Album Review: Diverse Reality (Countdown to Pharmageddon 3) by Paranoid Visions (by Rich Bailey)

Dublin-based Paranoid Visions rode in on the second wave of punk around 1982 and followed more in the footsteps of anarcho-punks like Crass, Flux of Pink Indians and Poison Girls than typical UK ’82 bands along the lines of The Exploited, Anti Nowhere League or Chron Gen. They’ve had many personnel changes over the years and had some great guest vocalists – especially Steve Ignorant; and distributed many EPs, LPs and split singles, most of which have had limited releases on their own FOAD label (I’ll leave you to work out what the acronym stands for!). ‘Diverse Reality’ is the third long player that loosely links the two previous releases under the additional guise of Pharmageddon parts 1, 2 and 3 – namely Adverse Reality, Corona-Verse Reality and this one.

Alphabetty Spaghetti starts with a thudding bassline and a jangly, trebly guitar riff with a litany of guest vocalists (including TV Smith of Adverts, UK Sub Charlie Harper, Steve Ignorant of Crass, Segs from The Ruts and John Robb – Membranes & Goldblade – as well as journo from Louder Than War) reciting letters from the alphabet. The remainder of the song is a punked up version of “A is for …, B is for …, C is for …” etc. etc. I can pretty much guarantee you haven’t heard anything like this before!

Once Bitten Twice Shite is a short, punchy song that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Dead Kennedy’s Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables album; the vocal style is certainly reminiscent of Jello Biafra.

Solidarnosc 21 charts the rise of the far right in Poland whilst lamenting the demise of Lech Welesa: “Lech Welesa’s been forgotten, now the jackboots start to march; for a land that fought for freedom, to a land that lives in chains”. A great post-1989 Eastern European History lesson.

A&E, IOU (Irritable Vowel Syndrome) is a minute and half poem about a two tier health system (remember, this is a band from Ireland where the NHS doesn’t exist) that only helps the rich and insured “I’m sick and it’s not funny, and the Doctor knows it’s true; I’m in Accident & Emergency, and they don’t take IOU”. Reminds me of one of John Cooper Clarke’s more bleak recitals.

Stealing the Sun is quite a mellow number about living the best life you can whilst the world around you turns to shit. The opening bassline is very Stranglers-esque and the vocal and guitar arrangement evokes Magazine.

Alarm Clocks is a metronomic track about how everyone’s lives have become so timetabled and regulated that they can be depended upon to basically tell us what the hour is at any given time. Robotic and hypnotic; a true ‘wake up call’ (!).

The second longest song on the LP, Art Is A Hammer, is a lament about how safe art has become; it’s no longer a cutting edge medium that asks questions of the viewer, it’s just become safe and stale and shocking for the sake of it whilst trying to maximise profits and income for all involved. The vocal style is bored and humdrum to reflect what the band thinks art – in all its forms – has become.

Life No More is a pedestrian, straight forward track about the persistent lying of the “Welfare bastards and undeserving well-to-dos” with a great guitar solo in the middle section.

Another spoken word track, Times And Ages is a story from cradle to grave where time watches on unconcerned and unsympathetic as people go about their lives constantly clock watching.

Shepherd’s Warning is a classic example of what anarcho-punk is all about; dual vocals, pounding rhythm section and political lyrics – reminiscent of later outputs by The Mob.

The album closer and longest song Home Alone Forever has a gothic feel and reminds me of early solo Nick Cave. It’s a repetitive, poignant story about dying alone at the end of a long – and not necessarily healthy – life. “Alone, alone, alone, alone, forever; I’m alive but I’m dead inside, and if I die I will not cry … I breathe through these damn machines”.

This is an album that needs to be focused on; a little like a damned good novel.

Stream and download Diverse Reality (Countdown to Pharmageddon 3) on Bandcamp here.

Like Paranoid Visions on Facebook here.

This review was written by Rich Bailey.