Pink Military - Do Animals Believe in God? (1980)

“Jayne Casey's post-Big in Japan endeavor, Pink Military, was quickly snapped up by Virgin after critical accolades showered their 1979 single "Blood and Lipstick." Nearly a year later, and sporting a new rhythm section, Pink Military released the wonderfully moody Do Animals Believe in God?. The LP would become both their debut effort and swan song. Alternative beats which border on darkwave inform much of this set, and Casey keeps the mood sweet and melancholy, but imbues the songs with an edge that barely conceals her sharper points. This works to wonderful effect on many of the songs, but most especially on "I Cry," which crossed U.K. post-punk ethics with a smidgen of Nico and a little Rocky Horror Picture Show thrown in for kicks. "Did You See Her?," the album's lone single, keeps the vocal range low but brightens the vibe with some lighthearted synth. Elsewhere, the band continues to shine on "Back on the London Stage," as well as on the dramatic title track -- sung, incidentally, by an unidentified bandmember. Pink Military only falters when they step into the more experimental waters of "Living in a Jungle" and "War Games." Sadly, this wonderful album fared poorly, leaving Casey to regroup and redefine the band's dimension, burying Pink Military and giving birth to the new era of Pink Industry in 1982.” Amy Hanson, All Music Guide

This is how Jayne Casey describes her time with the band:

There were several line-up changes in Pink Military before the first LP. Tell us about that.
JC: “I can't even remember. Pink Military was a bit of a dry period really. I met a girl recently who was sort of talking to me about it, and I didn't know any of the songs she was talking about, so I said, "Honest to god, I'm sorry, I can't talk about it because I haven't heard any of the stuff for years." So she found me an LP in a second-hand shop and gave it to me as a present. It was funny listening to it, because of everything that I knew wasn't gonna work at the time. I was saying to the musicians, "You know, this is not right." Still listening to it now, I was totally right to have that view. It was quite a difficult time, because the whole music scene was very rock-oriented, and the technology hadn't moved at that point to easily encompass what you were doing on a street level, so it was dead difficult. It was the hardest time I ever had you know, dealing with a rock drummer and saying "Oh, just kill those rolls." I wanted to be like an electronic Edith Piaf or something, but it just wasn't happening, I had these "rock drummers" (laughs). At the beginning of Pink Military, it was just like I wanted to do something that everyone would hate, because I'd had so much hassle for years. I wanted to do something that was so uncool. So I found the weirdest-looking kind of New York Dolly hippie types and just put them all together, and just went "fuck off!" So it sort of went through different phases. I think that's my most hateful period, Pink Military.”
(interviewed for Caught In Flux #2, 1993 interview by Lin Sangster)

Do Animals Believe in God? (1980 LP Virgin / Godnull)
A1 Degenerated Man
A2 I Cry
A3 Did You See Her
A4 Wild West
A5 Back On The London Stage
A6 After Hiroshima
B1 Living In The Jungle
B2 Dreamtime
B3 War Games
B4 Heaven / Hell
B5 Do Animals Believe In God?