DEAD MAN'S SHADOW - The 4 P's

DEAD MAN’S SHADOW

THE 4P’s (1997 Reissue)

Dead Man’s Shadow are one of the more obscure and overlooked bands of the UK 82 genre. Lacking the profile of a band such as The Exploited, or the Oi! credentials of The Business, they tend to be a little more forgotten. I wasn’t aware of their existence, and only discovered them recently when investigating some other UK82 bands. I checked out some of their stuff on youtube, prompting me to look out for their album the 4P’s on vinyl. A bit of a search led me to two choices for a similar price; the original or the reissue. I opted for the reissue, which is still available, new, from a variety of sources.

Starting out in 1980, the three piece Dead Man’s Shadow put out a slew of singles, including a split with the better known outfit Action Pact before putting out the 4P’ s (Pride Pacifism Passion Perserverence) in 1983.

The 4P’s opens with the punchy and melodic Neighbours which sets the trend for the rest of the album. Without the political bludgeoning of Discharge or The Exploited, they still get their point across, as with the second song When our blood is spilled. Other highlights on side one are the impassioned Needles and Greed.   

Side two opens with the choppy We can do it together, a plea for unity. Danger UXB and OHMS keep the pace up. For my money Perfect World is a killer track on this LP, with its suspense-laden opening, and melodic and powerful chorus riff.  The album closes with Anthem “DMS will play...........”

Musically, DMS straddle the line a bit between a 70’s and 80’s band, with the emphasis on the latter. You could almost say in a way they’re The Clash of the UK82 bands (There are some musical, lyrical and vocal similarities). They do have a more angular and jagged sound than their contemporaries, as well.

Package wise, this is very average, unfortunately. Italian reissue label Get Back (I’m unsure if the label is still going) has reissued a lot of UK82 stuff and that’s great. But with this, as most of their reissues, there’s nothing to rave about.  The legitimacy of Get Back’s reissues remains dubious. There are no lyrics or inner sleeve, no extra tracks, no remastering, and the vinyl is standard. Sound-wise it’s merely OK; the audio quality is questionable. The production is clean, but not polished. The sleeve itself replicates the original artwork. (Some of the label’s reissues feature inferior quality artwork). If you get the CD version however, you get the singles and EP’s as a bonus, and a booklet.  Still, if you want the vinyl, that’s how it is. I’d say search out the original. Captain Oi! has also reissued this on CD, and you’d be better guaranteed of it’s legitimacy with them.