Said at the time to have been "recorded on a hand-cranked, mud-cooled, reel-to-reel, sound-on-sound tape recorder," the early works of Martin Newell and his Cleaners from Venus represent the very best of the quirky lo-fi tape community that was sprouting up everywhere in the backs of alternative music magazines in the early '80s. There's plenty of quirk in Newell's songs—weird noises that poke through the primitive performances—but what holds them together is a beautiful sense of melody. "Marilyn on a Train," "Helpless," "Modern TV," and "Winter in the Country" have a wistful presence that back in those days felt like a postcard from the British Isles from a lonely Soft Boys/Ray Davies/XTC fan. Sometimes it's a wonder these songs hold together as well as they do; they sound so fragile. Harmonies slide into view, as bass lines have a likably basic feel and guitars chime like no one wanted to disturb the neighbors. This is an expanded version of the original album, with a wealth of surprises.