Sorry For Laughing, by Josef K

Sorry For Laughing

by Josef K

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1.	Fun 'n' Frenzy (Sorry For Laughing version) 02:10	info	buy track
2.	Heads Watch 02:09	info	buy track
3.	Drone (Sorry For Laughing version) 03:11	info	buy track
4.	Sense of Guilt 03:07	info	buy track
5.	Art of Things 02:21	info	buy track
6.	Crazy to Exist (Sorry For Laughing version) 03:05	info	buy track
7.	Citizens (Sorry For Laughing version) 03:05	info	buy track
8.	Variations of Scene 03:32	info	buy track
9.	Terry's Show Lies 02:50	info	buy track
10.	No Glory 02:38	info	buy track
11.	Endless Soul 02:32	info	buy track
12.	Sorry For Laughing (Sorry For Laughing version) 03:26	info	buy track

about

'Sorry For Laughing' is the legendary first album by cult Scottish guitar group Josef K, recorded for Postcard Records but destined to become one of the great 'lost albums' of the postpunk era.

Recorded at Edinburgh studio Castle Sound in November 1980, 'Sorry For Laughing' was due to be issued on Postcard Records as Postcard 81-1, only to be shelved after the band and label boss Alan Horne decided the 12-song set sounded too polished.

Perhaps two dozen white-label copies in unmade sleeves exist; a few have sold for high prices to collectors. Josef K went on to release their second pass at a debut album, 'The Only Fun In Town', in July 1981, only to split after completing a promotional tour.

This cover replicates the original Robert Sharp artwork proofed for the proposed vinyl, being a solarised portrait of the band atop Calton Hill, printed in a silver pantone.

"There is an urgent, constant motion in the music, dystopian disco rhythms and melodic bass lines, and for a while it seemed that this could be a blueprint for a new kind of art pop. Endless Soul is magnificent. Here the guitars carve out a dramatic space over an ebullient bass and drums groove, before they accelerate together into an exhilarating bridge" (The Wire, 2013)

"They were The Sound of Young Scotland, together with Orange Juice, whose guitars were also radiant and brittle, whose rhythms were also scrubbed and blunt, whose vocals were also proud and serious, but who sounded like another group entirely" (Paul Morley)

"In retrospect, their aborted attempt at a debut album feels much superior to what was finally released. The early versions of the songs sound superbly coiled and keen, the sublime poise of Endless Soul their truly timeless blaze of glory" (Simon Reynolds)

"A moment that didn't last long, but they were terrific. I liked Sorry For Laughing more than the official release" (Jon Savage)

credits

released March 18, 2024

Produced by Josef K. Engineered by Callum Malcolm. Cover art and portrait by Robert Sharp.

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Les Disques du Crépuscule UK

Independent record label founded in Brussels in 1980.

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