Felix NEill

Howard Devoto's only solo album to date, Jerky Versions Of The Dream, remains a fascinatingly flawed capture of 'the Orson Welles of punk'. It appeared in July 1983 when the world had turned further away from his legend in the handful of years following the final, misunderstood, Magazine release, Magic, Murder and the Weather.

This album is firmly rooted in its era. Amid the synth brass and shocking machines, however, the quality of his writing and wit shine through. “Topless” could have been a huge hit in the hands of a more conventional singer. “Some Will Pay” is the album’s morose centrepiece, but, by the time you get to “Way Out Of Shape”, you’re completely diverted by its sound; clattering, trebly funk. You are left with an overriding feeling of Devoto (supported by Barry Adamson and Dave Formula) wandering around in something of a daze. What saves the day, here, however, are the newly-added tracks; the John Peel session from August 83 ably demonstrates how great this material could be in its paired-down form.

You really wish that Jerky Versions Of The Dream had been made more sparsely in the late 70s. NME said at the time “It burns at both ends and gets bitty and boring in the centre. It's what I call semi-music.” And that assessment still rings true. Devoto shrieks on the brief punk rush of the intro to “Taking Over Heaven,” “Listen, I’ve just remembered something!” It’s as if he recalls, amid all the stultification, what inspired him in the first place.