In August, Chris released the single “House of 70s” – today we bring you all of the information on the album that track is from — DOO WOP IN THE DARK: A PORTRAIT OF LOU REED.
DOO WOP IN THE DARK brings together a unique mix of Lou Reed‘s own compositions, spanning his career from the Velvet Underground onwards, along with Chris’s own songs. Together it details the creative and often turbulent path of Reed’s life, from his teenage years through to his death in 2013.
The album echoes his critically acclaimed 2022 release honoring NICO, EULOGY TO CHRISTA. In fact, the idea for this album began then, with the track Union Square West.
This is Chris, on why he wanted to make this album:
For me, and many others, LOU REED is one of the holy trinity of BOWIE, IGGY, REED. Mythologised by us, in our minds, each of these tempestuous spirits brought something to the altar of rock ’n roll that no one else could back then in the 70s. They glamourized everything, no matter how squalid — especially Lou, with his raw poetry and his fearless, untameable spirit. He walked through fire and was perpetually, painfully honest. I miss the fire of his energy. I don’t wanna eulogise, but here I am eulogising. But more than that, I want to keep that spirit ignited and alive, from the mean streets of TAXI DRIVER in drag, copping speed and using his guitar as a weapon, to the singer of “Magician”, lamenting the passing of a loved one. Lou is the poet who moved through his career with spite, tears, fire, love and rage.
The album was recorded and produced by Chris and ALAN HOLDEN BERLIANT, Chris’s Sons of the Silent Age bandmate, with additional performances and production by long-time collaborator CHRIS BRUCE. JEBNI BRUNI also performs on the album. The stunning cover and promotional photography are by DERICK SMITH. The album is dedicated to ZAK BOERGER, Chris’s dear friend and collaborator who passed in 2025, and LOU REED himself.
DOO WOP IN THE DARK: A PORTRAIT OF LOU REED will be released by Shipwrecked Industries on Friday, October 16, 2026 in three formats: digital download, double CD set, and an abbreviated single 12″ vinyl album. All formats are available for pre-sale now via Bandcamp, where you’ll also get the digital download with the CD or vinyl.
Chris and the Dirty French Novels will perform an album release gig on Saturday, October 3rd at Roberts Westside just outside of Chicago. You won’t want to miss this exclusive performance of the album!
If you follow Chris on social media, then you’ll know that a new video was premiered yesterday, in conjunction with an announcement about his forthcoming album, Doo Wop in the Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed.
The new track, House of 70s evokes Lou Reed’s New York of the early- to mid-70s, distilled into a rock song. The 1960s hippy dream burned out, Altamont in the rear-view mirror — while the queens, the uppers, the downers, and the streets are brought to life by Lou’s pen and guitar, a remorseless sarcasm cutting down the competition with a switchblade, TAXI DRIVER in drag, chain-smoking and blasting the radio at 3 am.
Chris’s obsession with Lou Reed goes back to 1974, when he first spied the cover to “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” while out shopping with his mum in Edinburgh. Something caught his nine year-old eye: a nightmarish yet beautiful photo of a strange yellow ghost, not man not woman, all ghost, as yellow as the sodium street light that illuminated the streets there at night. The ghost seemed to be dancing, arms aloft, blurry jewelry, black lips, dead eyes.
Fast forward to now, and he’s still obsessed with the same photo, and the same man. Chris ended up buying the record in the late 70s or early 80s when he was informed by everything that this untameable spirit was every bit the drug dervish, serpent king of NYC, and the encapsulation and custodian of all the real rock myths, along with IGGY, BOWIE and THE DOLLS.
Doo Wop in the Dark: A Portrait of Lou Reed brings together a unique mix of Lou Reed’s own compositions, spanning his career from the Velvet Underground on, along with Chris’s own songs, detailing the creative and often turbulent path of Reed’s life from his teenage years through to his death in 2013.
The full album will be made available digitally and on double CD while a selection of tracks will be released on a single 12″ vinyl record on October 16th 2026. Pre-orders are now being taken on Bandcamp. A release gig will also be announced shortly — stay tuned!
A new video for the FINI TRIBE track “Me and My Shadow” has been released.
“‘Me and My Shadow’ was taken from our second studio session in spring of 1982. We were all still in secondary school in Edinburgh. In fact, the lyrics were written during a library period in lieu of French studies or some tedious Thomas Hardy novel. This would be the first session with Davie Miller, who had previously been in the formidable band Explode Your Heart,” says Chris Connelly.
