Alma Mater has long been a favorite of Factory fans, perhaps due in part to the fact that
the Stockholm Monsters never really took off like so many of their contemporary labelmates. The album truly is a charmed treat, and this "Plus" edition (a 2002 LTM reissue) packs even more fractured pop joys than the original. For starters, all of the tracks have been digitally remastered, and they sound wonderfully dynamic and clean under the new polish. In addition to the ten album tracks,
Alma Mater Plus adds six rare and mostly brilliant songs from three singles dating from 1984 to 1987, the excellent 1987 demo of "Stupid," and two alternate takes on album tracks. Except for the paranoid and juvenile "How Corrupt Is Rough Trade?," the singles are superb. Tribal drum rumblings, jangling guitars, and a jittery trumpet make "All at Once" a fascinating slice of pure energy. Tony France sounds rabidly neurotic on the artsy
New Order-like "National Pastime." "Militia" sounds like
the Clash jamming with
Echo & the Bunnymen. "Kan Kill!" suggests
the Happy Mondays as fronted by
Feargal Sharkey, as an infectious rhythm section relentlessly crunches and stomps away. Though the two concluding alternate takes don't add anything new, the songs are still interesting in their more embryonic form.
Alma Mater Plus is the perfect title for this expanded edition of a should-be classic album. Any music lover who wants to experience the magic and depth of Factory Records in the 1980s would do well to add
Alma Mater Plus to their collection. ~ Tim DiGravina