Say A! Say P! Say B!

Credible pop music has always been on the agenda, although it seems more so in 2013 than ever before. Claims of credibility on behalf of Lorde, Haim, Sky Ferreira, Miley Cyrus, etc. have led Pop to take the critical high ground this year. This is nothing new of course. Back in the early 1980’s, influential NME scribe Paul Morley ushered in The New Pop to British sensibilities.

Inspired by ABC’s The Lexicon Of Love album, Morley along with producer Trevor Horn would start zeitgeist record label ZTT. This ushered a high point in pop-propaganda with Frankie Goes to Hollywood who would epitomize The New Pop along with a host of other left leaning bands.

Check this for a roll call of The New Pop supremacy: Scritti Politti, ABC, The Human League, Duran Duran, Soft Cell, Orange Juice, Prefab Sprout, Associates, Bronski Beat, The The, New Order, Madness, The Cure, Teardrop Explodes, Echo & The Bunnymen, Fun Boy Three, Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins, Tears For Fears, Culture Club, Haircut 100 to name but a few, these all would become top 30 bands.

The 2013 New Pop model at it’s best looks safe in comparison. The New Pop influence produced a response from the indie sector of the early 1980’s, fresh from post-punk inventive leap from punk. Indie pop at this time often previewed Morley’s ideals before they became popaganda. Indie bands were being signed by majors like never before. Some of those bands at least acknowledged The New Pop mainstream and dared to dream. Out in the wilderness New Pop aesthetics had already being appropriated in the barren Northern suburbs.

Here, I present you five classic indie-pop obscurities from the 1980’s. None of these were hits, but could have been, maybe should have been. From another time when pop held the critical mass.

#1 Win – Super Popoid Groove (1987)

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Davey Henderson had thrilled the indie faithful with the Beefheart vs Postcard thrills of the Fire Engines. He went even more angular with his later band Nectarine #9. In between he formed Win from the ashes of the Fire Engines. Win were a purpose built, pop monster, who even had a semi hit when You’ve Got The Power was used in a beer commercial. Still, an album title like Uh! Tears Baby (A Trash Icon) was too arch and clever for the major public to really take a shine to Win, and the band were relegated to the ’should have been massive’ ranks. Super Popoid Groove gives you a good example of what the band were about.

#2 APB – Palace Filled With Love (1982)

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Another Scottish band who slowly moved away from their post punk roots to create something far more hummable were APB. It took an age for APB to release an album, the almost Phoenix like soft rock of Something To Believe In came out in 1985. Prior to that, the band released a series of cutting post-punk/funk singles, the first displaying a real New Pop sensibility being Palace Filled With Love, a song good enough to conquer any chart or dance floor. Somewhere in the future, The Rapture were taking notes….

#3 Scars – All About You (1981)

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There must have been something in the Scottish waters for Scars were another band that tried to hit the New Pop trail after earlier angular releases. All About You is one of the great Duran Duran like hits of the day that never happened. Unfortunately the album that followed (Author Author) was generally a mess – something the critical community soon jumped on and the album was re-christened in some cynical quarters as ’Awful Awful’. That still does little to dilute the pristine pop of All About You, a classic in an alternative universe.

#4 The Wild Swans – The Revolutionary Spirit (1982)

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The story of Post-punk Liverpool could have gone from The Crucial Three (McCulloch, Cope, Wylie) to the Crucial Four, if only a bit of luck had befallen The Wild Swans and band mainstay Paul Simpson. The Wild Swans were surrounded by the Liverpool post punk royalty, yet none of that rubbed off on the band’s chances of commercial success. The Revolutionary Spirit has the distinction of being the last release on the Zoo label. It’s also the only thing the original version of the band released. It’s no surprise that Revolutionary Spirit best sums up the post-punk big sound of bands such as The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & The Bunnymen (it’s the Bunnymen’s late great drummer Pete De Freitas on production and drums duty). Out of the embers of the original Wild Swans would emerge the chart friendly twee of The Lotus Eaters, but the power of Revolutionary Spirit increases with each passing fad and year.

#5 The Bodines – Therese (1986)

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The floppy fringed jangle of The Bodines was initially a secret byword that the relatively young Creation label might have a hit band on their hands. Lead singer Michael Ryan certainly had the Ian McCulloch pout and second single Therese (included on the era-defining C86 compilation) was bursting with pop thrills and energy. The major man came calling and after that initial Creation promise, The Bodines debut album flopped and obscurity beckoned. The first couple of Creation releases by The Bodines still shine, and Therese the brightest.

Kaliforniassa vuonna 1977 syntynyt Cass McCombs julkaisi viime vuonna viidennen ja kuudennen studioalbuminsa.

A moody nomad-like creature who lives like a hermit, doesn’t want to say anything and remains a mystery. I’m not talking about a Tolkien character here but L.A.-born Cass McCombs.

