Young Marble Giants "Colossal Youth"

The Welsh post-punk band Young Marble Giants released their only studio album, "Colossal Youth", in February 1980 under Rough Trade Records. The opportunity to record the album came after Rough Trade heard two of their songs on a local music compilation. The band members, Alison Statton (vocals), Philip Moxham (bass), and Stuart Moxham (guitar and main songwriter), formed the band in 1979 after their previous band, True Wheel, disbanded. The album was recorded over five days in a small studio in North Wales, engineered by Dave Anderson, former member of Amon Düül II and Hawkwind.

Despite having no prior knowledge of music production, the band kept the production deliberately simple, resulting in a minimalistic sound with many of the band's first takes and minimal overdubbing. Critic Richie Unterberger regarded "Colossal Youth" as one of the most highly regarded indie cult post-punk recordings with a unique hushed and minimal atmosphere. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain considered it one of the ten most influential records he ever heard and included it in his list of fifty favourite albums. Courtney Love's band, Hole, later recorded "Credit in the Straight World" on their second album, "Live Through This".

The Magnetic Fields's debut album "Distant Plastic Trees" was inspired by "Colossal Youth", and they covered "The Man Amplifier". In 2007, Domino Recording Company released an expanded reissue of the album, and in 2009, the band performed the album live as part of the Don't Look Back series. In 2020, Rolling Stone listed "Colossal Youth" as one of the 80 greatest albums of 1980, praising the band for creating an arresting, quiet sound.