As in many worthy post-punk bands, the bass ties everything up on "Message", the oddly harmonious opener off British trio Wetdog's third LP. Those thumping melodies help translate "Message"s skeletal clatter: angular guitar jabs, hypnotic singing, whistles and chimes. The crucial, barebones drum sound recalls the pure joy of Palmolive, or the Shaggs-y smashes of a kid behind the kit for the first time. "Message"s patchwork snowballs into something downright doomy, and a certain desperation comes through lyrically, too.-=-=-=-

Wetdog's strange charms are not unlike those of their London comrades in Trash Kit or Shopping (with whom they share a member), but "Message" would have felt especially at home among the wonderful racket of Rough Trade's legendary Wanna Buy a Bridge? comp. Thirty-five years later, that spirit prevails: "Message" might be pure chaos to some ears, but life is that way, and in the cacophony you can still find room to breathe (and dance).