“Who?” you’re probably asking. Well, let me let you in on a secret: along with Bill Callahan and Will Oldham, McCombs is the finest spinner of yarns working in music right now. And yes, he’s as good as the company he keeps.

A reluctant subject for interview (his preferred way is via letter) Cass doesn’t like having his picture taken either. His publicist from label Domino recently told me they hired a private investigator to take promo shots of McCombs! So, we can imagine that Cass McCombs is difficult or at least fiercely private.

How refreshing is that in this age of social media performers and I’ll-lick-your-arse-just- to-get-ahead mentality.

Not convinced yet? Here’s five reasons in video form why you should go see Cass McCombs this Saturday.

#1

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It’s impossible to convey to you the sheer excitement I felt when I first saw this clip. Karen Black, legendary star of New Hollywood movies like Five Easy Pieces, Easy Rider and Nashville (to name a few), not only makes an appearance in this clip but she also adds her catty and frankly all-out bonkers persona and voice to this track. Dreams Come True Girl is a McCombs signature tune.

#2

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McCombs released two albums in 2011, Wit’s End and Humor Risk. County Line’s blue-eyed soul is perhaps the track that has endeared him most to the Pitchfork generation. Wit’s End, Humor Risk (say it fast), Dropping The Writ (2007) and 2009’s Catacombs (get it?) are album titles that display dark humor and playfulness. This offsets McCombs’ often serious tag. Amongst the heartbreaking music, Cass can tell a joke  (sort of). Which brings us to…

#3

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…Brian King ranting at McCombs, poking fun at his public persona. More self-deprecating humor from McCombs:

“Why are you so fucking afraid? Are you so filled in you fucking Gossip Girl / Ikea world you don’t understand even the concept and energy in music anymore”

#4

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McCombs makes fine art of being underrated. He’s yet to release a weak album. I could have picked other tracks and live clips (there’s nothing on this post from Humor Risk and Dropping The Writ – both excellent records). Instead, here is a track from McCombs’ first full-length album A (2003) and another discussion on the laughing arts.

#5

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The last track McCombs released was this track dedicated to Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. Musically this could be straight off Neil Young’s On The Beach. But it’s the words that matter here. As far as I know, this is the only comment on Manning from an American artist. Why? McCombs’ storytelling skills are to the fore as he guides us through Bradley’s life and reminds us of his current state:

“Now he’s due to be court-martialed this December
To prove bullying is better than a wild temper
Now, when we say ‘I want’, we invoke his chair
Bradley, know you have friends, though you’re locked in there”

Don’t miss.

Cass McCombs Helsingin Kuudennella linjalla lauantaina 25.8.2012.

Movin’ On Upilla Primal Scream jätti indierockin lopullisesti taakseen.

“I was blind, now I can see
You made a believer, out of me”

The first time I saw Primal Scream, they were twee-as-fuck, dressed in tight jeans, flowery shirts and Cuban heels (the Love Da Capo era look to be precise).

Primal Scream at this time invented The Stone Roses with Velocity Girl, not something to be sniffed at. Lanky frontman Bobby Gillespie had just finished his Moe Tucker shtick playing with those revolutionaries The Jesus & Mary Chain.

A couple of years later I catch the band in Stooges phase, black leather, Marshall stacks and fucking loud – I am deaf for a week. Primal Scream don’t convince as the MC5. The band lives in Brighton and has a rep. of being dangerous. So says my then girlfriend who knew them (I think she had a fling with the guitarist). I shared a train carriage from London to Brighton with the band at that time, they were full of stares and attitude.

“I’m movin’ on up now
Gettin’ out of the darkness
My light shines on”

But once they turned their back on indie rock, Bobby would for a time, become the cheap-stakes Jagger. And why not? Like Keith’s riffs, there’s more than enough swagger and attitude in the Stones for some of it to be spread around. And lets face it, Primal Scream would only re-invent the wheel by accident (and a fair amount of Andy Weatherall and others).

Movin’ On Up is one of two songs that soundwise don’t really fit on Screamadelica – the other being another Rolling Stones influenced track Damaged. These are the tracks untouched by key Screamadelica collaborator Weatherall. Jimmy Miller (if you want the Stones sound then go to the guy that got it) re-stages a version of Let it Bleed with a Glasgow bent. And it’s on this great gospel tinged din where Primal Scream finally leave indie rock behind and find their inner rock’n’roll for the first time.

Forget the Stooges period, that was rubbish. This was Bobby and co giving as good as they got. And lets be honest, the real Stones hadn’t sounded this good for years. And to think Primal Scream still had Rocks to come. Who’d have guessed the skinny kid who couldn’t sing would become the rock’n’roll singer of the pre-britpop era. Weird.

“I was lost, now I’m found
I believe in you, I got no bounds”

Movin’ On Up still works in a euphoric way. In some way the song charts the rise of Primal Scream as they enter the world of stadium tours, expensive drugs, supermodel duets and being taken seriously as a rock’n’roll band (if that’s what you want out of life).

