albums

Rip It Up, Issue 175, 1 February 1992, Page 26

albums

TEENAGE FANCLUB Bandwagonesque (DGC) Defying logic, organisation and a big record company, Teenage Fanclub have muddled their way to the forefront of a British pop scene much in need of their shambolic, melodic restlessness. Pegged as an answer to Dinosaur Jr, or more hopefully in some hearts, another Glasgow-bred Jesus and Mary Chain, ex-boy Hairdresser Norman Blake (guitar/vocals) and . Raymond McGinley have their own timetable to mutation. A limited edition single version of ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko' and their bizarre

instrumental album of last year showed their throwaway sense of humour. Even the first album proper, Catholic Education, had its fair share of oddities — notably the ‘Heavy Metal’ pisstakes among the rough-hewn gems like ‘Everything Flows’ and ‘Crifical Mass'. Within all this impetuous dissidence lurks a brilliant pop sensibility and Bandwagonesque comes close enough to verifying that. With Brian Wilson as their spiritual leader and a lazy guitar grunge as their frademark, ‘The Concept, ‘December’ and ‘What You Do To Me’ are innovative creations of sweetness and jagged edges. The single ‘Star Sign’ is just about one of those one-in-a-million rushes of seamless rock ‘n’roll while - ‘Alcoholiday’ and ‘Guiding Star’ tackle the Beach Boys from different angles. The Mary Chain broke the mould when they put Phil Spector through

their white noise machine; TFC aren't in that company yet, buton - Bandwagonesque there’s enough pop ingenvity in evidence to suggest that it's only a matter of fime. 'GEORGE KAY BASSOMATIC Science and Melody (Virgin) In retrospect, Bassomatic deserve some recognition as they helped pioneer that whole British dance sound that the likes of Massive have taken to such heights. William Orbif's first offerings were using all the right elements: an equal mix of reggae, hip hop and house with a roof-shaking bass sound. All these things are still to the fore in Science and Melodly along with a lot better songs than Set the Controls. . . which means you have a pretty formidable combination here. Tracks like ‘She’s On the Phone Again’ have awesome, killer beats without the supercharged speed of house music and all sorts of weirdness floats around in the mix to keep things interesting. There’s a real cruisey feel to the album, which probably is meant to aid the enjoyment of your recreational chemical of choice, but

actually works better at making Science and Melody seem like a great ‘relaxed night or languid summer day soundtrack. | can't think of any logical reason for why the British have stumbled onto this sound and perfected it, but as long as they keep making records as good as this | don't think it really matters. KIRK GEE SAINT ETIENNE Fox Base Aipha (Warner Bros) WORLD OF TWIST Quality Street (Circa) “Gospel Oak/Sao Paolo/Boston Manor/ Costa Rica . .. ” Saint Etienne are all about finding the exotic in the commonplace. Like the Smiths they make an icon of the pale English teenager and its environs, but where Morrisey fetishized adolescent ingenuousness, limp longing for love, Saint Etienne find transformational power in the complex sub-cultural irony that only the kids (and critics like the band’s Bob Stanley) understand. The result is that rare thing: truly passionate genre subversion. Some songs veer far closer to dinner party

soul than should ever be allowed, but these are worth enduring for the marvellously glacial cover of Neil . Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ alone. That's not the only moment of brilliance: ‘Stoned To Say The Least', a claustrophobic matrix of synth bass and shredded backwards guitar, exploits the gulf between the phrase “acid house” and the un-trip-like austerity of that music, while ‘London Belongs To Me' allows o sickly-sweet girl-group pop song to degenerate into spaced out convulsions of high-gloss sound. Most startling of all is ‘Like The Swallow’, in which an astonishing swarm of drones and quasi-oriental chimes leads up to a brief glimpse of a huge pop anthem driven by bells and military drums, - which is in turn engulfed in oceanic studio noise and finally replaced by an un-naturally amplified acoustic guitar. In suggesting then dissolving these impossible pop universes, Saint Etienne abolish the idea of “originality” and offer what may or may not be an illusory way out of the everything’s been done before impasse. One of Saint Etienne’s songs features the lines “To the sound of the World of Twist / You leaned over and

gave me a kiss”, but there's really no comparison between the two groups. English critic / theorist Simon Reynolds has attempted to construct an idea of a “camp sublime” around W.O.T;, and they’ve been called a Human League for the 90s, but apart from the album title (Quality Streetis a box of chocolates) they display none of St. Etienne’s dazzling wit and invention. They're not a bad pop group, though, mixing abundant energy and a good melodic sensibility with all manner of squelchy, oozy synth noises. They're at their best when the synths take over on ‘Jellybaby’, which sounds exactly like its name, or like what 808 State might come up with if asked to write a new theme for The Avengers. " Its nowhere near sublime but it kicks a little bit of the rigor mortis out of “camp”. MATTHEW HYLAND SCATTERBRAIN Scamboogery (Elektra) Scatterbrain’s debut, Here Comes Troublle, hinted at possible greatness. Sure, it was dopey funk metal, but there was enough stupid energy there to carry it all. Now they've followed up

