The Next Big Thing #78 By the time you read this it'll be summer or what passes for it. In these peculiar times of global warming and whatever else is being blamed for everything going down the tubes, it's good to take in a little entertainment.
And since last time, THE SONICS have been to London and gone. The social aspect of it, not the Guinness, was a little disorienting. It was great to discover that the great, grammy-nomnated Alex Palao who I hadn't seen for well over 10 years was also "in the house". It was a complete and utter pleasure to also discover that the esteemed Lutz Räuber of Soundflat was also in attendance. A General in this NBT army for forever, it was a gas to finally meet. What's more, he brought glad tidings that Trich Boonaraaa had travelled from Germany with his crew. Of course, the B's should really have been opening instead of what did but ...
On the way back to the jaggy fruit, I walked straight into Ms Eichert. The gods were indeed smiling. It was a meet and greet session all the way to the (almost) front Roslie hand side of the stage. The atmosphere and stench of wanton anticipation was palpable. This was perhaps the coolest audience I've ever been a part of. Particularly in the UK. I took my place beside General Räuber and the lights went out. The church-like, singalonasonically speaking waves of noise lapped over the crowd all the way to the back. You want to know what they played? Well, it was the same as Cavestomp far as I recall. I was having way too much of a whale of a time to be taking notes.
It's not necessary to get into a forensic account here but I will say is that they turned the place into a giant frat house. I overheard some dunderheads mumping about the "Vegas-style" intros and some of the hard rock tendancies. For me it added to the social club-ness of the show. While I think the Brooklyn venue might have been more akin to the places they played back in the mists of the 60's, this London venue was duly transported back to that proximity.
I see (and hear) plenty of allegedly deliver the goods, that people wet their breeks over and I'm telling you straight. Almost none of them could match these old guys pound for pound. If you want to remember how it was before there was anything like THE SONICS then you can do that by visiting the catalogues of Norton and Big Beat. It seems incomprehensible that anybody reading this doesn't have the entire catalogue but you never know.
By encore time I had worked myself forward a little more and ended up with just Trich Boonaraaa between me and the stage. That and punching the air to "he's the git", (to the "tune" of "The witch" is a heady mix that was to be savoured. The "programme" intimated that they'd play a song entitled "Boss hog" but they didn't. I wonder if it's about the Jon Spencer combo or the guy off DUKES OF HAZZARD . Perhaps we'll never know ...
Went to the meet and greet thing afterwards and got a couple of things signed for folks. It was a solid honour to shake hands with the guys who probably invented punk rock. Larry Parypa reckoned that the crowd was a little reserved. Then again, he may have been kidding.
Ran into my old mucker Rudi Fuzztone in the bar. It must have been nearly 18 years since the COF days. Of course, he's done more than most to push the music of THE SONICS over the decades since they called it quits. Along with THE CRAMPS and THE NOMADS , these Pacific Northwest anthems have been delivered in an evangelistic whammy like an uppercut to the hooter. Lest we forget that GIRL TROUBLE are from the same town, Tacoma. There's a new FUZZTONES album in the pipeline, ready to drop fairly soon. Whether the world is ready or not.
So it was quite an adventure when those Tacoma guys head back for Europe this summer then it'll be well worth you schlepping along to wherever.
With regard to the B's, it was sad to hear that Tine Boonaraaa is leaving the outfit. I wish her well and wonder what will happen next. Prospective B-girls with the right stuff should contact Trich via their website.
Even worse news came last weekend with the passing of my friend Chris Gaffney. You might be familiar with him because I know THE HACIENDA BROTHERS have played shows in Germany. I discovered Chris Gaffney via Art Fein who sent me "Road To Indio" when it came out. Many years later I would get acquainted with the man himself when he came to Glasgow with Dave Alvin and THE GUILTY MAN . Tom Hamilton and I put on a show at Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry at which Chris opened and captivated everybody in the room. It was quite a night. Earlier that day we all made our way from London to Glasgow by train. Quite the trek but what a great time we all had and that memory will stick with me for as long as I?m around. It became obvious that Chris was something special both as a human being and a performer.
He ought to have starred in his own TV show. He had such strength of character and was in many ways larger than life. The guy was also a gentleman in the most honourable sense of the word.
It was a pleasure to be in his company the few times that I was privileged for that to happen. This was a man that really seemed to have lived and despite not having become a household name like he deserved to, he made more of a mark in his short time on this earth than any of us might be aware including, in the end, his own good self. If he'd won some kind of title as the funniest guy on earth, I wouldn't have been surprised.
Another thing I'll remember is the proud look on his face when we were playing his (at the time) recently completed HACIENDA BROS demos in the bar at Glasgow's Central Hotel. Chris was also a huge boxing aficionado and Ken Buchanan was a big hero of his. The younger Chris was pretty nippy in the ring by all accounts too.
I feel a great sense of loss with regard to Chris' untimely passing. My thoughts are very much with his family including the great David Alvin Esq, all of whom must be devastated. The world has lost a great, great artist who many have yet to discover and I kind of envy them that. Getting knocked out by those golden tones, the very essence of country soul.
