A band that was formed out of the ashes of The Undertones in 1984/85. It was always going to be tough for That Petrol Emotion to emerge from the shadow of The Undertones. To my ears they succeeded. They were a sonically more challenging band and by getting a less pop sound they seemed to shed the historical baggage that The Undertones had. Their debut LP - 'Manic Pop Thrill' was released in 1986. The band came to an end in the mid 1990's as a wave of indifference took over and the musical times changed . I have to say revisiting That Petrol Emotion is strange. The band were indie, but they didn't have a very 'indie' sound. They were like a weird cross of the pop end of Sonic Youth and something more shiny. More polished. Dare I say INXS?
I still think the band have a couple of LPs that stand the test of time relatively well. Those being their major label debut - "Babble" - which they were going to call Psycho Babble but feared comparison to then massive Jesus and Mary Chain. The other LP I really still enjoy was their 4th - Chemicrazy (which was released in 1990). I still need to revisit their first 'Manic Pop Thrill' and third LPs 'End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues' before passing judgment. As my old copies are now long lost. Either way. Here's a couple of downloads I found. These are rarer B sides / early single tracks.
That Petrol Emotion - V2 from 1985 .
That Petrol Emotion - Creeping To Your Cross (live) from 1987.
I found these tracks at the very comprehensive That Petrol Emotion fan site. The site seems to rotate some more of the obscure That Petrol Emotion's back catalogue.
If you'd like i'll be posting "that petrol emotion" mp3's on my blog in a week or two. Pass anytime:
http://mookamotel.blogspot.com