Playing with a Different Sex

Many of the songs on the album deal with sexual politics. In "Repetition", a David Bowie cover, domestic violence is explored ("I guess the bruises won't show/If she wears long sleeves"), and the possessiveness underlying an open relationship is pilloried in "We're So Cool" ("you must admit/I'm prepared to share/At off-peak times").{{sfn|Gaar|2002|p=204}}

Allegations of rape and torture of Irish women imprisoned in the city of Armagh in Northern Ireland are the core content of the song "Armagh", which challenges the notion that "civilized nations" do not torture.For context of allegations of abuse against women in Armagh Prison in the late 1970s and early 1980s, see {{cite book |last=Murray |first=Raymond |year=1998 |title=Hard Time: Armagh Gaol 1971–1986 |publisher=Mercier Press |isbn=1-85635-223-4}} The refrain, "We don't torture, we're a civilized nation / We're avoiding any confrontation / We don't torture..." is repeated throughout the song. The lyrics point out that the "American hostages in Iran, [are] heard daily on the news..." while "You can ignore the 32." They continue: "There are 32 women in Armagh jail / Political prisoners here at home," before describing alleged incidents of abuse. The song led to limited distribution of the album in Ireland, when Northern Irish record distributors refused to carry it.{{sfn|Reddington|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=l5l4PiOfYTcC&pg=PA136 136]}}

The song "Come Again" refers to the social pressure to "achieve orgasmic equality";{{cite magazine |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4133 |title=The Au Pairs: Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology |magazine=Blender |accessdate=2 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019160807/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4133 |archive-date=19 October 2006 |url-status=dead}} a 1982 profile in Mother Jones notes that the song depicts sex "as a dreary ritual in which partners as joyless as lab rats press bars and nose buttons in the hopes of an orgasm as dry and quantifiable as kibble."{{cite magazine |last=Swartley |first=Ariel |date=June 1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA29 |title=Girls! Live! On Stage! |magazine=Mother Jones |issn=0362-8841 |volume=7 |issue=5 |accessdate=9 June 2013 |pages=25–31}} The song, directed at "those who changed the game" and "brought in new rules", asks "is it real? Are you feeling it?", before turning into a dialogue between the female lead singer and male back up who is evidently attempting to satisfy her: "Am I doing it right?" he asks, and the woman reassures him, "You're not selfish/You're trying hard to please me – please, please me/Is your finger aching?/I can feel you hesitating." The song was banned from the BBC, who feared parental backlash.{{sfn|Taormino|Green|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=WlH4QmUJE44C&pg=PA101 101]}}{{sfn|Reddington|2007|p=135}}

The album was reissued in 1992 on CD by RPM Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records, with an additional eight tracks, consisting of singles, remixes and previously unreleased songs.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |last=Dougan |first=John |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/playing-with-a-different-sex-mw0000850537 |title=Playing with a Different Sex – The Au Pairs |website=AllMusic |accessdate=9 June 2013}}

| rev2 = Pitchfork

| rev2score = 9.3/10{{cite web |last=Kemp |first=Sophie |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/au-pairs-playing-with-a-different-sex/ |title=Au Pairs: Playing with a Different Sex Album Review |website=Pitchfork |date=17 December 2023 |access-date=17 December 2023}}

| rev3 = Record Mirror

| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Mark |date=23 May 1981 |title=Between the sheets |magazine=Record Mirror |page=22}}

| rev4 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{sfn|Halasa|1983|p=19}}

| rev5 = The Village Voice

| rev5score = B+{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=5 October 1981 |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv10-81.php |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide |newspaper=The Village Voice |accessdate=5 February 2018}}

}}

In a 1981 review for Record Mirror, Mark Cooper wrote that the Au Pairs' "critique of all forms of possession and sexual stereotyping assumes a devastating power." Playing with a Different Sex was ranked at number 17 on NME{{'}}s list of the best albums of 1981.{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/bestalbumsandtracksoftheyear/1981-2-1045398 |title=1981 Best Albums And Tracks Of The Year |website=NME |date=10 October 2016 |accessdate=14 February 2018}}

