From Terrascope:In the grim grey 80´s The Prisoners were groovy targeted modsters taking their name from the 60´s TV series. They were a rare taste of colour to those being schooled at the time. They featured a pre-JTQ James Taylor tinkling the ivories of not a Hammond, but a Vox Continental. A template for the current Charlatans and (eek!) inspiration for the Inspiral Carpets, The Prisoners plied their trade on the indie circuit with little success. Retro sound wasn´t considered chic enough until the Stone Roses and their baggy mates made plundering the past a positive virtue, instead of an accepted vice. Opening their gigs, Graham Day would announce: "We are The Prisoners, you are not" before launching into a piece of melancholic mod pop. The Prisoners´ greatest achievement was 1983´s ´theWiserMiserDemelza´ with such gems as ´ Hurricane´ and ´ Here Come the Misunderstood,´ a reference to the 60´s group whose ´ Find a Hidden Door´ is resplendent on this outing. The instrumental ´ Go Go´ pointed James Taylor to his future on Acid Jazz and here we have ´ Apollo Go Go´ updating the idea with a JTQ cop show spin. Taylor helps out here on ´ Hold Your Head Up.´ (I said my prayers for it not to be an Argent cover and they were answered.) It´s a composition worthy, and reeking of, a Marriot-Lane. It´s all bluster and soul over some tremendous organ, with a backing band using wild Billy Childish´s rhythm instruments (literally) and a lash-carrying slave master to keep the momentum up. This gives ´theWiserMiser´ a good playground scrap for it´s place as a classic. Graham Day hasn´t lost a micro-millimetre of edge. Album opener ´mary´s´ Who style drum/guitar pyros go off like a chain of firecrackers one by one, each explosion miked up to an old valve amp in an echo chamber. A fine return from an under-acknowledged root of retro. (Steve Hanson)