British alternative group
Curve had a commanding, undeniably original sound that combined sweet yet scathing vocals and pop melodies with harsh, noisy guitars and dance beats. The band appeared in the early '90s with several buzzed-about EPs and a debut album that nearly hit the U.K. Top 20, and released several singles that achieved alternative radio and club play, while the group toured with the likes of
Spiritualized and
the Jesus and Mary Chain. They disbanded in 1994, and by the time they resurfaced later in the decade, groups like
Garbage and
Republica had scored major radio hits that seemed to be heavily informed by
Curve's particular electronic-rock hybrid, but much more accessible.
Cherry Red's four-CD box set
Unreadable Communication gathers pretty much everything
Curve released during their original run, when they were signed to
Anxious Records, the label owned by
Eurythmics'
Dave Stewart. (
Stewart had mutually introduced
Curve's
Toni Halliday and
Dean Garcia in the '80s, and they originally collaborated together in the short-lived
State of Play.) The only thing missing is
Radio Sessions, a compilation of the band's two Peel Sessions, which was given a limited release in 1993 and hasn't resurfaced since. Everything on this box set was already reissued when
Curve released deluxe two-CD editions of their out-of-print first two albums in 2017. For any fans who didn't pick those up, or newer listeners who haven't made the dive into the band's catalog yet, this is an entirely worthwhile purchase. The set starts out with the group's early EPs, which were compiled in North America as
Pubic Fruit, plus a few B-sides.
Doppelgänger, the band's first and best album, is appended with tracks from the magnificent "Horror Head" single, plus a riveting cover of
Donna Summer's "I Feel Love." The harder-edged, sometimes borderline-industrial second album
Cuckoo similarly gains a handful of non-album goodies. The final disc gathers two electrifying live performances as well as remixes and single versions. These include a mesmerizing ten-minute
Future Sound of London remix (
Halliday later guested on the duo's classic
Lifeforms), a more downtempo
Trent Reznor and
Flood version of the jackhammering single "Missing Link," and one of the first remixes
Aphex Twin ever did, which of course sounds nothing like its source material. ~ Paul Simpson