Ask yourself this…were you the sort in the very early 90’s that had permanently scabbed knees, a dislocated ankle, wore shorts designed for a fat lad, had a vocabulary consisting solely of ‘dude’, ‘radical’ or ‘stoked’ and used to hurling yourself onto dangerous things such as building sites and stair handrails on nothing more than an elongated roller skate?
If not then you were most probably not a skateboarder and will have no idea about this band or album. If you answered yes to the above then you may well worshiped this album as it was probably the soundtrack to the various skateboarding injuries your parents hoped their medical insurance would cover.
However it is all very strange as to how this band ended up being used on skate videos by notable skate institutions such as Hocus Pocus and Shackle Me Not as they were very far removed from the typical adrenaline fueled power-punk bands that skates dudes tended to adopt such as NoFX, The Offspring or any number of bands that the Jackass gentlemen suggested were relevant when they would not stuffing snakes, fireworks and all manner of unpleasantness into each others orifices.
Rather than referencing any semblance of punk, the sound of The Cry is an ultimately cool mix of the cool sparse and dark arrangements of early 80’s post-punk (a track such as Twist of Fate certainly reminds me of post Pornography era The Cure) and the late 80’s jangle sound of crystal clear chiming guitars. Added to this was the vocal delivery of a chap only known as Blaise who appeared to be five years ahead of his time, flitting about with a slightly deadpan, flat, British accent which (despite the band having roots in San Diego) which referenced a more high pitched version of some of the Britpop vocalist that came soon after.
The better moments of this superb album are the jangle moments. With the last four tracks (see Trees above which is arguably the most beautiful among stiff competition) of the album forcing this Pommie janglepop addict imto repeated listens over the years and virtually wearing out my cassette copy until someone with ‘young skills’ apparently ‘ripped’ it to MP3 for me.
Although to my knowledge the much talked about CD re-issue never happened, the digital download is now available on CDbaby and iTunes and can be listened to for free at Soundcloud as well. Grab hold of the chance while it is still there.
Artist Links
janglepophub.home.blog 
Heard twist of fate for The first time recently and thought it was a classic early britpop record I'd never heard of for some reason or a manchester factory records type offering that got swept under the carpet. Been trying to search for details on it. Such a stunning tune.
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Hi William – it is a stunning tune indeed. One of the band members Jeff Berkley has remained extremely active in the music industry (both from the perspective of his own music and running his own label)…discogs has all his social media sites here https://www.discogs.com/artist/1596447-Jeff-Berkley….Why not give him shout. Old musos always seem surprised and delighted when people love their long lost treasures.Thanks for reading the article and your interest in the blog…Darrin (JPH)
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I've just messaged Jeff Berkley regarding that tune basically saying how I thought it was a classic madchester club anthem nobody informed me about. I'm gonna listen to it again now. Thanks for replying BTW.
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Let me know if he responds William. I would love to interview him relating to this album/band.
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This is his reply. Thanks man! Just a bunch of kids from Vista California who loved the music you’re talking about. We’ve been back together writing and recording. It won’t be long till there’s something new out. Check us out on Spotify for now.
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Great stuff William…cannot wait for their new stuff. I will drop him a line and see if I can get an interview ! Thanks for your help/interest
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thecryofficial instagram
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Hey DarrinThis is Dave Nilson the guitarist of the Cry. We have been writing new tunes and heading to the studio soon. We are in the very early processes of getting Beautiful Reasons out on vinyl. If youd like to get in touch with us my email is djnilson@cox.netThank you for the review.
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Great will drop you a mail this and see if I can persuade you to grant us an interview…as you can see the JPH readership remember the band with great affection.
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Many thanks ! Looks like we have got hold of them now.
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Artist Links don’t work, Thanks.
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Both Soundcloud and CDBaby dead links since the review was written…now changed to their Instagram link. Thanks for letting me know…Regards Darrin
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