Just when you thought you had it sussed, eh, pop kids? Just when you thought that your acne, your filthy hair and your Motorhead records were going to make you the coolest thing in Wolverhampton, this happens. All About Eve, the Hobbit strikes back. Let me explain.

The Hacienda enjoys a fairly crucial place in the pop culture of these shores. Its fog bound motor way pile-up chic (all J.G.Ballard and hazard warning lights) make it the ideal place to see Laibach or The Stockholm Monsters. But, boy, I didn't expect the new Curved Air. All About Eve tripped on-stage in a scented haze of Pachouli, ginseng and dry ice, thus confirming a suspicion I have had for some time. Namely, that British indie-pop is going brilliantly off it's head.

If you know All About Eve via the early records and press talk you may well have them tagged as a dreamy, dippy version of the New Goth Dream. Well, smartarse, you're not completely wrong. Funky they aren't, and when I tell you that the audience is predominantly black it isn't their skin I'm talking about. But, in the flesh there is nothing prissy about this group.

They sound big and hard and shiny. 'Flowers In Your Hair' and the new single 'In The Clouds' are both rapturously received. Both, like most AAE songs, rely for their -' appeal on the pairing of Ragnarok guitars. and that voice. That voice is a star; clean, strong and pure. Every now and then, they slip into over-amplified whimsy but no matter. The air of innocence about the band and the crowd is actually very refreshing in these dirty, mealy mouthed days. Did I like them? Yes, I think I did.

In three years All About Eve could be bigger than U2. That voice.

Those haircuts. Far Out.

Stuart Maconie

Record Mirror, 14th November 1987