Beyond the fringe

Press, 28 May 1981, Page 14

Beyond the fringe

muskwodd nevin topp

PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED. “The Flowers of Romance” (Virgin V 2189). “Melody Maker’ entitled its review of the PiL album, ■“Beyond the obvious.” , however, a better title would have been “Beyond the .fringe.” Not that the music within is mad or bad. It just seems that on “Flowers of Romance” PiL are working in the same area as Brian Eno and Talking Heads, especially the Eno/Byrne record. “My Life in the Bush of ■ Ghosts.” The difference is that while Byrne and Eno used tapes of voices and songs from both America and the . Middle East. John Lydon successfully manages on his own, a cross between an ayatollah and Jew at the : Wailing Wall. The Sex Pistols changed * the face of contemporary rock music when they re- • leased “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's ■ The Sex Pis- ’, tols" (before that even), and somehow John Lydon has ■ successfully managed to stay out on his own.. Strangely enough, those listeners who take Barbra Striesand, Neil Diamond, and Abba to be gospel, and believe that their hi-fi set is being strangled, ‘ when attempting to play a PiL album, then that is the time to listen. Strangely, because what appears to be “anti-music” is in fact melo- ■ die and far-reaching.

) “Flowers of Romance” is no exception. The opening track. , "Four Enclosed Walls.”, begins with a soft whirring noise that is a clock (!) before the drumbeat begins and Lydon starts his vocals like calling the faithful to' prayer. The amazing thing is that after the track is over, the only noises were coming from the -drums (joint credits by Martin Atkins and Keith Levine) and Lydon. If anything stands, out is the gripping use of the drumkit. The incessant, unusual beating, holds the

attention, over which a variety of instruments and musical styles — Islamic, Irish, Eastern — are used, without being pretentious. A close listen to song two, “Track 8.” reveals nurserysong qualities, while Levine gently gives the atmosphere of the track with his guitar. “Phenagen” manages a Japanese koto sound, and the title track “Flowers of Romance,” takes up misinterpreted gestures — “I sent you flowers. You wanted chocolates instead.” “Under The House” closes side one, with its insistent driving beat, almost like a heart.

“Hymie’s Him” is even weirder, and has been correctly compared to part of the soundtrack of “Apocalypse Now,” filled with stop-start drumming, electronic wizardry, and “the natives are getting restless” percussion. “Banging the Door” has two characters arguing each side of a door (almost), living in paper thin walls, and Lydon again shows he is neither comfortable with the Left or Right on “Go Back,” in-which those who long for .' the fascist regime get a hard time. Finally, “Francis Massacre” seems to be about one Francis Moran, jailed for life for sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. “Flowers of Romance” is ahead of its time. The neat fitting of all the different elements of the music makes up a successful whole. THE CURE “Faith” (Stunn 012). In spite, of their “Picture Tour,’’ the Cure's “Faith” has begun to slip in the British charts. One reason may be that on stage the three-piece group have concentrated so much on mood music that they have failed to inspire the fans, as some live reviews show. “Faith” has taken the best of “Seventeen Seconds” (again using Mike Hedges coupled with all three Curists) and made music the equivalent of fade to grey.

Indeed: songs such as “The Funeral P£rty.” “The Drowning Man,” and “Doubt,” are unlikely to help the manic depressive. “The Holy Hour” sets the pace, with Simon Gallup's bass setting up a- riff over which Tolhurst (Laurence on the sleeve) plays the deadpanned sticks be used, on "Seventeen Seconds.” Only “Primary,” livens up side one, in a style characteristic of “A Forest,” with Lol's drumming again standing out against Smith’s vocals. The keyboards on “All Cats are Grey” sets the atmosphere, while side two's “Doubt” has Smith chewing the vocals, with real emphasis on bass and drums. As “Funeral Party” shows, the Cure and Hedges have managed to make music for moods. In spite of that, though, the gloom of the songs make them stand out. “Seventeen Seconds” was patchily brilliant, but ‘'Faith" shows The Cure on a better level. Nevin Topp.

SNAKEFINGER “Greener Postures” (Ralph RPH 003). Watch out, news media — Snakefinger is on the slither, and when he catches up to you-lying sods, he’s going to fang you good. The media are out., there (or right here), promising decay “in such a villainous way,” according to this brilliant guitar player and pal of The Residents. -They — the

image makers — treat us all like clowns. They're rats. The.v need to be destroyed in a war. We need to "find them and blind them.”

Snakefinger brings the media low in “The Picture Makers vs Children of the Sea” on his new album. "Greener Postures” is a wild and wonderful exercise in what can be done with rock and roll without either pandering to the passe punks or careening off into the world of Unbridled Weird, with its emphasis on Looney Tunes.

Admittedly, The Residents stray maybe once too often into that nether region. Not Snakefinger. His serpentine strains owe much to the San Francisco experimentalists, but they owe just as much to clia-cha-cha. Most of this music makes you want to get up and dance. He pits the meanie media against the innocent sea children whose innocence is a goofy and unreal one. But boy, are they happy chappies: “We are simply what we seem to be, happy without doing very much?’ They could never frighten anyone, they're too busy swimming in the sun. Yeah.

Aside from the media rave, Snakefinger isn’t just a message man. On “Living in Vain” and “I Come from an Island,” he can bop out with the best of them.

He has a bash at “Trashing all the Loves of History” in a delightful, Frank Zappa way. “Lovers of the void, they're unemployed should be destroyed.” he says. “Love used to be a hidden mystery, now it's splashed across the front page,” he adds. Right! Send Lady Diana back to. the women’s page! “Hey Snakefinger, you got a cuase or something? 1 someone calls out on the record. Several causes, and all of them dear to our hearts.

Let Snakefinger wriggle his way into yours.—Stan Darling.