Eyeless in Gaza, Pale Hands I Loved So Well (side A)

I'm a big fan of Eyeless in Gaza's 1981 debut Photographs as Memories and some of their early singles.  They employ melodic vocals, verse-chorus song structures, and repetitive percussion patterns.  Even at its darkest points, Photographs as Memories draws from an accessible rock tradition.  While the band's work generally progressed toward more polished productions and more overtly melodic songs, they took a huge left turn with 1982's Pale Hands I Loved So Well.  Many songs lack any percussive element, and some have only the slightest hints at melody.  Structures repeat and evolve in structures that never reference rock music.  Simple analog effects are used in surprising places, far from any accepted norms of their time.  Pale Hands I Loved So Well at times reminds me of its precursors, like early Robert Wyatt or Pink Floyd's soundtrack album More.  At other times, it seems to presage the later Talk Talk albums or even lo-fi English eccentrics Woo.  Its frequency distribution is even surprisingly bright for an era when bands tended to use purposely dark balances.  The abstractly-layered images on the cover and surprising orange font give no hint at what the music inside will be.