CLASS ONE LASER PRODUCT
(Pat Hawkes-Reed, Legends Magazine)

Tarantella Serpentine is another member of the stable of bands on the Wasp Factory label. Marcus Lanyon is, like Chaos Engine, Cheltenham based... and one really wonders what is in the famed Cheltenham Spa waters that has produced this fairly unique performer. This is his first CD.

Since this came out, he has added a keyboards/synths player (James) for live performances. And, speaking of live on stage...Marcus is one of those who thrives there. This CD gives you a good idea of his music/ideas/lyrics, but doesn't even begin to give the listener an idea of his on stage intensity.

His live appearance also shifts each time: police warning/fragile/gaffer tapes, feather boas, electronic bits, skirts & make-up, cyberwear, and bits and bobs found on the street on the way to a gig have been parts of his look in the performances I have seen.

The music is a weird mixture of industrial and hard house with bits of techno and rock thrown in there for a bit of fun. And...then there are the lyrics.

Some of the songs are deceptive... the melody is such that the listener is eased into a dancing mode...but the words are nihilistic and bleak. Songs like Class One Laser Product, Heartbreaker, Cocaine Disco Riot, Victim Support, Sugar Sugar, The Dead Poet, All the Right Moves; all fit into this catagory.

Then there are the songs that are not really songs. Crack, Dialtone and The Party are intense poems that paints a bleak picture of despair, angst and anger.

Tarantella Serpentine will not be everyone's cup of tea. Normally, this isn't the style of music I listen to, but I've been hooked. Whether it's due to having the advantage of seeing live performances, I can't really say, but I would recommend this to anyone with a twisted sense of the world and a sense of adventure.