Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 5. March 30 1981
The Affectionate Punch
The Affectionate Punch
Stunn records continue their policy of making the otherwise-unobtainable readily accessible: The Cure, The Passions, now The Associates. The Affectionate Punch is, so the saying goes, 'from the album of the same name'. Derivative? This group sounds more like Bowie than Bowie himself does these days, turning the clock back to the time of Heroes. A tumult of dilated, Tom Verlaine-like guitar sounds wash over the instrumental attack, cancelling the 'Bowie clone' accusations before they have a chance to stick.
The lyrics aren't much help, either. They give the impression of having been pieced together ('Cut-up'? Bowie again) without any unifying vision or fusion. The Affectionate Punch draws blood, but conforms too readily to its own boundaries.
A thoroughly unsatisfying song, but not necessarily unfulfilled - it just doesn't slot nicely into any pre-conceived ideas, that's all. No reason to ignore it, and every reason to suss out the long player when the opportunity arises.
Paul Sheehan