PENETRATION
MOVING TARGETS
(Captain Oi)
Long overdue re-issue of seminal North-East punk.
4/5
Way back in the late seventies there was a real holy trinity of female punk singers. The Ice Queen Siouxsie fronting The Banshees, Mrs. Styrene's Polly screaming her way to success with X-Ray Spex and arguably the best, the breathy all possessing voice of Pauline Murray from Penetration. 'Moving Targets', the band's debut album released in late 1978 saw the new piece line-up augmented by second guitarist Fred Purser who added his fancy fretwork to proceedings adding extra melodic colour to the bands earlier frantic driving sound. Throughout though it's Murray who gains the plaudits, cooing and caressing one minute then spiralling upwards to the very limit the next. The combined result lifts the album head and shoulders beyond so many of their contemporaries' period pieces. Add to this the bonus of the first two singles and you've an almost flawless collection of first wave punk.
Sean McGhee