Second Layer were an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band formed in 1979 by

Adrian Borland Adrian Kelvin Borland (6 December 1957 – 26 April 1999) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer, best known as the frontman of post-punk band the Sound. Following a substantial musical career spanning numerous group ...

(vocals, guitar) and Graham Bailey (keyboards, bass guitar, drum programming), both members of the Sound.

History

The duo's first release was the ''Flesh as Property'' EP, released in 1979 by Tortch Records. This was followed by another EP the following year, ''State of Emergency''. The band's only studio album, ''World of Rubber'', was recorded in France and released in 1981 by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

. Borland died on 26 April 1999. In 2015, Dark Entries Records reissued the band's entire discography, augmented by five unreleased demo tracks, as the ''World of Rubber'' collection.

Musical style

Andy Kellman of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote that the band "retained some of hefeel" of the Sound, "albeit in a slightly detached fashion that's to be expected when synths and drum machines replace more human elements". In a 2015 retrospective review, ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'' said, "The first thing that's noticeable on listening to ''World Of Rubber'' is how utterly different the sound and aesthetic of Second Layer is compared to that of the Sound. While the Sound had songs of gloomy introspection and a sweeping romanticism, Second Layer strips all of that away, leaving in its place a monochrome worldview morbidly obsessed with the dehumanising effect of war, nuclear weapon annihilation, and the fracturing and negation of the self within an increasingly distorted and technologically mediated society."

Discography

; Studio albums * ''World of Rubber'' (1981,

) ; EPs * ''Flesh as Property E.P.'' (1979, Tortch Records) * ''State of Emergency E.P.'' (1980, Tortch Records) ; Compilation albums * ''World of Rubber'' (2015, Dark Entries Records)

References

External links

* {{The Sound English post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1979 English musical duos Rock music duos Male musical duos Cherry Red Records artists