“The song addresses identity. Written by a 16-year-old, the lyrics float above a meticulous almost-spy-thriller guitar melody, which anchors the song to a fast-paced mechanical rhythm. At the time, we were swimming around in Can and French Noir, like every schoolboy should.”
“For me, ‘Me and My Shadow’ may be the definitive 80s Fini Tribe recording: Chris words, John’s trippy keyboards, and the prescient motorik metal rhythm (played on a chrome clothes rail, as I recall),” says Andy McGregor.
“I’d say it’s also probably the best recorded example of me ‘at one’ with my RAPIER 44, a red sharkfin plectrum, and a matching kitchen stool. I used to sit down to play most of the time, and I can see why. I don’t know if it was a mistake, but there’s something in the way that the recording starts with the reel to reel getting ‘to speed’ — that is the perfect start to a song that feels like the audio equivalent to a fever-dream motorway timelapse.”
The compilation, THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 was a long time in the making: a labour of love for the band, showcasing our most productive years as a six piece. The compilation of tracks – from professional BBC recordings to live performance and rehearsal room demos – gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987. The compilation is available digitally on all streaming platforms, and as a 3-CD set with 24-page booklet or a single vinyl album with gatefold sleeve and insert from Shipwrecked Industries (distributed by Virtual Label).
WE’RE INTERESTED, a new single and video in support of the forthcoming THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987, is released today. The song was written around 1983-84 and this version was recorded as part of the band’s John Peel session.
Of the track, Chris says:
“We’re Interested” was a watershed moment for the Fini Tribe. Starting with John Vick‘s plaintive piano melody, it invited each member of the group to bring a melancholy laced with an (almost) pop sensibility to the song… inspired by endless walks, bike rides and other shenanigans on the banks of Edinburgh’s Union Canal, one of the many cryptic landmarks of the city that inspired the band. The song IS Edinburgh, more so than most: it is the green of the Braid Burn Valley, the dank history of the band’s Niddry Street rehearsal room, the secret lanes of the New Town.
The version you have here was recorded at BBC Maida Vale studios and produced by Mott the Hoople’s Dale Griffin, who was kind enough to lend his ears to the young Finis that amazing spring Sunday in 1985 when they recorded their first John Peel session. The song became a live favourite, and its haunting melody stretches far over the forty years since its conception.
The compilation, THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 was a long time in the making: a labour of love for the band, showcasing our most productive years as a six piece. The compilation of tracks – from professional BBC recordings to live performance and rehearsal room demos – gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987. The compilation will be released as a 3-CD set with 24-page booklet, a single vinyl album with gatefold sleeve and insert, or digitally on Friday, October 10th, 2025 on Shipwrecked Industries (distributed by Virtual Label).
THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 is a retrospective of the band’s material focusing on the years 1982 to 1987. It was a long time in the making, a labour of love for the band, showcasing their most productive years as a six piece with members CHRIS CONNELLY, ANDY MCGREGOR, DAVID MILLER, SIMON MCGLYNN, PHILIP PINSKY, and JOHN VICK.
Fini Tribe in 1986, photo by Peter Ross
The compilation of tracks — including the legendary JOHN PEEL session from 1985, the original 12” singles including DETESTIMONY and the WAXTRAX! singles, and unreleased live tracks –- gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987. The whole package was lovingly remastered and the album and art was produced by members of the band.
This project will be released as a three-CD digipak with 24-page booklet, a vinyl LP in a gatefold sleeve with insert, and digital download on October 10th 2025 via SHIPWRECKED INDUSTRIES and distributed by VIRTUAL LABEL. Full track listings and other album details are below.
