Startled Insects - The Antenna Years Startled Insects

WRWTFWW Records presents the first-ever vinyl release of Startled Insects’ 1984-1985 recordings, compiled together as The Antenna Years. This essential Bristol document arrives as a limited-edition LP featuring astonishing artwork, liner notes and a heavyweight sleeve.

In the 1990s, the band released two albums, including the classic Curse Of The Pheromones via Antilles New Directions and Island Records, before evolving into The Insects: acclaimed film composers for the BBC and National Geographic, Emmy winners, and key architects within the Bristol scene, collaborating with Massive Attack, Goldfrapp, Tricky and members of Portishead.

The Antenna Years compiles the independent EPs and mini-LPs Startled Insects released in 1984 and 1985, namely the self-titled Startled Insects and Underworld / Black Spring, alongside two previously unreleased tracks, W.W.W and What A Waste, both of which had only ever been performed live.

Astonishingly futuristic upon their original release in 1984, Startled Insects sounded as though they had arrived from another planet while remaining deeply rooted in Bristol’s underground culture. Abstract electronics, leftfield synth-pop, dub science, gamelan textures, post-punk tension and cinematic atmosphere all collide across The Antenna Years, resulting in a beautifully strange voyage into the sonic unknown.

Four decades later, The Antenna Years still lands like a transmission from the future. Dive in without fear.