Will Anything Happen CD

Formed in Edinburgh in 1984, Shop Assistants fast became cult heroes within the UK's blossoming independent music scene. Curiously, they only ever released a sole album, which remains hard to find despite previous reissues. This new remastered edition of the 1986 is well worth picking up, and not just because it includes two rare bonus tracks (the 'Slow Version' of 'All Day Long' is particularly good). Musically, the band's blend of alternately jangling and raucous guitar riffs, restless bass, punk influences, female lead vocals and subtle nods to contemporaries such as the Smiths is as attractive now as it was back in the mid 1980s, when the John Peel favourites were a regular fixture in student union venues and independent-minded gig spaces.