SPIRALS

Rip It Up, Issue 180, 1 July 1992, Page 16

SPIRALS

Tell the Spirals* Belinda Bradley that she reminds you of a cross between Belinda Carlisle and Kate Pierson and she'll shake her head at mention of the / sugary pop diva, but concede a 852 s comparison might be valid. The Spirals have suffered from perceptual pre-conceptions in the past and they're not going to let it happen again with the release of their new . single ‘Normal’. ' Their self-produced Three Graces album released in 1988 inspired comments like "acceptable if not exceptional" from the normally hyperbolic Herald critic Dominic Roskrow. Back then the general concensus about the group was "nice", a word that makes Bradley cringe. "Yeah, it was 'nice', that's how people described it. 'The Spirals are a really good pop band, they have a lot of potential, it's nice music'. We'd read that and go, 'we're not trying to be nice, we want to affect people'. Love us or hate us, but don't call us nice."

On the evidence of 'Normal', the Spirals are still rather nice, but with enough pop sass to land them somewhere on the charts. "Yes, it is really commercial and it is a radio song, but it's a song song," says Bradley. "The guitar for us is really important and we're really happy with the guitar sounds and the layering because that is very much us. The B-side is a little bit more indicative of where some of the live show is going. Our live show takes the audience on a much bigger musical journey, for want of a better phrase. It can get really full-on and loud. I think a lot of people who saw us a couple of years ago when we released the album would see a band who has grown up a lot if they came and saw us now."

A strong reaction to the single is imperative if the Spirals

are going to get the green light from BMG to record a new album. Bradley says they have a stockpile of material ready, songs that are more aggressive ("in a good way") and focused. The clean, chimey guitars of old are out, 'attitude' is in. "The rule now is no rules," she says. "We used to really worry about what people thought, or what was musically correct. Who gives a stuff. If it works it works."

As to whether the Spirals are a pop or rock group, Bradley hedges with "both". "We were a real pop band a few years back. We changed bass players because as much as we liked the guy, we found that we just co

uldn't make the music we wanted to make happen. I'm not saying we're there yet, but as a band we're really happy with where we're a t musically at the moment."

As Bradley says, the Spirals are never going to be the sort of band that can fart and a journalist is going to run up and record it.

"For us, it's going to have to be the music that paves the way. We're not saying we're pushing down any boundaries. We hope that the music we make is fresh and unique and I

sort of think that it is." . Back-up vocals on 'Normal' (about how nobody really is) are supplied by Annie Crummer and the Holidaymakers' Barbara Griffen, two of the many strong female vocalists (like Jackie Clarke, Charlotte Yates, Janet Roddick) who all seem to reside in Wellington these days. Bradley says she is more influenced by male than female vocalists (current fave bands, include, the Pixies, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers), but she does cite Annie Lennox as a major inspiration for live performance. As for the rumour that the Spirals are a "Christian" band, Bradley replies that yes, they have a faith, but they really don't wan t to be pigeonholed for it because it's "absolutely misunderstood." It does seem an irrelevancy when considering this band make no reference to such matters in their music. "We're just a band who make music and that's all we want to be judged on," she says. "Our faith is something personal, we're not ashamed of it, we're not • embarassed about it, but hey, we're ordinary people, that's all there is to it."

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