Colchester's Modern English made several albums in the 80's each one gaining more inroads into the American charts than the last. However, it is clear from their first album, Mesh & Lace that their brand of doomy, intense post-punk was far more interesting than subsequent, more commercial efforts. The inner sleeve shows the band dressed in white looking thoroughly miserable so it's no surprise that the music they made at this time was no different. This is a very interesting period piece though; singer Robie (not Robbie) Grey's voice gives new meaning to the word monotone but it's the instruments which help to build the atmosphere most of all; the chilling, radio commnetary on '16 Days' and the rapid drum fills on 'The Token Man'. On some tracks no words are spoken until a few minutes of menacing bass guitar and keyboard-driven 'melody' have set the tone. It's all a bit heavy going for 70-odd minutes (thanks to the generous Aand B sides offered on this re-issue) but it is very rarely dull.

Despite the afore-mentioned inroads into the rock mainstream, 'After The Snow' is an album which possesses several gems such as the title track. The breakthrough hit, 'Melt With You', sounds rather weak and dated now although it was used in a recent Burger King advert. The general sound of the album is less murky which is a good thing in terms of tunes but some of the mystery is lost on the weaker-sounding recordings.