500 copies. From 1980 through 1995, Spike was in several Cardiff combos - Table Table, The Gist, Bomb And Dagger, and The Pepper Trees - which shared one thing, the startlingly original singer named Debbie Pritchard. Debbie's oddly innocent vocal style is reminiscent of The Marine Girls (another band with a Young Marble Giants connection!) yet with the feminist impulse of The Raincoats and a rhythmic sensibility rooted in South American and African musical styles. As a body of work, it's gloriously unique, and had they had any budget, promotion and an actual label behind them, well . . . we wouldn't need to explain this to you now, would we? Always Sunshine, Always Rain collects twenty recordings they made in three different bands and during loose recording sessions. Eighteen have never seen meaningful release, and the two that have - No Real Place, from a 7" single, and Strike, from a miner's benefit compilation, likely never found their way past Cardiff city borders. Seaport Town was later revisited by Alison Statton & Spike, and Assured Energy appeared on The Gist's archival album Holding Pattern in vastly different form. Always Sunshine, Always Rain is organised in roughly chronological order, with tracks from Table Table, Bomb And Dagger and The Pepper Trees, and is presented with a booklet of lyrics and a timeline of Spike & Debbie's musical activities.
