the diagram brothers
ltm catalogue

Active between 1979 and 1982, Manchester post-punk art-noise quartet The Diagram Brothers released four singles and one album, most appearing on New Hormones, the label founded by Buzzcocks. Feted by John Peel, the band recorded three BBC sessions in as many years, and drew comparisons with Gang of Four, XTC and Fire Engines for their angular, dissonant dance music. To read full Diagram Brothers biography click here. To read detailed Diagram Brothers interview click here. To order CDs click here.


SOME MARVELS OF MODERN SCIENCE + SINGLES (LTMCD 2480) £10
Digitally remastered from the original studio tapes, this expanded CD edition features all 14 tracks from the album originally released in November 1981, as well as ten bonus tracks from all four Diagram singles released between 1980 and 1982, including the cult favourites Bricks and Discordo, as well as the ultra-rare Diagram Brothers German EP. The booklet features a facsimile of the cut-and-paste Portfolio postcard set, rare photos and a detail band history. 24 tracks, 70 minutes of music. Full tracklist: Those Men In White Coats, My Bad Chest Feels Much Better Now, Seals/Fur Coats, Put It In A Bigger Box, Words From Major, Here Come The Visitors, Isn't It Interesting How Neutron Bombs Work, Ron! The Morris Minor's Gone, I'm A Policeman, I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being A Right Git, Aggeravation, I'm Not Going To Fight For Oil, Litter, Bikers, Bricks, Postal Bargains, Discordo, My Dinner, Fondue Soiree, Cherry Blossom, We Are All Animals, There Is No Shower, I Would Like To Live In Prison, Right Git (German version).

Reviews: "The Diagram Brothers play an extraordinary, quirky, jerky brand of speedo funk, as if some Pavlovian behaviourist has got hold of The Gang of Four and started to do tricky experiments on them... Science before sentience, the didactic before the ecstatic seems to be the unusual anti-rock n' roll idea... SMOMS is an album of observations which are never dull, and of music which - in spite of being clinical - is never cold. I quite warm to this kind of off-beat fun and to the proof that the English eccentric spirit needn't necessarily take twee grown-up public schoolboy forms" (NME, 12/81); "If Devo came from Manchester they'd probably sound like this oddball quartet who, of course, aren't brothers at all. This 10-incher finds them singing lines like "How important is my dinner?" over sharp and jerky rhythms. Sounds silly? It is. Good though" (Record Mirror, 7-8/82); "Not easy to dance to. I tried and twisted my ankle, because the music kind of stops and starts" (The Leveller, 05/81); "An uneasy funk, in which two guitars appear to throttle each other" (Smash Hits, 04/81); "A great new pop band, Manchester's most potent contenders" (NME, 11/80); "Freakzone's featured album of the week!" (BBC6 Music, 2/07); "A dissonant, jagged, discordant form of Pavlovian post-punk not a million times dissimilar to their peers Gang of Four, Talking Heads and Dislocation Dance. Sweet" (Plan B, 03/07); "The Diagram Brothers were funny, slightly scary and like no-one else in the world. For this I loved them - their repertoire of bleakly downbeat observational songs inspired insane devotion" (Stuart Maconie, Cider With Roadies, 2004); "No other band so effectively captured the feel of a time when, if one strayed from the mainstream, anything seemed possible. Excellent throughout - four stars" (Record Collector, 04/07)


THE PEEL SESSIONS (LTMCD 2558) £10
Digitally remastered, The Peel Sessions features all thirteen tracks from the Brothers' three visits to Maida Vale 4 and Langham 1, originally broadcast in March 1980, February 1981 and July 1982. "We always reckoned the Peel Sessions were our best work," says Andy Diagram. "They captured the liveliness and spontaneity of live gigs, warts and all. It was always really exciting taking a day off work to go down the motorway from Manchester to London and record four songs really quickly, that you knew the whole nation was going to hear." Full tracklist: We Are All Animals, Bricks, Bikers, There is No Shower, Postal Bargains, Those Men in White Coats, I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being a Right Git, My Bad Chest Feels Much Better Now, Hey Dad!, Tracey, You've Got To Pick a Pocket or Two, The Expert, You'll Never Walk Alone.

Reviews: "Art-punk discordo pioneers The Diagram Brothers have had their sought-after Peel Sessions combined by fantastic label LTM. The three sessions, from 1980, 81 and 82, collect fantastic strong performances from slap bang in the midst of the fertile post-punk scene" (www.thisisoffset.co.uk, 04/2011); "Hailing from Manchester, Diagram Brothers married the arrant shapes of Wire and Gang Of Four into their own sonic briefcase which, once opened by John Peel, secured them a number of his famous sessions in London's Maida Vale studios. Though the band released a number of singles and an LP, they always felt that recording four tracks against the clock in one day brought out the best in them. Their first session from March 1980 confirms this, with both We Are All Animals and Bricks showcasing febrile playing and the group's somewhat day-to-day lyrical concerns ("Bricks: very useful objects/They're not expensive at all"). Bikers, on the other hand, has a stunning guitar solo to match the high-octane lyrical content. By February 1981, the brothers had grown in competence and confidence, recording arguably their best session. Every track's a gem, with special mention going to I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being A Right Git." (Record Collector, 07/2011); "Still sounds fresh and invigorating" (The Big Takeover, 10/2011); 'A thoroughly likeable band' (Westzeit, 08/2011)


AUTEUR LABELS: NEW HORMONES (LTMCD 2492) £10
The Diagram Brothers contribute two tracks to this acclaimed label compilation, which also showcases Ludus, Biting Tongues, Tiller Boys, Buzzcocks, Eric Random, Dislocation Dance, The Decorators and Howard Devoto. 'Outstanding compilations, sophisticated scholarship. Boredom by Buzzcocks from 1977 sets a standard of intellectual imagination and neurotic pop energy. Several of the artists subsequently recording on New Hormones would in their different ways evolve this school of taut, playful, sonic compression, in which tremulous pop guitars merged with deft hi-hat beats, moody electronic enhancement and outright avant-gardism. Thus the free pop collage of My Cherry Is In Sherry by Ludus finds a place alongside, for instance, the near dub jazz of Skin Deep by Eric Random, or the dark growling of Denture Beach by Biting Tongues' (The Wire, 08/2008)

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