Agreed Lee,they had not found their identity quite yet,still searching for that "Simple Minds" sound,indeed,if you were to hear this without identification,it could have been any one of 1000's of New Wave bands around at the time.As you say,not great,but not too bad for a debut 6/10
Yes, this was their debut. A band that had many incarnations until they finally broke through. Some of them better than what they became known for and some (as is the case here) worse. This is the sound of a band looking for direction or a sound. It's not bad but it's a disjointed collection of ideas and songs that show some promise.
Was this their debut?,only we have "Real To Real Cacophony" listed first chronologically for the vinyl album.Only Discogs also puts "Real To Real.." at the top of their list,i.e,earliest,and yet,they have a date of Nov '79 for "Real To Real..",and May '79 for "Life In A Day"?.
In the liner notes for "Real To Real Cacophony",it also says..."Recorded and mixed September '79"?