with Scamboogery and unfortunately greatness still eludes them. The funk ‘thing has thankfully been beefed out with a cool horn section, but that isn't enough and White Trash have already done a great horns 'n’ metal mix ‘ anyhow. What's lacking is real excitement, at times Scamboogery comes close with tracks like Tastes Just Like Chicken’ where all the right things happen, but overall this is a little lack-lustre. It ll satisfy fans of the genre, but the whole funk metal thing is a bit tired and covering a classical sonata in a metal style only works once. Probably the best thing about this album is the Robert Williams cover, so maybe you should stick with the Chili Peppers album. : KIRK GEE PAUL YOUNG From Time Yo Time The Singles Collection _ (Columbia) i One night in 1980, when | was living in London, | caught a sweaty English soul band called the Q Tips down at the local palais. They were okay, but their singer was something else: a puffy-faced white kid with adult lungs and a searing black voice. His name was Paul Young. So, when, a few years later, he had his first big solo hit with a magnificant remake of Marvin Gaye'’s 'Wherever | Lay My Hat' | got pretty excited. It seemed that here was a major new soul star. Well, maybe. But then | wasn't the only one who felt let down when Young didn’t conform to expectations. The English press gave him a lot of stick for going mainstream and to an extent they had a point. While Young's voice usually retained its edge and power, much of the material got pretty ropey and a formulaic crassness often blighted the arrangements. However, Young's good taste never deserted him completely, as last years radio hit‘Oh Girl’ proved. As an example of English white boy sings 70's American soul it was a vast improvement on the egregious Simply Red version of ‘lf You Don’t Know Me By Now'. At least with Young the

emotion sounds genuine. There are definitely enough good tracks on this singles collection to make it worth owning. Yet even new numbers show Young's erratic (or, if you prefer, ‘broad’) taste. Included are a big ballad duet with some ltalian crooner and a gratuitously mushy version of ‘Both Sides Now’ with Clannad. Much better is a restrained yet expressive rendition of Neil Finn’s ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over'. Now that's what | call classy. PETER THOMSON CLOCKHAMMER , Klinefelter : (First Warning) el More of the US college rock schtick here. Klinefelfer is produced by the guys responsible for Dino Jnr, Buffalo Tom, IREHOSE and the Lemonheads, - all of whom are present in spirit here along with a healthy dose of the DC sound. Clockhammer use the usual tempo and rhythm changes, intense-sounding vocals and almost jazzy feels that we've all come to know and love. You can almost picture them playing eyes closed, swaying side to side then BAM! suddenly rocking out. Cliched though all this is, if's actually a damn listenable album. Clockhammer can play like demons — from the rocky stuff like ‘Standing By’ through to the, dare | say, fusion-like gentle tracks. There's a good kicking sound to the whole deal and | like the vocals which are sort of 60s-like. | keep expecting to hear some heavy layering, a la Turtles or Beach Boys. Sure there's nothing all that new happening here, but it sounds fine and it beats watching TV or listening to your flatmate’srecords. KIRK GEE g PEARL JAM v 10 (Epic) Another item from the horribly prolific Seattle scene and assuming that if you're reading this you are already at least slightly aware of the importance of Green River and Mother Love Bone, | won't bother with

