2024 re-reissue of Cranes’ rare (cassette only) debut album Fuse (1986).

Whilst the release of 1989’s Self-Non-Self EP represented an introduction to the band for many (John Peel among them) Cranes had quietly made their debut with the release of the Fuse cassette in 1986 on local Portsmouth label Bite Back!

Infamous among hardcore fans, the recordings have been largely unavailable since release with the original tape changing hands on-line at a premium. Remastered at Abbey Road and with the addition of the previously unreleased New Liberty (a song originally slated for inclusion on Self-Non-Self) this release will be the first time the music has been widely available since its initial release.

Fuse is the 2nd release from the bands archive following the recent release of their BBC Peel Sessions and prefaces the promise of new music to come.

Tracklist:
Side A
1. Pillow Panther
2. Fuse (Original Version)
3. Valentine
4. Gas-Ring
Side B
1. Things That I Like
2. Wrench
3. Fracture
4. New Liberty

The second in a series of archive releases byCranes, Fuse was recorded in Portsmouth, their home town by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw. It originally appeared as a cassette album in 1986 on the Bite Back! label. With an initial run of only 200 copies, over the years this album, with its distinctive purple cover has been highly sought after amongst fans, often exchanging hands for more than 100.

Fuse showcases a sparser, darker and more industrial, post punk sound. From the hypnotic allure and rhythmic intensity of the title track to the ferocious and challenging beats of Wrench, the songs are just as mesmerising as Cranes’ later, critically acclaimed releases.

Recorded in a garage on a 4 track porta-studio, the band spent many months experimenting and became obsessed with the recording process. Jim Shaw used a very early sampling pedal to create the drum sounds, which were all individually triggered. The only and first industry person to hear anything by Cranes at this time was Martin Hannett (legendary producer of Joy Division and New Order). He was looking for unsigned bands to appear on a new music TV show in Manchester and so Ian Binnington from Biteback! sent him a compilation tape of many Portsmouth bands. Hannett picked out Fuse – original version by Cranes and told Ian that the track was fucking great.

...The compelling strangeness that would become associated with the band is evident from the start. Jims ear for percussion in particular is key, sampling and triggering beats that, especially set against quieter moments, communicate a sense of near-monstrous scale … making Fuse more than a curio for the initiated. THE WIRE

While later releases have seen them exploring artful, shiver-inducing ambience, the clanking industrial post-punk of Fuse represents their earliest, rawest state … Brittle guitar parts and insistent, repetitious beats wind like wire, while Alison Shaws lost-child vocals drift through the ever-shrinking gaps. METAL HAMMER 8/10

If it seems incongruous that a DIY demo-cum LP has now been remastered at Abbey Road, its worth noting that these reissued recordings are of far more importance than historical value. Rather they reveal a young band fearlessly experimenting and, as on the superb title track, producing music thats densely textured and eerie. CLASSIC POP 4

LIMITED EDITION OF 500 WORLDWIDE ON MAGENTA COLOUR VINYL.

Tracklist:
Side A
1. Pillow Panther
2. Fuse (Original Version)
3. Valentine
4. Gas-Ring
Side B
1. Things That I Like
2. Wrench
3. Fracture
4. New Liberty