It was only months ago that we celebrated the 40th Anniversary of The Saints' 2nd album Eternally Yours, and just last year that their first album (I’m) Stranded turned 40, and only two years ago that the 40th Anniversary of their landmark self-released single – of course also called “(I’m) Stranded” - was celebrated. Such was the rapid pace at which things moved in the punk and post-punk days – just as it had been in the mid-60s – that this month we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s 3rd album, Prehistoric Sounds.
The final album by the original Chris Bailey & Ed Kuepper fronted band (of course Chris Bailey continued using The Saints’ name after the original band split), Prehistoric Sounds was released in the UK in October 1978 to very little fanfare. By the time it was released in Australia, in early 1979 - what was the local EMI office thinking?! - the band was no more.
A departure from the crisp, punchy and soul influenced Eternally Yours, just as Eternally Yours had been a departure from messily blaring garage punk of (I’m) Stranded, Prehistoric Sounds was in some ways a more traditional rock record than the previous two. It was more restrained and refined – but it was also more expansive; it was this division that reflected the diverging musical paths of Bailey and Kuepper and – in addition to record company and media indifference in the UK – ultimately led to the band’s demise. Bailey, using The Saints’ name, would take the group in more traditional roots-oriented directions. Kuepper, while acknowledging the same roots, would head in more experimental directions, honoring the forward-thinking aspects of the soul and jazz records that The Saints had taken nourishment from.
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of this wonderful record, we give you a handful of its finest tracks. You can listen of course on Spotify by streaming the full album above.
Fans should also note that one of Ed Kuepper’s current projects, The Aints!, has just released a new album The Church of Simultaneous Existence, comprising primarily songs from his Saints days that were never recorded first time around. Fans of Prehistoric Sounds will love it. The band is currently on tour – full dates are here – and you can watch the video for the album’s first single “Red Aces” below. Enjoy.
Read more: 40 Years Of Eternally Yours