them except to mention that some of their members have wound up in Pearl “Jam. The result is the usual 70s-influenced rock deal with a real big, clean production sound, maximum guitars and intense vocals. The overall effect of Pearl Jam is like a slightly more user-friendly Soundgarden, the rough edges and wild moments have been sort of smoothed out and calmed down, but the basic Seattle sound is there. Eddie Vedder gets some great Robert Plant-style vocal swoops happening, and the band work through the heavily jammed out sound that Mother Love Bone had been so great at. Tracks like ‘Alive’ are a real testimony fo the Seattle air or whatever it is that makes these guys grow big hair and become serious and sensitive rockers. KIRK GEE i JERRY GARCIABAND = (Arista) __Jerry Garcia's been recording fora quarter of a century now, but anyone who thinks he should be superannuated to a hippie rest home better listen here. This two-and-a-quarter hour live set is as satisfying as I've ever heard him, with or without the Grateful Dead. Its a collection of 15 covers spanning the likes of Bruce Cockburn through Los Lobos to Peter Tosh (and including an oldie of Garcia’s own). The pace is predominantly leisurely and laid back, yet despite the frequently stretched-out renditions — ‘Don’t Let Go’ clocks over 17 minutes — the music almost never flags. Indeed, these renditions are so impressive that nearly all rival their famous predecessors. (Only the Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ is a mistake). Perhaps most extraordinary are the four Dylan numbers. Atthe risk of sounding heretical I'll take this ‘I Shall Be Released’ over any other other I've heard. So where's the magic come from? Some of the songs’ original rhythms have been altered, but not wildly so. The rest of the band — organ, bass, drums, two backup singers — is first class but hardly sensational. The crucial ingredient is Garcia himself. His vocals are, as usual, slightly strained and stringy, but he's nonetheless afine - singer. His ability to inject new expression into familiar lines enables him to not only carry off, but even render afresh songs identified with such great vocalists as the Temptations and Ray Charles. 3 And then there’s his guitar playing. The solos here, whether yearning or aggressive, are studies of sensitivity, dynamics and melodic beauty. Jerry Garcia is seldom considered among rock’s great guitarists, almost never ranked alongside his more vaunted peers. One listen here and you'll realise how badly he’s been underrated. : Jerry Garcia Band demonstrates that laid-back doesn't necessarily - equate with dated or complacent. Sometimes it can also be stone brilliant. PETER THOMSON ‘ ASPHALT BALLET (Virgin) The debut LP from Asphalt Ballet is a porridge of musical styles, but with that southern fried style that positions them near the Black Crowes on the musical spectrum. For a new group, their material is very polished. This is a long record, 13 songsiis probably too long for a first outing. ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ would be the perfect first single, three minutes of hook laden noise. Vocalist Gary Jefferies bears quite a resemblance to Mikey Havoc of Push Push, and that is not the only similarity between the two groups. Jefferies manages to come across as a hard rock Steve Earle, especially on the excellent ‘Heaven Winds Blow'. Asphalt Ballet keep the listener’s interest over the extensive course of the record. Good songwriting and diversity seem to be the keys. Probably one of the most refreshing releases of the past 12 months, Asphalt Ballet have got some good cards in their hands. It is merely a shame that their record will probably sink without trace into bargain bins everywhere if it is not given the push it deserves. Asphalt Ballet may have to ‘Do it all over again’ before they gain greater recognition. ' LUKE CASEY FRANK SINATRA 3 The Capitol Years (Capitol) ; Long before the conceit of the play Amadeus, anybody who knew about Frank Sinatra was well aware how one individual could simultaneously be an exceptional talent and an obnoxious human being. Sinatra’s legend — sex, politics, organised crime, let alone music and movies — is more : fascinating than Elvis’ (and Frank's not quite dead yet). But, like Elvis, before

succumbing to mid-life bloat, Sinatra created a considerable body of -undeniably magnificent music. The years under contract to Capitol, 1953-62, saw the recording of his very greatest work. With seemingly nonchalant grace he set a new peakin vocal phrasing — rarely equalled since — and became the definitive - interpreter of many of the finest pop songs ever written. Such albums as Only The Lonely and Songs For Swinging Lovers remain among the pinnacle recordings of 20th Century music. : - - This triple CD collection can hardly attempt to be so definitive, covering 75 tracks from the over 300 he made with Capitol. Obviously there must be important omissions — for example, there's only one track from the seminal first album Songs For Young Lovers. Unfortunately there’s also a fair dollop of stodge included in this selection, even a couple of downright turds (‘Love and Marriage’ and ‘High Hopes'). But such lapses pale beside the wealth of musical magic on offer. Sinatra’s voice was never to be as rich

or mellow again and included are essential versions of compositions from the likes of Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, the Gershwins and Rodgers and Hart. Another important factor in the greatness of these Capitol recordings is that Sinatra was working with such - wonderful arrangers, chief of whom was the incomparable Nelson Riddle. Thankfully these CDs give generous representation fo the work with Riddle. As a kid | used to despise Sinatra’s music. lt seemed fo represent everything that rock 'n’ roll had come along to destroy. Then, one night years later, after getting seriously sated on an hour or two of Jimi Hendrix, a friend put on an album of his dad's Sinatra. | still remember the shock of revelation. as | discovered the magic of finest Frankie. Such revelations are still available to the neophyte and the cynical. They’re repackaged here within these shiny CDs. And there’s an excellent 58-page book too. PETER THOMSON CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE Signature (Alligator) A white bluesman with roots and pedigree sounds promising. Charlie Musselwhite was born in Memphis where he learned guitar from Son

