In March'84 , Steve Mack, a Seattle native who had recently arrived in London, showed up on a rehearsal. He got the job, they changed their name, and THAT PETROL EMOTION was ready to enter the musical scene.

The first thing Steve had to do was to to re-record the vocals for "Keen" and "A great depression on a slum night", which had been recorded about a week earlier with Raymond and Damian taking lead vocals respectively.

After several months waiting for McGee to sort it all out, they where thinking on returning to Ireland and calling it quits. But then The Pink Label came to the rescue, and they went into studio. In September 1985 THAT PETROL EMOTION released two singles "Keen" / "A great depression on a slum night" on The Pink Label, and "V2 / "Happiness drives me round the bend" on their own label "Noiseanoise".They released their debut album MANIC POP THRILL in 1986, on Demon Records.

The album was immediately hailed as a stunning indie debut. They had a strong political agenda, and the inner sleeve of the alnum was adorned with anti-British notes, containing a passage from Irish Republican Michael Dacitt`s 1904 tract, "The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland" More...

ESMARK
That Petrol Emotion site

Every now and again a band comes along that refashions the very fabric that rock'n'roll's rich tapestry is made from. And, as is the way, it is more often than not that it is these innovatory forces that fail to achieve the critical claim they deserve. Step forward That Petrol Emotion.

DENZIL WATSON