On the other hand, as I tap away here, Gaffney is singing Joe Ely's "Are you listening Lucky" which is just about to segue into the COLD HARD FACTS definitive roadhouse version of DEEP PURPLE's "Highway star". This guy had all the bases covered and our big backyard is not a better place for his not being around.
On the upside, I filed my liner note for the new SUZY & LOS QUATROS opus "Stick With It". This should be your soundtrack to this summer because a more effervescent form of Blitzkrieg pop is quite simply not feasible. Not wishing to get into the realms of "conflict of interest", I'll say this - the CD is on Wild Punk and the vinyl will be unleashed courtesy of Screaming Apple. Score one of each via Team Soundflat.
On the listening front, here are some folks that have been providing me with the requisite standard of good gear.
MONTYS LOCO is a peculiar name for a musical combo, I'll grant you that. It occurs to me that it might be taken from a comic book called Robotman but you never know. Anyway, "Farewell Mr Happy" is the fourth(!) album by these two Swedish women.
Anja Bigrell and Marie Eklund make an unusual sound that comes over like ROXY MUSIC going equal parts exotica/electronica. Anja's vocal reminds me of Eva Parker from the great Scandopunk group PARKER, with a little twist of Björk but maybe that's just the inflection rather than the voice itself. Imagine if Shakespeare's Sister had decided to introduce a Rev/Vega aspect to their work. I never heard anything quite like and their songs come across as oddly infectious. The first word in "Whose blood" is "Saunter", one that I don't associate that with the Swedish language at all. "Nice white boys" is a tad Carl Stalling. I can't find any information as to what makes this strange assortment possible let alone tick so virulently. I'm not even sure that's a word but it describes what I'm too gobsmacked to explain any better. Pretty fresh and not in the hip hop sense of the lingo. ML display an experimental edge that approximates trip pop. I think they might be on to something - as opposed to being on something. Or perhaps even both?
A new EP by Laura Cantrell just surfaced with six songs on the theme of transportation. Among these is a version of NEW ORDER's "Love vigilantes" which deserves to rev up the traction in as yet uncharted territory. Ms Cantrell has been on a hiatus since the birth of her daughter and it's great to have her back.
Pascal 's Galgberget (on Novoton) takes the undulating skewed blues nature of THE CRAMPS and add some Marco Pirroni-style Morriconeisms. Stir in a hint of Bob Hund and TELEVISION via SIGUR RÓS and STEREO TOTAL and you're beginning to get a beat on where Pascal are at. "Cadillac" is like THE MOVE's "Do ya" with a transfusion of the MARY CHAIN. The only thing standing between this combo and total world domination is the fact that it's sung in Swedish. To be honest, I'm not sure that matters. While the world and it's granny is caught up in the desperation of SxSW, the Novoton imprint is harbouring two likely contenders for having critics wet themselves. If they can deliver this live, then we're all in big trouble. Clocking in at just under 33 minutes, "Galgberget" is a monster and it comes in a beautiful embossed gold foiled package too. Exquisite.
AN OBJECT ON PAPER is also on Novoton and is another serious feather in the cap of this new to me label. On the face of it, the name of this trio is unassuming and I'm not familiar with any of the other bands that they're involved with. The packaging is kinda like a 70's prog vinyl gatefold deal lulling the listener into a false sense of security no doubt. Closer scrutiny indicates the involvement of the ubiquitous KONIE and that puts an altogether different complexion on things. PAPER, it turns out are something of a LA DÜSSELDORF/NEU throb with shards of JOY DIVISION or even MOGWAI. The bumf mentioned WIRE but this is way less contrived than that. It's organic to the point of being hypnotic. And the sound is very full blooded to the point of relentless, like ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK spiked with something FRANZ FERDINAND couldn't ever conceive of. "Strider" is an instrumental which pits a Martin Rev-like jolt against some solid repeato-riffage. "To her" reminds me of NEW MATH while "Aphid" gives some idea of the kind of welly Wilko Johnson might have brought to the post punk table. "Our so long" kicks off positively Mike Oldfield-esque and melts into a more Being Boiled era HUMAN LEAGUE synth pattern. Über-eclectic and recalling an era that is definitely in some sort of vogue, PAPER are recycling an unassuming monolith that rubbish like FOALS with their acres of press will never even get near.
THE THINGS -"Tiger" EP is out now on Psycho Sound. Last time I caught up with these Dublin kids there was a pretty high Cramped factor going on. I'm pleased to report that they're really beginning to develop and fill out. This one is conjuring up aspects of PER UBU and The JET BLACK BERRIES to arrive at a more keyboard driven deconstruction of the rock form. The vocals are definitely bound for CROCUS BEHEMOTH-era David Thomas. I wonder if they're familiar with ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS? Anyway, grab the limited edition 7" while you can because that's the way to experience their fumes for sure.
I'm not putting web addresses in here because it takes up space and well, if anything takes your fancy, you can bloody go and google it, can't you? And I think that just about covers it. Mr Stefan Conrad and his intrepid posse were in Scotchland recently during which we reminisced about those Punk Kongress times. What happened to the documentary DVD evidence? It would be a trip to see that, wouldn't it? And it'd be proof that it actually happened ... So until next time, which should be right smack in the middle of the Edinburgh International Film Festival - I'll bid you thank you and goodnight.
Lindsay Hutton
(tnbt.co.uk)
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