Relaxed Muscle, the mysterious duo of Darren Spooner and JP Buckle (with some help from their friend Wayne Marsden on guitar) existed fleetingly near the beginning of the millenium. They only released one album and a brace of singles to no fanfare back in 2003 and then disappeared. The music is a sort of lo-fi, claustrophobic take on electroclash, post punk and glam rock, dealing with the dark tragi-comic side of life. Much like a sleazier version of Pulp.
Okay, so in reality, Darren Spooner
is Jarvis Cocker, Wayne Marsden is Richard Hawley and JP Buckle is...err..Jason Buckle - three legends from the Sheffield music scene going against the grain to create something far less accessible, commercial or sellable than their fans or record label would crave.
But "A Heavy Nite With..." is a great album - difficult to get into admittedly, but rewarding once you get there. Best listened to in a dark place, it was issued on luminous vinyl, presumably so you can find your way to the turntable when the lights are off. It's a bit of a pain (as Faust once said) to photograph, but here you go.
My favourite lyric has to be Battered - taking on the different meanings of the word (getting very drunk, being beat up etc), for each verse, Jarvi....err, I mean Darren then delivers the seminal - and sadly, all too true - line "I went to see The Wednesday last night, oh they got battered, yeah they got battered".
