05/03/2026
Excited to announce the next release on Arkived State - a label dedicated to unearthing 'lost' demos and unreleased albums - is the long overdue release of Just Hip's 'Gobsmacked'. All proceeds will go to mental health charity MIND.
Dating back to 1986/87, Gobsmacked is a collection that shows that Just Hip existing somewhere between Sadchester's lingering shadows and Madchester's impending, wide-eyed chemical dawn. They understood the ineffable connection between the bubblegum pop perfection of Monkees soundtracks and the cerebral dissonance of Bogshed b-sides. The percussive, tribal geometry of 23 Skidoo and the purple majesty of Prince. They were a knot of improbable influences.These four unlikely lads - Sean Albiez (Guitar, Keyboards, Drum Programming) , Kris Turski (Bass) , Zbig Ucinek (Keyboards, Vocals) , and Tim Difford (Lead Vocals, Bass) - jammed their way into a secret history.
Zoom forward to 2019, and the untimely departure of key Just Hip vibes-man Zbigniew Ucinek - who was, weeks before his death, obsessively pricing up vinyl pressings of the band’s recordings - reignited a drive that had been dormant for almost 40 years. Zbig had faith in the music that the others didn't quite share. Now, in a remarkable act of technical and musical vision, Sean has reunited with Tim and Kris, not in a rehearsal room, but in the echoing, infinite space of possibilities afforded by contemporary digital music production. Using a number of digital production tools, the original, cassette-quality recordings have been used in a process that has painstakingly and miraculously brought Just Hip's music into focus and back to life. The result retains the essence of the bands original recorded performances, and perhaps indicates where they were headed if they'd had more time in those liminal sad, mad inbetween days. An uncanny resurrection, and - the remaining Just Hip band members feel - a justification of Zbig's profound, absolute belief.
The new release, 'Gobsmacked' on Arkived State, is more than a compilation; it is a resurrection, a 40-year-old mystery trip brought back into glorious reality. It is a monument to the road not taken, an epochal album released four decades late, proving that the music that truly matters never really dies.
Alongside the new album (available on streaming), a compilation of original recordings will be released via Bandcamp. This 20-track album Gobsmacked [Original Demos and Live Recordings] collects all original studio recordings made in Leeds and Strawberry Studios, as well as versions of the songs from a Leeds Polytechnic concert on 18th February 1987.
