albums

Rip It Up, Issue 173, 1 December 1991, Page 30

albums

PM DAWN Of The Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross (Gee Street) Let's not mess around, the philosophy expounded here belongs to the incense burning generation and not the Uzi blasting one. It's all cloudy New Age nonsense, everything seems to be about transcendental values, reality is something o escape from rather than meet head-on and kick its butt. Okay, so maybe you're sick of all that ‘bitches and money’ schtick but is there any need for lines like ‘lmagine yourself as a cloud in the sky’ and track titles like ‘To Serenade A Rainbow'. Well, perhaps I'm old fashioned but something like this disturbs me, let alone the intro with ‘Welcome you to a utopian experience —what's up? to God'". Yep, what's up? To god!! Yes, the album is a salute to that great homeboy in the sky. Naturally, its a very smart well put together sound, pop sensibilities mixed in with the mysticism, like the summer glint of ‘Set Adrift On Memory Bliss’ and a strange homage to Todd Terry, the late eighties house master, called ‘Shake'. One track that has a hardness the others lack, ‘Comatose’, with astute sampling from ‘Walk On Gilded Splinters’ by Dr. John. You can ignore the words because the backbeat is so good. Same with the chorus of ‘Paper Doll’ with the re-structured roach clip beat. . > 250 Apart from those likeable moments, | got lost in the mist that surrounds Prince B and Minutemixs’ conceptual works. Who knows, you might find the whole thing illuminating. Me, | prefer things of a darker nature. KERRY BUCHANAN GREEN ON RED Scapegoats (Liberation) Green on Red have been kicking around the edges of the rock world for a while, usually in a haze of alcoholic depression which probably explains why they've never really been huge despite making some sublime albums. Mainmen Dan Stuart and Chuck Prophet are masters at creating an anguished country sound, and fingeing

it with a hint of psychedelia, sort of a contemporary version of the Byrds, but with none of that peace and love stuff. Scapegoats confinues that fine tradition, but it seems as though Green On Red have become, dare | say it, happy. Gone is the feeling of outright pain that has always haunted their albums, and although I'd hardly say they're the most positive of folks, there is a pleasant feel to Scapegoats. Some of this can probably be attributed to producer Al Kooper who also lays

down some nice keyboards, adding greatly to that authentic sixties sound. Lyrically things are a little brighter too, like the nice little love song ‘A Guy Like Me’,although Dan Stuart is a long way from abandoning his world of losers,

bums and lovelom failures. Scapegoats may still be a long, long way from the mainstream public conciousness, but as long as Green On Red can write stuff this strong, that’s just fine by me. KIRK GEE THE CRAMPS - Bad Music For Bad People (IRS) THE RAMONES : Loco Live (Chrysalis) ] Two of NYC punk rocks all-time . survivors are here with new but old offerings, and fun they are. The Cramps offering is a US greatest hits from a while back, and worth noting as

itis now on CD. It contains utterly depraved stuff from the first two albums and the hard to get ‘Uranium Rock'. If like me, your copies of these records are years old and scratched to hell, then is amazing just how good this stuff still sound. For the uninitiated it’s a good compilation too, as the track selection is great and it’s still some of the finest weirdo rock you've heard. Elvis didn't die in vain. Fellow CBGB's alumni The Ramones also have a sort of new album too, in the form of another double live compilation. Recorded largely in Spain, this is a fraditional full-on live attack from the Ramones featuring the usual classics and a bunch of stuff that's not been offically available on a live

record before. There's not really much you can say about the Ramones live except the sound quality is great, the between song banter non-existent and if | can still rock this hard when I'm as old as these guys then I'll be very, very proud of myself. KIRK GEE R.E.M. - : The Best Of (IRS) This is called flogging the golden goose. With REM riding a commercial high with Out Of Time, a Best Of is fortuitously released prior to Christmas much to the annoyance of Stipe and Co who must have felt that Eponymous had their greatest moments on /RS pretty well summed up. The Best Of with its arty-printed hessian sleeve and dutifully informative liner notes attempts to givea redundant product a credibility it doesn’t deserve. There can be no - argument that it traces the artistic ascendency of one of the two or three best American bands of the past decade, as archetypal REM songs like ‘Radio Free Europe’ to ‘Fall On Me’ and ‘End of the World’ will testify. But its no substitute for their first fine albums and Chronic Town EP and its a very scantimprovementon . ‘Eponymous. GEORGE KAY THE LILACTIME Astronauts (Creation) PARIS ANGELS Sundew (Virgin) THE REAL PEOPLE The Real People (CBS) Three largely unrelated English bands except all are slightly adrift of the prevailing musical fashions and all three are making music that demands to be heard. : ‘Demands’ is probably too strong a term to describe Stephen Duffy’s Lilac Time. Creation’s pastoralists, their songs hit you over the head with flowers but make no mistake, their fragrence lingers on. Appropriately recorded in the English countryside, Astronaus, like previous efforts, is quietly dazzling, so unassuming that initially it's tempting to pass it off as bland, plain. - That would be a mistake as Duffy is a durable and magical writer. Any one of Astronaufs’ lovingly woven songs would prove that but ‘Hats Off, Here Comes The Girl’ and ‘A Taste For

Honey' are delicious lust songs and the more sombre The Darkness Of Her Eyes’ recalls early Simon & Garfunkel.

