I Can't Escape Myself

The Sound were one of the most criminally overlooked bands of the post-punk era. Adrian Borland — their singer, songwriter, and guitarist — possessed one of the most powerful voices in British rock and wrote with a directness and emotional urgency that put him in a different category from most of his contemporaries.

I Can't Escape Myself, from their 1980 debut Jeopardy, announces Borland's gift immediately: the melody immediately memorable, the guitar tone huge for 1980, the lyric of the title making its confession in four words.

Borland's death by suicide in 1999 ended the possibility of the reassessment he deserved in his lifetime. The Sound's catalog has been reissued repeatedly by fans who know what was overlooked.