Hull has spawned some great bands, but Indians In Moscow aren’t one of them. That they had something of an independent hit back in 1983 with Naughty Miranda is commendable, as it’s a bloody awful track.
Fronted by the attractive Adele Nozedar, the band had an electronica-and-guitar edge. Time hasn’t been kind to these tracks, though, which were recorded as part of an abortive album, then later re-tooled for an official release. Nozedar sounds like an out-of-breath Toyah, eking out On Howard’s At Lunch (“What kind of suicide is this?”) as if she were reflecting the listener’s own thoughts. Meanwhile, Sex Change Chicken is so bad you have to listen again just to make sure.
There are moments when the headache subsides: Meeting Place is a nice synth confection with decent guitar lines. If it had been paired on 7” with I Wish I Had, it might have made for something of a cold wave collectable. Brevity is key, then: the extended mixes of some of these tracks are pure torture.
