I used to buy a lot of CD singles back in the nineties. Sometimes I bought them because they were cheap; sometimes I bought them because I had heard of someone credited on the sleeve, and sometimes it was simply because the artwork looked interesting. One such purchase was "15 Minutes of Fame" by Sheep On Drugs.
I ended up liking this single so much that I decided to buy the compact disc of the band's debut album when it was released a couple of weeks later in March 1993. Twenty-five years later I found this LP in a secondhand record store, and whilst it isn't in the best condition, I couldn't resist buying it.
One contemporary review of this record described the title as "cheeky". Today we would have to say that naming the album "Greatest Hits" was actually more prophetic than impudent. Nothing the band released after this really matched it for fun, weirdness and downright mischief.
Sheep On Drugs used to be the duo of Duncan X and Lee Fraser, and their apparent lack of regard for the establishment meant their music was edgy and interesting. This is a record that sounds like it was made by some delinquents that the record company didn't even realise they had signed. Yet this is no boring experiment in ambient sound or industrial noise; there are some catchy tunes and genuinely innovative dance sounds on this record. I have no doubt that the principal reason this record succeeds sonically is because it is produced by Gareth Jones. If anyone knows how to wrangle the talents of unruly young men, then it must be the former Depeche Mode collaborator.
The rave stabs, breakbeats and rumbling sub-bass of the first track, "Uberman", sound like typical nineties dance music until Duncan's vocal drawl emerges to tell us he's "as bad as bad can be". As you hear songs like "Acid Test" and "15 Minutes of Fame", you realise this music isn't easy to pigeonhole. Everything is heavily influenced by dance music, but there's more than enough mad punk sensibility to make this something unique. Duncan's lyrics seem to be key to this mix, as they are both disturbing and memorable. I'm not sure if "Suzy Q" is about tattoos, IV drugs or falling in love: maybe it's all three. A personal favourite is "Chard", in which a dirty guitar is given centre stage whilst Duncan tells us he is variously a liar, a dog, a son of a gun and an island.
My only criticism of this album is that almost all of the songs follow the same recipe. To modern ears the kick drums lack a little bottom end, but then there's a constant sine wave bassline occupying the lower frequencies anyway. Early singles feature versions of "Mary Jane", "Motorbike" and "Acid Test" that were produced by the band, and whilst they are less polished than the album mix, they do offer a little more variety.
The band's second album, "On Drugs", has some highlights, but it wasn't nearly as good as this – so when Island Records finally realised these delinquents were actually signed to their label, they promptly dropped them. The band struggled on for a few years, but the original duo split in 1998, and "Greatest Hits" remains their definitive work. 4/5