Describing the album in The Rough Guide to Rock (2003), Owen James referred to the band's mix of humour and righteous anger, stating "They don't make them like this anymore."{{sfn|James|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&pg=PT54 54]}} In 2002's She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll, Gillian G. Gaar suggested that "the taut rhythms and aggressive lyrics of Different Sex make it a classic example of how the influence of punk could steer rock into exciting new areas."{{sfn|Gaar|2002|p=204}} The song "Diet", originally released as a single in 1980 and recorded for a session for BBC Radio 1 in 1981, was later released on Equal but Different (1994), a compilation of twenty of the band's BBC performances, and included on the extended reissue of Playing with a Different Sex; it was described by Fact as a "masterpiece of feminist rock" with an almost unparalleled "power and pathos".{{cite magazine |last=Marcus |first=Tony |url=http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/da/12170 |title=The Au Pairs |magazine=Fact |accessdate=2 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928173032/http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/da/12170 |archive-date=28 September 2006 |url-status=dead}}

In a 2023 review for Pitchfork, Sophie Kemp called it "an oblique piece of music" and "one of those records that requires you to rewire your brain a little bit. They play with dissonance and repetition, taking one phrase and beating it into the ground until it becomes less of an earworm and more of an absurdist echolalia".

All tracks are written by Paul Foad, Peter Hammond, Jane Munro and Lesley Woods, except where noted.

1. "We're So Cool" – 3:29
2. "Love Song" – 2:51
3. "Set-Up" – 3:21
4. "Repetition" (David Bowie) – 3:34
5. "Headache for Michelle" – 6:39

1. "Come Again" – 3:54
2. "Armagh" – 3:37
3. "Unfinished Business" – 3:29
4. "Dear John" – 2:57
5. "It's Obvious" – 6:19

1. "You" – 2:52
2. "Domestic Departure" – 2:22
3. "Kerb Crawler" – 2:47
4. "Diet" – 4:19
5. "It's Obvious" (single version) – 5:47
6. "Inconvenience" (12" version) – 2:56
7. "Pretty Boys" – 3:40
8. "Headache for Michelle" (remix) – 6:38

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=Playing with a Different Sex |others=Au Pairs |publisher=Human Records |year=1981 |id=HUMAN 1 |type=liner notes}}

Au Pairs

• Jane Munro – bass guitar, production
• Lesley Woods – guitar, vocals, production
• Paul Foad – guitar, backing vocals, production
• Peter Hammond – drums, production

Technical

• Eve Arnold – cover photography
• Martin Culverwell – production, sleeve design
• John Dent – mastering
• Rocking Russian – sleeve design
• Ken Thomas – production, engineering

{{reflist}}

Sources

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Gaar |first=Gillian G. |year=2002 |title=She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll |publisher=Seal Press |isbn=978-1-58005-078-4}}
• {{cite book |last=Halasa |first=Malu |editor1-last=Marsh |editor1-first=Dave |editor1-link=Dave Marsh |editor2-last=Swenson |editor2-first=John |year=1983 |chapter=Au Pairs |title=The New Rolling Stone Record Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Random House/Rolling Stone Press |edition=2nd |isbn=0-394-72107-1}}
• {{cite book |last=James |first=Owen |editor-last=Buckley |editor-first=Peter |year=2003 |chapter=Au Pairs |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-84353-105-0}}
• {{cite book |last=Lazell |first=Barry |year=1997 |chapter=The Au Pairs |chapter-url=http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/a.htm |accessdate=19 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031226095633/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/a.htm |archive-date=26 December 2003 |url-status=dead |title=Indie Hits 1980–1989: The Complete U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums) |publisher=Cherry Red Books |isbn=0-95172-069-4}}
• {{cite book |last=Reddington |first=Helen |author-link=Helen McCookerybook |year=2007 |title=The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-5773-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Taormino |first1=Tristan |author-link1=Tristan Taormino |last2=Green |first2=Karen |year=1997 |title=A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World: Writings from the Girl Zine Revolution |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |isbn=978-0-312-15535-3}}

{{refend}}

• {{Discogs master|66348}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1981 debut albums

Category:Au Pairs (band) albums

Category:Albums produced by Ken Thomas (record producer)