Rema Rema: Wheel in the Roses (1980/BAD 5)

       The first official release under the 4AD moniker, Wheel in the Roses by Rema Rema is itself a hard to classify release genre-wise. Rema Rema, the band, had ceased to exist by the point of this EP release in April 1980. Guitarist Marco Pirroni (formally of the first incarnation of Siouxsie and the banshees) was on his way to join the new Adam and the Ants. The band beforehand approached the Beggars Banquet store to release their sole output, this EP, and after talking Ivo, succeeded in releasing the first proper 4AD release. Ivo, himself, saw Rema Rema's EP as an excellent collection of songs that justifies the beginning of the new label.
       Wheel in the Roses begins off with the aptly titled Feedback Song, a track that features a bouncing bass line, cut-time snare hits, and layers of guitar feedback. It's probably the weakest song here, but is successful at establishing the manic atmosphere that would continue throughout the EP. The second song, Rema Rema, is an excellent example of a noise rock romp. The vocals here are mostly composed of the bands name shouted gleefully followed by laughing. Its a swirling piece of dance-punk that features subtle industrial influences and was even later covered by Big Black. The second half are live recordings from a concert and are arguably the best songs on the EP. The first is Instrumental which is a fantastic synth-driven track that doubles the industrial influence and feedback, and is also not instrumental. And finally is the majestic Fond Affections, that features a crawling industrial rhythm section a forlorn descending base line and lyrics that straddle the line between melodrama and sarcasm. This is one of the few releases of early 4AD that had a no wave/space rock influence and along with an atmosphere that is not necessarily bleak or dark but more intense and relentless. 3/5ths of Rema would form the group Mass and would have a few releases on 4AD as well.