ARMORY SHOW - Dead Souls

Forty years: that's how much time has passed since the release of "Waiting For The Flood", the first and only album by Armoury Show, a promising band formed by John McGeoch (Magazine, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Visage, PIL) and Richard Jobson, formerly of Skids, a band known to the wider public thanks to the cover of "The Saints Are Coming" by U2 with Green Day, and for having been fronted by Stuart Adamson, later leader of Big Country.

Having resurrected the Skids name with the help of brothers Bruce and Jamie Watson (Big Country), Richard Jobson has also revived Armoury Show, with a slight tweak to the original name, now Armory Show, which at the time was rejected by the band, even though it was the actual name of the New York modern art exhibition that inspired the Scottish group.

To many it might seem like pure nostalgic speculation to have resurrected the Armory Show name while Skids are still active, but the differences between Richard Jobson's two projects are plain to see. "Dead Souls" represents the author's darker side: where Skids songs are exuberant, those of Armory Show are introspective. It's almost as if Jobson had split his compositions along the simple divide between major and minor keys. What unites the two bands is the leader's choice to rely on spontaneous collaborations, built on elective affinities and long-standing bonds of esteem and friendship.

Forty years haven't passed in vain: "Dead Souls" is a more cohesive and intriguing record than that distant debut, starting with the excellent "Harry Dean Stanton" (no need to point out who it's dedicated to) — nothing has been lost of that glorious past. It's also Martin Metcalfe's careful arrangements that heighten the epic spirit of the title track, the whirling interplay of synths and percussion in kraut-rock style on "Rhineland Blues", the dark textures of "Nothing" and the weathered glam rock nature of "The World Stopped Turning": precious pieces of a record that, though it flew under the radar, remains a fine testament to the vitality of a musician who shows no sign of laying down his arms.

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29/03/2026