Music of the future
About twenty years ago there was a Radio 4 sketch show called Son of
Clich�, scripted by the not-yet-celebrated Rob Grant and Dave Naylor.
Nick Wilton was one of the regulars (what's he doing these days, I
wondered when I remembered this; the answer's "panto, mainly"). The
music was by Peter Brewis, including one of the funniest moments in
musical comedy I've ever heard: the credits sung in the style of Bob
Dylan, to the tune of "Knockin' on Heaven's door", with each verse
ending
"And the music was by - Peter Brewis,
Peter Brewis, Peter Brewis,
Peter Brewis, Peter Brewis..."
Well, I liked it.
There's an interview with Peter Brewis in today's Indie. It's not the
same one - this one's a member of Field Music - but I do wonder if
he's any relation. Now, Field Music, although they're quite young lads
- this Peter Brewis would have been in nappies when the other one was
doing his Dylan impression - make angular, jerkily melodic, thoughtful
music, heavy on the keyboards and woodwinds. They're so 1970s they
ought to be on Caroline, in other words. They're not alone, either.
The Feeling are Pilot on a good day (or Supertramp on a bad one), and
the Klaxons...
The Klaxons are a bit more complicated (not better, but more
complicated). The Klaxons (or is it just Klaxons? I neither know nor
care, actually) are 'new rave', apparently. Judging from the track
"Atlantis to Interzone" (on the B-side of their single "Golden
Skans"), 'new rave' essentially means 'retro'; the track starts with
whooping sirens and (I kid you not) a woman singing the words "Mu mu".
Then the bass kicks in. A couple of minutes later it kicks out again
and the sound gets stroppy and punky, with a kind of 1979 art-school
cockney vibe; my son pricked up his ears at this point and asked if it
was Adam and the Ants. (He's a fan of Adam and the Ants.) "Make it
new" clearly isn't an injunction that's troubled the Klaxons greatly.
"Golden Skans" itself takes me back to a period I'd completely
forgotten: post-glam, pre-punk pop-rock. Think Graham Bonnet-era
Rainbow, but without the metal cliches or the long hair, and with
aspirations to make both three-minute singles and deeply meaningful
albums. Think Argent earlier in the 1970s, or City Boy later on, or
John Miles at a pinch. Punk cut a swathe through prog rock, but the
pop-rock scene it destroyed. But it's back in the hands of [the]
Klaxons. I think they can keep it.
The Earlies, now - there's a fine band. I'm listening to their new
album The Enemy Chorus at the moment, and even though it's only the
first listen I can thoroughly recommend it. Most of the tracks have
that "I'm going to like this later" itch to them, and a couple are
instant synapse-flooding beauties. (Like a good strong cafe con leche,
when it's cold outside. With two sugars. Like that.)
But even their music has its 1970s and late-60s echoes. It's stacked
with them, to be honest - I've been reminded of Soft Machine, Robert
Wyatt, Faust, Neu! and the Beatles, and several times of Family
(someone in that band knows Music in a Doll's House and Family
Entertainment).
I'm not complaining about the Enemy Chorus - it's a wonderful album.
But still... it'd be nice to hear something that would pin my ears
back the way punk did - and, for me personally, the way the Desperate
Bicycles and Scritti Politti did. The Fugees did it; cLOUDDEAD did it
(cLOUDDEAD were very punk). Since then, not so much.
I wonder what they'll find to play at Noughties Nights.
