THE KANE GANG
THE BAD AND LOWDOWN WORLD OF
DEMON
★★★★
Signed to Kitchenware alongside Prefab Sprout, with whose Paddy McAloon they’d been poised to start a label, The Kane Gang may be unwittingly best known for their 1985 debut’s squidgy groove, Smalltown Creed, which provided both the “Ooh, Gary Davies” Radio 1 jingle and Byker Grove’s theme tune. Naturally, though, as part of a wave of white boy soul first provoked by Steely Dan and Hall & Oates – then caught by, among others, Simply Red’s debut the same year and Curiosity Killed The Cat – The Kane Gang deserve better. Maybe this Gary Crowley-sponsored green vinyl reissue will remind folk of their greater virtues.