Bikini Red by Screaming Blue Messiahs

Bikini Red, the Screaming Blue Messiahs' third release and the follow-up to Gun-Shy, came out on Elektra in 1987, and it's a London power trio playing like they've got something to prove. Bill Carter sings and plays guitar, Chris Thompson holds down the bass and Kenny Harris the drums, and they grind rhythm and blues, punk and rockabilly into one ferocious racket, the pub rock and punk circuit still in their bones.

Vic Maile produced it, one of the last records he made, a man whose resume ran through Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton. "I Wanna Be a Flintstone" is the one to start with, played at full throttle. And they had a famous fan: David Bowie spent 1987 and early 1988 telling interviewers the Messiahs were the best band he'd heard out of England in ages.

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