made the unusual choice of having different songs on the b-sides of some of their 7" singles, meaning that songs such as 'I Smile' and '(You're No) Good To Yourself' only appear on vinyl and not any of their CDs. For this second post from the band I've collected the 1992 John Peel session, the otherwise unreleased title track from that first album, a couple of those 7" b-sides, and an extended take of their first album cover of Psychic TV's 'Godstar', for a companion album to 'Geek Love' which completes the discography for this short-lived but under-rated band. 

Track listing 

01 Justine (John Peel session 1992)
02 Monkey (John Peel session 1992)
03 A Charmed Life (John Peel session 1992)
04 Say It Again Joe (John Peel session 1992)
05 Eternal Happiness (previously unreleased 1994)
06 Life's A Gas (b-side of 'Give You Anything' 7" 1994)
07 (You're No) Good To Yourself (b-side of 'Love It Bleeds' 7" 1995)
08 Godstar (b-side of 'Show Me Your Pain' CD 1995)
09 I Smile (b-side of 'Show Me Your Pain' 7" 1996)