Brimmer and Fury Lewis and later moved fo Chicago where he picked up onthe lyrical electric harmonica style of Little Walter Jacobs. As a 60s , contemporary of Butterfield, Musselwhite retained his roots sound while Butterfield experimented with rock. Signature starts off well with the fast Muddy Water’s styled shuffle of ‘Make My Getaway’ but drops away through the rest of the album with a mixture of middling originals and uninspiring covers. Musselwhite is no great singer with a limited vocal range but he is proficient and eloquent harp player. Basically this set lacks muscle. | mean it was recorded in Sausalito, California’s | “cholestrol free zone". ‘What's New' is late night new age musing and even his old mate John Lee Hooker can't salvage much on the 50s styled ‘Cheatin’ On Me' jam. The credits tell us that Musselwhite plays Lee Oskar harmonicas and that is who he sounds like much of the time. : If you like the sound of the afore mentioned Oskar or our own Brendon Power this might be worth a listen. However if you want o hear Musselwhite’s roots sound, then check out his early 70s Arhoolie albums.

JOHN PILLEY

PARIS The Devil Made Me Do It (Tommy Boy) UMC’S 4 Fruits Of Nature (Wild Pitch) After what seems like an awful big dry spell, rap or hip hop, or whatever it is you want td call it, seems to be on the upswing. Although there's nothing wildly new happening here, it is ot least stuff with some degree of quality. Paris, who | remember vaguely from a couple of average singles, seems to have really found his mark. The Devil Made Me Do Itis a seriously tough album and | don’t mean “I'm packin’ a nine millimetre and I'll shot you all now style tough, | mean uncompromising tough. The beats are stripped back, Paris has a fast, old-school style and a really tough afrocentric perspective. The liner notes feature a lot of information on the Black Panthers and they are a fitting comparison to Paris’ style. Although there’s plenty of hooks, and moments like the fitle rack or ‘Escape From Babylon’ are verging on commercial, The Devil Made Me Do It is pretty raw and honest. No frills, but lots of power, it's an essential item. On the other side of the rap thing is Fruits Of Nature, which is the UMC'sgetting in on the De La Soul / Tribe Called Quest thang. They use the same sort of organic funk feel and seem pretty enthused by ‘Blue Cheese’. There’s not a lot of bite, but Fruits Of Nature isn't unpleasant fo listen to, there's some nice moments, like ‘One To Grow On’ and I'm sure the inner city individuals who dig that whole hippy-hop thing will love this to death. KIRK GEE SON SEALS I.A\'r:ng in T)ho Danger Zone : Son Seals has been recording under his own name since the early 70s having paid his dues as a drummer for Robert Nighthawk, a stint on guitar with Albert King. On this, his sixth album for Alligator, Seals invokes the southside soul sound of Chicago, leaning on Magic Sam, Ofis Rush and Buddy Guy to create an urban blues

sound for the 90s. Seals has a rougher deeper voice than his mentors but retains the emotive growl of Buddy Guy and the soulfull wail of Junior Parker. His rich fluid guitar burns with intensity and control. Seals may not play as fast and frantic as he used to but the sparse arrangements, particularly the drifting chords of Sid Wingfield's organ over Johnny B. Gayden’s cracking drums show that the man is offering quality, not quantity. The more soulfull material such as Tell Anouther Fool’ introduces Red Groetzinger on sax hitting an Albert King Stax Groove. ‘Bad Axe’ gets down right funky and ‘My Life’ is a slow blues with a mournful vocal and features the bitter sweet harmonica of Sugar Blue. ; The urban blues of Chicago is safe with Seals, breaking no new ground (apart from a wistful flute on the title track), solidly upholding the tradition that drifted up from the delta and settled in the big city. - JOHN PILLEY JAH WOBBLE’S INVADERS OF THEHEART =~ ; Rising Above Bedlam (East West) Since his departure from PiL, Jah Wobble has plotfted an erratic musical course — but its always been interesting and this latest effort is no exception. Jah seems to have been on holiday in Spain and Northern Africa, because the music of these areas is strong throughout Rising Above Bedlam. ; 58 There's a full scale horn section filling out the technology on ‘Erzulie’ and elsewhere classical guitars rub | shoulders with Mr Wobble's very impressive bass sound. Add to all this a great range of ‘guest vocalists’, including Sinead O’Connor and things are looking very serious indeed. Unfortunately, Jah himself decides to handle most of the lead vocals and that's the record’s one weak spot as he’s no Sinatra. Despite this, the album is sfill listenable and I'm sure the World Music collides with New Age House sound will make it a big fave in fashionable homes and restaurants everywhere. ;

KIRK GEE