Near Marineland

Near Marineland is in some ways typical of early-80s synth punk: obscure – this album even sat unreleased until 2009 – but brimming with ideas that echoed out in industrial, techno and electroclash music in successive decades. The inspired amateurism of the band’s dual male-female vocalists sits on harsh, icy instrumental textures and firmly within the synth punk style. But the best tracks (like “It Costs To Be Austere” and “No More Hollow Doors”) prove that Cash Course in Science was far from typical, and frequently extraordinary.