PRE ORDER 29TH JANUARY

One of the best British bands to come out of the 1976 / 1977 musical rupture that was punk, Dunfermline's Skids went on to demonstrate they had so much more to them than some of their contemporaries. Always a tight and powerful musical powerhouse they enjoyed a string of vibrant chart hits between 1978 and 1979, while their studio albums ‘Scared To Dance’, Days In Europa’ and ‘The Absolute Game’ had shown a band unafraid to take on experimental sounds and unusual arrangements. ‘Joy’, the last Skids studio album recorded for Virgin Records, was mostly completed after guitarist and co-songwriter Stuart Adamson had left to form Big Country. The results as unveiled on ‘Joy’ relied a lot less on layered guitar sounds and instead embraced the band’s Scottish heritage. Throughout ‘Joy’ are bagpipes, choral sounds, and experimental instrumentation, making for a distinctly Celtic-pastoral vibe. Singles taken from ‘Joy’ include ‘Iona’ - which marked the last appearance Adamson made on a Skids recording before Big Country, as well as a contribution from label mate Mike Oldfield on keyboards – and ‘Fields’ – which featured up and coming art-poppers and fellow Scots The Associates.