The art of the compilation album has been cheapened somewhat by record labels looking to make a quick buck by haphazardly throwing a bunch of tracks together. However, a well thought out collection can really capture the essence of a band (and I’d choose The Best Of Blondie over Parallel Lines any day) and that’s exactly what Déjà Vu: Recollection & Rarities 1986-2026 does. Released to commemorate Venus Fly Trap’s fortieth anniversary, Déjà Vu eschews the usual compilation format and intersperses the band’s singles with b-sides, rare cuts and all sorts of curios to make Déjà Vu strangely familiar but also fresh and exciting.
The left field approach of this album becomes immediately obvious with opening track, the highly addictive ‘Morphine’. Venus Fly Trap’s debut single, it’s the original version that’s included and is a far darker rendition that’s more in tune with the band’s post-punk/gothic roots. Along with the following ‘How The Mighty’ (b-side to ‘Morphine’) it presents a sound that will be familiar to anyone who grew up in 1980’s Britain and encapsulates industrial decline, rainswept railway platforms and grey, leaden skies. While the band were always in perpetual motion, this couplet introduces themes that will echo throughout, namely a cinematic quality and a propensity to lean towards the darker side of life. In fact, listening to this album in one sitting (recommended) gives an indication of the band’s creative arc; the huge, gravitational pull of ‘Europa’ foreshadowed the metallic punch found on Luna Tide, whilst the dazzling, neon-lit aesthetic of ‘Achilles Heel’ would later come to fruition on Icon. The filmic quality of the aforementioned ‘How The Mighty’ signposts ‘Pulp Sister’, a track that’s crying out to be included on a Tarantino soundtrack and as such, Déjà Vu makes it easy to join the dots and plot the bands trajectory.
There was always a duality to the band’s approach, those pristine singles made for the spotlight’s glare alongside more experimental songs that hid themselves away in the dark corners. It means those unfamiliar with Venus Fly Trap will delight in the string of pearls, whilst those already acquainted will enjoy unearthing the rarities. The b-sides are most illuminating, perhaps unwittingly, and were released in an age where bands would expend a lot of effort on the flip sides. Likewise, ‘See No Evil’ was too good to be hidden away on a cover mount CD (remember those?), and now gets it proper place on Déjà Vu. Cover versions are also an important part of Venus Fly Trap’s oeuvre, but they weren’t mere facsimiles (we have the originals for that) and the band added a touch of glam to Suicide’s ‘Rocket USA’, they caught The Cramps’ ‘Human Fly’ in their sticky jaws and regurgitated it as something new, and in a strange case of musical cannibalism covered Religious Overdose’s ‘Control Addicts’.
Despite the various line-ups and the years that separate these tracks, this is a collection that hangs together very well. It comes full circle with the retro electronica of ‘Bebe’ (kind of like Kraftwerk updated for the new generation) and gives no indication of where Venus Fly Trap might go next, but for now, experience a strange case of Déjà Vu.
- Déjà Vu is released via Glass Modern on 12th July 2026.
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Track List:
- Morphine
- How The Mighty
- Desolation Railway
- Up There
- Rocket USA
- Cloud Nine Lips
- Europa
- Achilles Heel
- Moscow Menagerie
- Pulp Sister
- 13 O’Clock
- See No Evil
- Metropolis
- Sabotage
- Human Fly
- Gemini Lounge
- Vitesse
- Voodoo Voodoo
- Control Addicts
- Bebe
