How Do You Follow Up Shop Assistants?

With Chin Chin, of course. The female Swiss trio knew the Shop Assistants quite well. They toured parts of Europe together back in the day and, for a spell, were peers on the legendary 53rd & 3rd label, run by Stephen Pastel and others. Chin Chin's sound owes a bit more to first-generation punk bands like Ramones and the Clash, as well as '60s girl groups, but their sound is only a tad left of Shop Assistants and others among the C86 movement.

Chin Chin is another one of those bands whose work was damn near impossible to find... until two years ago when my heroes at Slumberland reissued the 1985 'Sounds of the Westway' album. Here's what I had to say about it then. If you don't have this one, you may be out of luck. It appears to be out of print again. Give these a listen and think about the bevy of bands out there right now that owe a lot to this nearly forgotten record.

Chin Chin - Dark Days (mp3)
Chin Chin - My Guy(mp3)