NME, 28th March 1981
© 1981 NME
PUBLIC IMAGE LTD:
FLOWERS OF ROMANCE
(Virgin)
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Sheer deloight! - As the fellow himself might say. This is the first PiL single in well over a year, and however dubious their excuses might sound, 'Flowers' is at least fair compensation for all the waiting around.
As title-track, it augurs well for the LP to follow. One of the starkest, most single-minded pieces they've ever done - on first hearing it seems all thudding drum and piercing Lydon whine - 'Flowers' stands supreme this week; one of that tiny handful of records cable of provoking some emotional response in the listener.
Take the time to get to know it, the hypnotic beat, those uniquely chilling vocals - a relentless montone - and the eerie, vaguely Eastern drone at the music's core. On the face of it, 'Flowers of Romance' is hardly a song at all, but on the inside it's really much, much more. Let's have more!
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