LP Reviewed in Sounds, 22nd September, 1979

“Coming Up For Air” (Virgin V2131)****

Penetration | Coming Up For Air | (Virgin) 1979 | UP! THAT’S what Penetration are. Such stimulation. A Japanese masseuse on speciality-of-the-house rates could hardly have tickled more of a tingle into every nerve-end from the very first shimmering rush of drums and shout of ‘Shout!’ . . . for this is a song called ‘Shout Above The Noise.’

Guitars rasp. It careers along, more punk than anything of theirs since ‘Don’t Dictate’. Pauline thrusts her inspiring teal-of-bells voice into a song around her favourite theme: suspect the leaders, reject the preachers, don’t be sucked into the quicksand of the proudly inert silent majority. ‘Silence is no virtue in a crowded room’ —be true to yourself.

It’s not original, nor flawless thinking, but refurbished to glow like the apple-cheeks of Penetration’s overflowing optimism. Accentuate the positive. Up! Don’t confuse it with ‘D’ya wanna be in our gang’ as mod is tending to do. Up! Penetration have already grasped the glory, boys (fair share it).

So far I feel there may be nothing quite so fine on this album as the ‘Movement/Too Many Friends’ section of ‘Moving Targets’, but the overall level of writing and musical ideas is consistently higher. It’s alive with one-off guitar, bass and vocal remarks you’ll only notice with repeated playings, each one a source of smiles or eyebrow-raising as it stands up and says hello to your ears which were previously too busy to notice.

Penetration | Coming Up For Air | (Virgin) 1979

Much credit to creative producer Steve Lillywhite for his part in all this I’m sure, but you have to reflect yet again on the repressed abilities that must lurk in places like Ferryhill (East Hall, Moss Side and Handsworth may be like Ferryhill) and never find the sort
of release Penetration have.

It’s a wonder the ground beneath doesn’t sunder and erupt in a volcano of emotion and human electricity.

But back to the plot. With all five members now contributing as writers there is a rich range of styles emerging within the band’s dove-tailed unity. Not predictably, though. You thought Fred Purser was the musical sophisticate? He comes out with a brutally direct two-minute dash called ‘Killed In The Rush.’

You thought Neale Floyd kept the Rotten roots faith? He’s the author of ‘Party’s Over’, an oddball fast waltz. For all my ‘ups’ it’s no toothpaste-smile job this LP.

There’s aggro, spunk and teeth-baring from these essentially mild-mannered chaps. Pauline is knocking on the door of satire. ‘Killed In The Rush’ is a tough piece about greed and power (‘There’s not
enough to go round/ 30 Keep your hands off, it’s all mine’) while ‘New Recruit’ burns the glamourous dream of becoming a great soldier (perhaps the intensity means more if you know how much th’e poor North-East has always supplied the nation’s demand for cannon fodder).

Penetration | Coming Up For Air | (Virgin) 1979

With her own words calling on her to cut deeper Pauline uses her voice with more passion and point than ever before. Where she was always the most naturally musical of singers she’s now living meaning and character too.

Which latter development is important for another aspect of her growth. When she has mainly written generalised descriptive pieces before, neat but sometimes too predictable, she is now beginning to wrestle with drama, stories, believable people.

‘She Is The Slave,’ ‘Come Into The Open,’ On Reflection’ and ‘Lifeline’ all have elements of dialogue in them with Pauline playing the entire cast as it were. It’s an approach that is stretching her and stretching the band, who support her with a sort of rowdy sensitivity expressing every change —embellishing it in fact because Penetration are certainly closer to fruition musically than lyrically.

Fred and Neale spark each other to jags of invention and essential nitty-gritty rhythm work on guitars (acknowledge Zappa, Duane Eddy and Steve Jones all did good things), while Robert Blamire on bass has a great sense of the shape of a song and loves to draw big clear lines round it.

favourite new wave drummer

Gary Smallman remains my favourite new wave drummer, progressing all the time towards a fitting balance of dexterity (no problem) and simplicity (whoa Gary!) — for him it’s a breakthrough that he has something of a solo on the outro of ‘Last Saving Grace’ and he takes it with extreme spareness.

‘Coming Up For Air’ is a crackling, quicksilver, constant happening. Penetration will pull you up, up, up, up, . . . er, they’ll pull you up. (Phil Sutcliffe)