01 January 2008

"synthicide" || ssq || 1983


I can't believe I've made it this far in this blog without writing about SSQ.

The word "brilliant" doesn't even begin to describe this band for me. I find myself in the position of trying to describe an entity that I find beyond any greatness that words could possibly describe. Their music is the soundtrack to my life. It was after my discovery of SSQ in 2005 that I started to listen to more interesting music. They started it all for me.

They are, to me, an immaculate musical machine.

SSQ began as a smaller operation called simply "Q," named after the James Bond gadget man. Producer Jon St. James was embarking on a new project in 1982 when he met Stacey Swain, a dancer and former circus performer in her early 20's. Although he brought her into the project as a producer, he ended up asking her to sing on the group's first recording, a track called "Sushi." After that, she was the group's official vocalist and eventual focal point.

Jon & Stacey added a few other members to their entourage, and by 1983 they were the mighty SSQ -- a synthpop powerhouse, set to write music that would change my life 22 years down the road. They released only one album, entitled Playback.

Today's track was the only song off of Playback that really got any radio attention, which is extremely unfortunate, as every song on the record is perfect. The cassette version even has two additional tracks of perfection: An early, instrumental version of "Synthicide" called "Synth Samurai," and an extremely killer cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" that employs synth quite liberally.

I wish for everyone reading this that you discover your own SSQ in 2008. I hope you discover a band that, to you, is so brilliant that you find them indescribable. I hope you discover your own life's soundtrack.

Listen to it here.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome, forever and always.