The Lo Yo Yo – Extra Weapons

British band The Lo Yo Yo was founded by Family Fodder frontman John Pearce, aka Alig, in 1984 [a good place to start with Family Fodder, is the Savoir Faire culinary anthem]. The Lo Yo Yo was active for 2 years and released one cassette, one split cassette with Look De Book, one full-length LP and appeared on the Local International 15-26 compilation cassette on Recommended. The band’s name comes from a Captain Beefheart song titled Low Yo Yo Stuff on the 1972 Clear Spot LP. In an interview with Ed Pinsent, John Pearce simplistically described The Lo Yo Yo as “a sort of cooperative group with two girls and two guys, […] touring around Europe a lot until about 1986.” (The Sound Projector issue #1, 1996). The Lo Yo Yo’s line-up was actually more varied and included, along 10 or so other musicians, various Family Fodder members like Mick Hobbs, Felix Fiedorowicz and Rick Wilson. All three also played in The Work and Officer!, sometimes with Pearce himself. Charles Bullen of This Heat occasionally played drums with Family Fodder and co-produced The Lo Yo Yo’s unique LP, Extra Weapons, in 1985.

♫ Pearce’s punchy bass playing and Carrie (Caroline) Brooks’ post-punk drumming form the backbone of The Lo Yo Yo sound, complete with singer Annie Hunt and Mick Hobbs’ guitar. At times, this rhythm section has the band appear like a dub+rock fusion with occasional flexible, bouncing reggae touches – characteristics also present in Family Fodder. Singer Annie Hunt’s playful vocals and the songs’ inventive arrangements evoke punk influences from bands like Rubella Ballet, Hagar The Womb or The Slits. Track #7, China Blue, is based on a pseudo-medieval harmony which wouldn’t be out of place on an Officer! song. The instrumentation is varied with synthesizer, saxophone, glockenspiel.

01 Bad Intentions (5:13)
02 All The Atrocities (4:42)
03 I Can Hold My Own Hand (4:12)
04 Learning To Fly (4:46)
05 Petroleum (5:23)
06 More To Come (3:20)
07 China Blue (3:17)
08 Cache-Cache (4:09)
09 You Never Know (2:28)
10 Cog (3:12)
11 The History Of Weaponry (5:19)

Alig (John Pearce), bass, guitar, percussion, vocals
Annie Hunt, cello, glockenspiel
Carrie Brooks, drums, percussion
Joey Stack, vocals, keyboards, bass
Mick Hobbs, guitar, percussion
+
Steve Wright, bass, guitar, percussion
Leo Kelly, harmony (Atrocities)
Bob Vanderbob, saxophone, whistle
Rick Wilson, percussion

Total time 46:00
LP released by Floppy Discs, London, UK, 1985

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The Lo Yo Yo discography:
1984 self titled cassette, Calypso Now, ref. C-4
1984 Double Dog Dare, with Look De Bouk, cassette, Calypso Now
1985 Extra Weapons, LP, Floppy Discs
1985 The History Of Weapons incl. in Various – Local International 15-26, cassette, Recommended Records

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