SINGLES

Rip It Up, Issue 183, 1 October 1992, Page 30

SINGLES

The singles this month have been hi-jacked by grunge and hardcore, a bunch of toxic abusers who’ve resharpened their acts since Nirvana ~ lifted stones and found commercial life underneath. Life created, however, by the god-like Husker Du. And so it’s fitting that heading the disciples is Bob Mould’s new band Sugar, a three-piece guiding him to a more balanced perspective circa Warehouse after the bleeding on his solo J „ albums. 'Helpless’ (White Records) sounds : anything but as it catches Mould in full flight with guitars pushing his vocal insecurities but 'Needle' Hits E’ is even better with a pop ache under the melodic barrage, leaving ‘lf I Can’t Change Your Mind’ and ‘Try Again’ to let Mould unplug. ■ ’ Welcome back messiah. Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish didn’t change my life but the three pronged releases they unleash here shows their best is in front of them. On 12" Peel Sessions vinyl they re-do a crackling version of .‘Siva’ (Hut) backed up by a snaking Hendrixish riff thing ‘A Girl Named Sandoz’. And on ten inch vinyl comes one of the best songs from Gish, ‘I Am One’ to tread on your face. But their best attack is ‘Drown’ (Epic), an eight minute tuneful build-up to brain-splitting feedback, part of the Singles soundtrack. „• Another song from the movie is ex Sub-Poppers Screaming Trees’ ‘Nearly Lost You’ (Epic) which is probably too mainstream for grungeheads but they have the taste to do a crunching cover of the Small Faces’ ‘Song Of A Baker’. Sticking with ex-Sub Poppers, L 7 lift another sliver of lead from Bricks Are Heavy. This time it’s ‘Everglade’ (Liberation), mean and jerky but not up to ; , -- ‘Pretend We’re Dead’ or the bonus track ‘Freak . Magnet’ which kicks a few jams. • Prong come highly recommended on the inner sleeve of their six track Whose Fist Is This Anyway? (Epic). Nitzer Ebb, Ice-T and Foetus Thirwell all testify to the ferocity of Prong’s cunning, monstrous metal/ grunge contrivance. \ On ‘Prove You’re Wrong’ and the Stranglers’ ‘Get A Grip’ they prove there’s no life form they . couldn’t lacerate. Approach with care. The hardcore half-hour ends at the beginning ■ with the Sex Pistols whose world-changing ‘Anarchy’ (Virgin) gets a deluxe package with poster, ‘Anarchy’ in its original and demo forms and ‘I Wanna Be Me’. Lest we forget. . Above ground and the world is being led for a month by Neneh Cherry whose very smart ‘Money Love’ (Circa Records) bristles with her

natural sass and a great guitar driven chorus. Right Said Fred drag out the strings to camp it up on ‘These Simple Things’ (Tog) and their version of John Sebastian’s ‘Daydream is kinda likeable’. Confusion time as K.D. Lang’s duet with the inestimable Roy Orbison on ‘Cryiing’ (Virgin) arrives in two separate CD packages with different track listings. Take your pick but ‘Crying’ is the key song, an ageless peel of angst. Getting right up to the mark means the very transient, fragile world of Britain’s indie scene where reputations come and go at the hairdressers. Moose get very breezy and charming if a touch lightweight on ‘Little Bird (Are You Happy In Your Cage’(Hut), leaving Verve to add some substance to their reputation with ‘Gravity Grave’ (Hut). Techno-time and the Shamen go from strength to strength with the formidably catchy dance romp ‘Love, Sex, Intelligence’ (Liberation) with Machines of Loving Grace revealing the harder edge of the electronic industry on the durable, inventive ‘Burn Like Brilliant Trash’ (White). And talking of burn, the Church’s Marty Willson-Piper catches fire on ‘Luscious Ghost’ (Ryko), light years ahead of anything on Priest=Aura. But let’s end with a few war cries in the shape of Hunters and Collectors’ ‘We The People’ (White), wherein they continue their new-found toughness, and minstrels-of-the-people the Levellers mix tradition and Clash on ‘Far From Home’ (Liberation). Heard it all before. See ya. GEORGE KAY