It seemed for a while in the wake

of Pistols/Clash hysteria that post-punk Blighty might just change the

face of popular culture. And no small thanks to some females who

didn't care to be written off: The Slits, Kleenex and most enduringly,

the Raincoats. Their brief career included a few LPs on Rough Trade,

but the band fell pray to inner turmoil by the turn of the decade. That

was way before their biggest fan, a semi-famous guy named Kurt

Cobain began singing their story to every journalist in the land. Soon

enough Steve Shelley was behind the drums in a revamped version of

the band. With this new lineup, Extended Play came to be, a preface to

their triumphant 1994 reunion album on the DGC label. Somehow, the

Raincoats' old records have gotten better since they were made.

Invited to open for Nirvana on their 1994 tour, the decade-gone

Raincoats reformed, with original members Gina Birch (bass/vocals)

and Ana da Silva (guitar/vocals) joined by new violinist Anne Wood and

guest drummer Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth. Cobain's suicide ended

those plans, but the band went on a triumphant American tour anyway.

A John Peel session from April 1994 (two new songs, "No One's Little

Girl" from Moving and "Shouting Out Loud" from Odyshape) was

released on Shelley's label as Extended Play. The noisy avantcontinental "Don't Be Mean" (unveiled on the EP) take slipperier turns

through the band's past. Douglas Wolk/Ira Robbins.

TRACKLISTING: 01. DON'T BE MEAN 02. WE SMILE 03. NO ONE'S LITTLE GIRL

04. SHOUTING OUT LOUD