The three-CD digipack includes a 24-page booklet with:
A short essay by SHIRLEY MANSON of GARBAGE
A short essay by ALASTAIR MCKAY, author of Alternatives To Valium: How Punk Rock Saved a Shy Boy’s Life
A long essay by ANDY MCGREGOR
50+ photos and other art
DISC ONE: SINGLES & COMPILATION TRACKS
1. Cathedral (from Curling & Stretching 12”)
2. Backwards and Forwards We Lean (from Curling & Stretching 12”)
3. Curling Theme (from Curling & Stretching 12”)
4. All Fours (From compilation You Bet We’ve Got Something Against You)
5. Detestimony (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
6. Throttlehearts (Rising Mix) (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
7. Adults Absolved (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
8. Monimail (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
9. I Want More (from The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe EP)
10. Idiot Strength (from The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe EP)
11. Make It Internal (from Make it Internal 12” EP)
12. Little Visitors (from Make it Internal 12” EP)
13. All Fours (Remix) (from Censorship Sucks compilation)
14. I Want More (7” Mix) (from The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe EP)
15. Make It Internal (Integrity Mix) (from Make it Internal 12” EP)
DISC TWO: SESSIONS & DEMOS
1. Splash Care (John Peel Session)
2. Goose Duplicates (John Peel Session)
3. An Evening with Clavichords (John Peel Session)
4. We’re Interested (John Peel Session)
5. Paperself
6. Me and My Shadow
7. Goose Duplicates (Instrumental)
8. Splash Care
9. An Evening with Clavichords
10. Goose Duplicates (Vocal Mix)
11. We’re Interested (Instrumental)
12. Big Jug / Wet Steel Rail
13. We’re Interested (Vox)
14. Restless
15. The Cure for Madness
16. Bye Bye to the October Sky
17. The Constant
18. Throttlehearts (vocal version)
DISC THREE: LIVE+
1. Dirty Harry
2. Do We Understand Each Other
3. I Want More
4. Idiot Strength
5. Bye Bye to the October Sky
6. Backwards and Forwards We Lean
7. Cure For Madness
8. Restless
9. Paperself
10. Backwards and Forwards We Lean (Instrumental)
11. Monimail II
12. City on a Fence
13. Torch/Distance
14. Choke
Vinyl LP (SHIP004LP) Track Listing
The vinyl release is a single LP in a gatefold sleeve including:
A short essay by SHIRLEY MANSON of GARBAGE
A short essay by ALASTAIR MCKAY, author of Alternatives To Valium: How Punk Rock Saved a Shy Boy’s Life
A long essay by ANDY MCGREGOR
A special insert with an eye-witness account of the ‘Absolution’ performance by INNES REEKIE
A dozen photos and other art
SIDE ONE
1. Splash Care (Peel Session)
2. We’re Interested (Peel Session)
3. Goose Duplicates (Peel Session)
4. An Evening with Clavichords (Peel Session)
5. Detestimony
SIDE TWO
1. I Want More (7” Edit)
2. Me and My Shadow
3. Paperself (Live at Pleasance)
4. Do We Understand Each Other (Live at Calton Studios)
Album Information
All tracks composed by: CHRIS CONNELLY
ANDY MCGREGOR
DAVID MILLER
SIMON MCGLYNN
PHILIP PINSKY
JOHN VICK
Except for “I WANT MORE” written by KAROLI/CZUKAY/SCHMIDT/LEIBEZEIT/GILMOUR
Album Credits:
Design & art direction: Andy McGregor remixing 1980’s Fini art
Cover art: high school printed t-shirt by Simon McGlynn
Engineering, production, and mixing for each track listed in the metadata document
Album mastered by James Scott, Populist Recording & Mastering
Ahead of the release of THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987, the band re-release the single “I WANT MORE” as well as the video, both originally released in October 1987 by WaxTrax! Records.
Chris recalls:
“I Want More” is a cover of a song by CAN, a firm favourite of the band since even before its inception! We had a great time re-arranging the song and working on its percussion-driven framework. When we approached WaxTrax!, Jim Nash told us that the single by CAN was in heavy rotation always at the WaxTrax! store in Chicago, so we knew we had come to the right place.
The compilation, THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 was a long time in the making: a labour of love for the band, showcasing our most productive years as a six piece. The compilation of tracks – from professional BBC recordings to live performance and rehearsal room demos – gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987.
Listen to Chris talk about Fini Tribe, the compilation, and much more in this interview with Industrial Amputation.
Full details for THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE coming soon!
