The Clean story

Press, 7 May 1981, Page 14

The Clean story

By

DAVID SWIFT

No hygiene puns, please. This is The Clean story, about a Dunedin band with a credible heritage (playing with The Enemy at Mollett Street market, way back when . . .). • “We were rough and ready then,” said guitarist David -Kilgour, who is also the. lead vocalist (imagine Jonathon Richman with a cold). Most of the musical inventiveness comes through from him on stage, while brother Hamish (drums) and Robert Scott (bass) form a solid if unspectacular rhythm section. No-one could award the band too many points for the name, but one aspect that stands out is the effort put into the vocals. It’s a rare modern threepiece band where the drummer takes the lead vocals, or sings a harmony lyric after the lead vocalist has used it. Harmonies are important to The Clean and they’re continually trying to improve the progress already made. Hamish regards singing as a challenge, although he’s already got enough to do behind the drum-kit. Ever tried co-ordinating two feet, two hands, a brain, and a mouth? Any jokes are uncalled for. The present line-up formed in February last year, after Hamish and David (two of the. original members) met again in Dunedin after really doing nothing worth-while in Auckland, where The Clean Mk I broke up. “This time we’re really giving it a go. There’s more ambition now,” said David. “We have always done originals. The covers we wanted to do we really had to enjoy.” But of course, every other band and its dog had attempted “Wild Thing” and

“Louie Louie,” so there was no point. - They are prolific writers. Hamish estimated that 100 originals were narrowed to the best 30, which they use now. None of. the band has any doubt that a trio is the best vehicle for those 30. “We think that what we are doing is good — no effects or organ or frontman,” said David. He said,

that they had struck no musical limitations yet, Yes, you can dance to The Clean, although they said that it was not their intention to produce a set of meaty, beaty, big, and bouncy tunes. But who’s complaining? They are more accessible than most groups that use low lighting. i Dunedin is their only problem. They have a following

there, but they say that doesn’t make up for the bigger proportion of rugby players, beer drinkers, and Knobz fans that make it difficult for a slightly different product to get work. So it’s Auckland or bust. If they do bust, at least they tried. The Clean were at the Gladstone last week, and you sat at home watching Barney Miller?