But that's praise. After the reminiscence of ‘North Kensington’, sheep baaas as an introduction to ‘Hadersfield’, a beautiful, evocative piece of English country mysticism. So Duffy won't ever sing for Anthrax, but in his niche he’s a king. . The Paris Angels, by all accounts, are regarded as the Mancunians who missed the bus. Rather than pinch haircuts and ideas from old Ready Steady Go re-runs, they've used New Order as a launch pad for their own vibrant brand of northern guitars and electronic dance therapy on their Sundew debut. ‘We Must Be In Heaven Now’ is the Woodstock sample used to kick off the album and the band get close to that on ‘Fade’ which is top-shelf New Order while on ‘Perfume’, a dance rhythm meets a decent tune. Meanwhile ‘Breathless’ is good enough to have made the Electronic album and ‘Purest Values' has that timeless, pure feeling that you could get from Arthur Lee’s Love songs. Sundew can't sustain those standards and too many songs slip into the forgettable category but Paris Angels have the quality and focussed variety to make their next all-formats worth killing for. West to Liverpool and meet the Real People, the Griffiths brothers Tony and Chris, hard men, Sean Simpson and Tony Elson. Got a problem with that mate? Critically they're usually mentioned in the same breath as the La’s — which is probably a Liverpool kiss for you mate, but they have the same edge, simplicity and a Mersey nasal twang. OK? - But they’re not hung up on recreating the organic sound of the early Who or of whinging about how shitty their album is. The Real People is a good album, not as good, unfortunately, as the La’s but good enough to put Liverpool up for grabs. They're peeking at the Beatles, the supreme scousers, in the lightly psychedelic ‘Open Up Your Mind’ and ‘Another Day’ and the People classic ‘Window Pane’ is a lurching rush of adrenalin, almost indistinguishable from the Las. They're no slouches either when they get their hands on acoustic guitars for ‘ln Your Hands' and ‘Looking At You' and you're left with the impression as you listen again fo the truncated ‘Day Tripper’ riff of ‘Another Day’, that Liverpool might be in good hands.

GEORGE KAY

BEATS INTERNATIONAL

Excursion On The Version (Go-Beat) It's probably really uncool to like these guys as we're meant to be into swing-techno or something, but hey, this sounds fine to me. Ifs not as hook laden and accessible as the last album, but Mr Cook is developing a really nice line in smooth soul with reggae tinges. Things cruise very pleasantly here, the first single, The Sun Dosen't Shine’ is a wonderful singalong affair which, like a lot of this album, features Lester’s incredibly pure voice over a really smooth and funky sound. Musically these guys still have a real pop sensibility to the songs although the sharp edge Let Them Eat Bingo had isn't really here, which isn't all bad, as there seems to be less sampling happening. A few familar sounding things still crop up though, and Beats International manage to cover ‘ln The Ghetto’, that old favourite of Elvis impersonators like Dolly Parton and Nick Cave. (Ifs a great version too.) Maybe Excursion On The Version dosen't quite keep up with the unusually high standard the British dance scene has set of late, but should summer ever arrive I'm sure technicalities will be cast aside and this will become the soundtrack for some very serious lounging. KIRK GEE SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES Better Days (EMI) Southside Johnny Lyon has always suffered from critical comparison with his old hometown mate Bruce Springsteen. Those first 1970’ Jukes albums invariably showcased a new Springsteen number and often a couple of guest spots from band members. By the mid-80s these - obvious reference points were fading. Lyon had cut the ‘Asbury’ from the band’s moniker and any non-original song was likely to be some reworked 60's classic. But now this new album title, Befter Days, almost smacks of nostalgia. The band’s name is once more acknowledging its neighbourhood roofs, Springsteen again supplies a new song (plus a couple of his sidemen) and the album is produced and arranged by ex-E Streeter Steve Van Zandt. Yet given Lyon's soulfully gritty voice, beefy beat and punchy brass section, the Juke’s only shortcoming has ever been its lack of a first class songwriter (although, in the early 80s, Billy Rush came close enough). This time out Van Zandt contributes eight numbers and they span his usual range from solid to stolid — probably nothing much you'd skip over but not a lot to force-feed your friends either. Best up are a : kickass ‘l've Been Working Too Hard’ (with Jon Bon Jovi on second lead vocal), the ‘Shake ‘Em Down’ boogie and a maijestic ballad, ‘lt's Been A Long Time', that recalls Springsteen circa Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Bruce’s own song, ‘All The Way Home', is a reflective slow pacer that could have been lifted from the quieter sides of The River. And when you realise it's Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg doing duties on bass and drums, Befter Days generally seems not far from being a decent, if unexceptional, late-70s Springsteen album with the bonus of a brass section.

PETER THOMSON