On the release of WHITE PHOSPHORUS: CHRIS CONNELLY PLAYS THROBBING GRISTLE:
Maybe this is a “full circle” situation. I first heard THROBBING GRISTLE at the BEGINNING of my journey — this would have been very late 1978 or very early 1979 — I read about them in my bible (the ZIGZAG guide to independent labels). But it was hearing HAMBURGER LADY on John Peel, that was the equivalent of seeing “Starman” on Top of the Pops or seeing the Pistols at the Screen on the Green: for me it was being scared shitless in my dark bedroom with my little transistor radio, same as it had been when Peely had played FRANKIE TEARDROP a while prior. I was smitten, in love, you probably were too, you probably know EXACTLY what I am talking about.
I will digress a little from the matter in hand: I corresponded with TG, and formed a friendship that lasts to this day. I explored the music the way you did back then, although theirs was a slick and friendly operation, great postcards, great stickers, a NEWSLETTER!!! And an efficient mail order service, you didn’t have to endure the condescending bastards at the Virgin on Frederick Street to get your hands on the goodies.
And then, a year later, came the live cassettes. After spending every waking moment wondering what the rest of the live performances were like beyond the snippets and tracks we had on the two albums, I could buy the C60 cassettes one at a time and listen at home. I remember my first three: THE BEST OF VOLUME 2, INDUSTRIAL TRAINING COLLEGE WAKEFIELD, and AIR GALLERY/WINCHESTER. I would cycle around Edinburgh with my cassette player in my bike basket playing them, down by the canal, down by the abandoned factory, past the church, past the CO-OP (we didn’t have Tesco yet).
Okay, which brings me to now: I could not have made WHITE PHOSPHORUS any other time: it never occurred to me, and then one day it did, I wanted to make something that reminded me of… that reminded me of… these carefree days soaked in rain through the industrial netherworlds of Edinburgh, those sun-kissed mornings delivering newspapers and listening to “Live at the Rat Club” or “Live at Nuffield Theatre”.
This album is a “full circle” situation for me, but a very personal one, I suppose. I am COMFORTABLE within the abstract madness of THROBBING GRISTLE, much more so than I ever was in the Revolting Cocks, PLEEEAAASE!!!! If you know me, you know that to be true.
WHITE PHOSPHORUS is my fave, my go-to. THEY were the architects, the writers, the attackers, and the jokers. THEY let me in, and I love them for it.
In 1981, JON SAVAGE wrote a brilliant essay called “THE TAPE DECAYS” which came with the TG 5LP box set, released shortly after they split. I bought it, still nursing a very broken heart. The essay unsettled me, because, the tape COULD decay back then in ’81. We didn’t know how digital it would get soon enough, we didn’t know it would be digitized before oxide flaked off like black snow. We’re safe, it’s ok.
The title “WHITE PHOSPHORUS” is exclusively for the deepest TG diver; if you figure out where it’s from, you’re pretty fucking cool — cooler than me!
Chris Connelly
Winchester Hat Fair
1976
WHITE PHOSPHORUS: CHRIS CONNELLY PLAYS THROBBING GRISTLE is available on a limited-edition (300 copies) 180g black vinyl pressing only.
Having carved a twisted career with behemoths MINISTRY and REVOLTING COCKS over the past 40 years, starting life with the formidable FINI TRIBE and collaborating with disparate characters such as KILLING JOKE, CABARET VOLTAIRE, JIM O’ROURKE, and too many others, I have returned to my first love, THROBBING GRISTLE, armed with a cassette recorder, a reel to reel, a razor blade and some tape. I want to invoke the spirit of mid to late 70s live TG: random, tense, scary, and compulsively fascinating. WHITE PHOSPHORUS is for the TG connoisseur, for the morbidly curious, and the tragically dysfunctional amongst us.
I present a video for the track “MOTHER SPUNK” a piece by THROBBING GRISTLE that is so uncompromising that I felt it HAD to be the first single from the album, in true TG style, defying all expectations. “MOTHER SPUNK” was lovingly re-created by me using only the bleakest of antiquated analog equipment under the most excruciating circumstances…
Chris created the cover himself, very much in the spirit of the earliest Throbbing Gristle releases, coming from a 70s Xerox angle. It goes ahead with the blessing of the surviving members of Throbbing Gristle, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The album is pressed on 180g black vinyl and will be available on 30 May 2025 from Dirtier Promotions.
The SEVENDIALS album “A Crash Course in Catastrophe” is out today via Cadiz Music/Creation Youth Music in CD, vinyl, and streaming formats! Also released is a video for a second single, a cover of SPARKS’ “Number One Song in Heaven”.
