Hurricane [Purple] Vinyl

Hurricane: The Best of the Prisoners gathers the sharpest garage-punk and psychedelia from a band the mod revival never quite deserved, four songs deep and better than almost everything sold as mod at the time.

Formed in 1980 in Rochester, Kent by school friends Graham Day, Allan Crockford, and Johnny Symons, The Prisoners were a straight garage rock trio until James Taylor turned up on Hammond organ after seeing them play in 1982, an addition that gave the band its actual identity. They got adopted by London's mod and psychedelic revival scene despite never really being a mod band themselves, playing 1960s garage sounds with real conviction rather than costume, and became a linchpin of the Medway scene that later produced Billy Childish. They split in 1986 when their label went bankrupt, Taylor going on to found the James Taylor Quartet, Day fronting a run of bands since.

Whenever I'm Gone carries Taylor's organ front and centre, driving the song rather than decorating it. I Am the Fisherman is the record's strangest and most memorable moment, genuinely psychedelic in a way most revivalist bands only imitated. Melanie leans into pure garage snarl, and Say Your Prayers closes with the kind of urgency that made their live shows legendary.

A band too good for the scene that claimed them. This compilation makes that case in four songs alone.

Tracklist

1. Whenever I'm Gone
2. I Am the Fisherman
   
3. Melanie
   
4. Say Your Prayers
   
5. Hurricane
   
6. The Last Thing On Your Mind
   
7. Nobody Wants Your Love
   
8. Coming Home
   
9. Better in Black
   
10. Pretend
    
11. Revenge of the Cybermen
    
12. Till the Morning Light
    
13. Reaching My Head