Funnily enough, I never felt the band were that convinced themselves at being rock stars. Bobby G has always seemed too intelligent and had too much of an interest in other musical sub-cultures to just be happy being in a tribute Stones band. The fact that Movin’ On Up borrows lyrics from Can’s You Do Right showcases Gillespie’s own interests in the esoteric, which would come to the fore on subsequent releases.

Surprisingly, the classic sound of Movin’ On Up has endured better than most tracks on the often groundbreaking, yet now dated sounding Screamadelica. Movin’ On Up was the start of a slow process for Primal Scream of getting the Stones out of their system so they could finally get to the extraordinary sound experiments of XTRMNTR. As exorcisms go, Movin’ on Up is a blast.

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The Pastels – too twee to be true.

David E. Barker of Glass Records, when I asked him for a thought on The Pastels told me “Stephen Pastel once said ’there are too many bands and they’re using up all the electricity’. Stephen is my friend and I am proud to have been associated with such a great group as The Pastels.”

I love Dave and I love his lovely quote about The Pastels but not half as much as I love Stephen Pastel’s hair. As the Finnish saying goes: ”tukka hyvin, kaikki hyvin”.

Rocket. Ricochets. Pastels.

“Remember what was meant to be this year
The past is a disaster
And the future’s coming faster now
What do you say we go and get a beer?”

The Pastels always operate on the margins of the soul, barely keeping “it” together. But hey, do you get “it”? What do you need to know? Writing this certainly made me rethink my relationship to the band. I saw the band once in the mid 1980’s (on a bill that included The Jazz Butcher). I was crushed with disappointment by the show. The Pastels were a shambling mess, I couldn’t recognize songs and everything was so out of tune.

But the biggest disappointment of all was that Stephen Pastel hid under a hooded anorak all show. I was obsessed with his hair at the time and didn’t get to see Stephen’s lovely locks. Stephen Pastel has the greatest hair – perfect indie-rock hair in fact. I always dreamed of having hair like Stephen Pastel but my hair was too thick to just sit on my head. Some things in life you just have to let go.

But the gig stayed with me and I realized much. Out of tune is OK. Loose is even better. Being competent on your instrument is for music students and not for art terrorists or budding rock stars. These are life lessons that have stayed with me. Hair is all-important in pop too.

“When I was young
I used to sing
I didn’t care for anything
When I was young I used to sing
I didn’t care for anything
Simply nothing to be done
Tell me I’m the only one”

There is spontaneity. The Pastels define this and not just with their sound. Brendan O’Hare (who knows a bit about Scottish bands having played with Teenage Fanclub, Telstar Ponies, Mogwai & Lightships) told me “My fave pastels moment was during a house gig they were having in about 1993. At one point during a song, Stephen stood up and started playing one of those plastic tube things that you wave above yr head.”

Billy Reeves (former PR at Fire Records and THE man @ the BBC) tried to convince me why The Pastels and especially Stephen Pastel remain relevant and influential despite not releasing much music in recent years: “Orange Juice & Cherry Red to Belle & Sebastian, and how the whole (still thriving) bowlie/twee scene owes him a favor. And yet due to the auteur/amateurism of The Pastels he’s also a big hero to the yank DIY scene, (K records etc) that begat Sub Pop & Nirvana… and, of course, he’s dragged the notion of the record store into the 21st century by making his store part record shop, part coffee shop, part micro-brewery – the superb Monorail Music shop in Glasgow”.

We could also talk of Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston and what they owe The Pastels. We could mention the excellent Pastels curated label Geographic or the great labels they’ve worked with (Rough Trade, Creation, Glass Records, Homestead, Paperhouse, Domino). We could mention a Glasgow cottage industry of great music that has flowed through The Pastels. But this would assert that the band has been influential or important and that’s far too fucking MOJO Magazine.

The words pop and classic are defied by The Pastels (not defined). So are rock n’ roll and career. The Pastels have invented their own genre if you like… it’s complicated but there is just… The Pastels music. Ultimately my mythologizing of The Pastels is contrary to my own idea of the band. This sort of thing just ain’t right.

What of the song? Nothing to Be Done is a tense assertion by The Pastels in as much as the band is ever tense. Nothing to Be Done contains the Teenage Fanclub solo well before the mighty Fannies played solos. Nothing to Be Done is driven in as much as The Pastels are driven. This is rock music in as much as The Pastels rock.

Our imaginations often distort our nostalgia for what we have in the past regarded as a great song or album. Listening back to Nothing to Be Done dispels this theory for me. It’s perfect pop in my eyes as defined by Stephen Pastel’s perfect hair. Another way of putting it is: Nothing to Be Done is Pastels music and that is always more than enough.

“Take my hand and take my heart
I shiver when you’re near
Deliver me from everything that drives me, oh my dear”

Many thanks to David E Barker, Brendan O’Hare & Billy Reeves for talking Pastels.

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