Awlright, let us just quickly recap what’s going down for those with a limited attention span. The Lime Spiders were an Australian post-punk unit resurrecting the trashier elements of '60s garage and psychedelic rock with wilful abandon. Vocalist Mick Blood formed the band in the early '80s with guitarist Gerald Corben, bassist Tony Bambach and drummer Ricky Lawson. The band recorded two singles during 1983 (released on the Slave Girl EP two years later) and signed to Virgin Records. Lime Spiders' first album was the excellent The Cave Comes Alive! Brief and not factually correct, but close enough. Rather than imitating any specific genre, this quartet from Sydney, Australia synthesizes an original version of that musical era with searing guitars, Tony Bambach’s exceptional bass work, occasional churning organ, rave-up drumming and Mick Blood’s hardy singing. Sketchy but unaffected production allows the group to colour their songs (plus a swell cover of Cream’s “NSU” and a couple of more obscure non-originals) in different shades of black leather, dayglo green and deep purple. For me this was the Lime Spiders' finest snarling debut, who owed a huge debt to the 60’s. It's more than mere rawk, it peaks here-n-there into the territory of tongue-in-cheek genius. Compared with other Spiders' releases “The Cave” packs a big punch, gut-slamming casual listeners into bonafide fans.
Meanwhile, the six-track EP, Slave Girl, had reached the top of the United States college radio chart. It remained there long enough to generate interest in the group. With the release of the album, the band supported The Cult on their Australian leg of the Electric album national tour. Jakimyszyn left the band again shortly afterwards. At the end of the year they began a North American tour spanning two months of shows in major US cities and several in Canada. The tour included supporting Faith No More and, for the final thirteen shows, supporting Public Image Ltd. Rolling Stone magazine described them as sounding like "the Sex Pistols on acid" (what the actual fuck does Rolling Stone know?). If you're curious about this band and just want one album to start with then this is the one to grab.