White Souls in Black Suits
Industrial, 1980
rating: 3/5
reviewer: olskooly


Possibly one of the most enigmatic groups in the history of English post punk, Clock DVA underwent several dramatic metamorphoses throughout their career. With the exception of vocalist/frontman Adi Newton’s gruff, menacing voice, each of Clock DVA’s albums has a completely different sound: the angular, jagged post punk/mutant disco of their first album, White Souls in Black suit; the new wave sensibilities of their second album, Thirst; the smoky, jazz-inflected undertones of the third album, Advantage; and finally, the dark, throbbing industrial sound of their fourth proper album, Buried Dreams, which would permeate Clock DVA’s subsequent offerings. Evidently a difficult man to work with, Newton completely altered Clock DVA’s lineup on every album, which accounts for the wide disparity of styles from one record to another.

White Souls in Black Suits was released by the invitation of Throbbing Gristle on their own label, the long-defunct Industrial Records. Furthermore, the record was recorded in Cabaret Voltaire’s Western Works studio. The early industrial/noise influence of these two Sheffield bands has a distinct presence on White Souls in Black Suits. Structurally, the album is the most experimental and “un-structured” of all Clock DVA’s albums.

Raw and unpolished, White Souls in Black Suits is a primarily improvised album, ostensibly a piss-take on the English “white soul” groups of the time. The combination of repetitive, distorted guitars, squawking saxophones, and sub-funk, almost dub-influenced bass lines give the music a distinctly post punk/mutant disco sound. The noisy, improvisational element on White Souls in Black Suits, however, betrays Clock DVA’s affiliation with the Industrial Records groups Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. The heavy use of delay, guitar feedback, rhythmic, pounding percussion, and all-out collages of pure noise aligns Clock DVA with the early industrial movement more than any other genre (although that would change after this record).

The world Newton evokes through his music is populated with sinister, shadowy figures, stalkers, serial killers, and imagery of torture straight from the Marquis de Sade. This began, to some degree, on White Souls in Black Suits, and would eventually dominate later Clock DVA records, basically concept albums dedicated to depraved historical figures such as Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who bathed in the blood of virgins.

Repetitive, droning, and eerie, White Souls in Black Suits can be disturbing and difficult to listen to. The album, now near impossible to find copies of, is almost anachronistic and archaic, so far removed are we from the early Eighties Sheffield scene. The poor mastering from the original tapes has rendered the album more of a novelty than anything else. Nevertheless, White Souls in Black Suits is an interesting, albeit unsettling, introduction to an important and overlooked post punk group from the '80s.

1. Consent
2. Disconsentment
3. Disconsentment (2)
4. Still/Silent
5. Non
6. Relentless
7. Contradict
8. Film Sound Track (Keyboards Assemble Themselves At Dawn)
9. Anti-Chance