The Smiths are the best band ever

The Smiths are the best band ever . By reading that sentence you instantly fall into two camps. Those who agree with me (hello, love the quiff) and those who disagree. To paraphrase Tony Wilson, you are entitled to your opinion, but your opinion is wrong. Stop your internal dialogue, you are, I’m afraid, mistaken.

They are the greatest because the simply did not write a bad song. Not one. Which ever band popped into your  head when you read the opening nine words, they released a stinker at some point. The Beatles? When’s the last time you sat down and enjoyed Polythene Pam? Bob Dylan? That one about the Pillbox Hat. (And while we’re here, should protest songs be there to nod and drink coffee too? Really?). Elvis? Never wrote a word or a chord. Bowie? Laughing Gnome and that comeback one everyone got excited about that actually sounds like the song Ozzy Osbourne did with his daughter. The Smiths? Impeccable record of, er, records.

They are, of course, those who would disagree. Those are they kind of people who hear the word Morrissey, and suddenly say ‘Ooh, Morrissey!’ in a camp voice and/or do the wrist slit mime. This has always struck me as a very odd way of reacting to art. Imagine if you told someone you liked the film ‘The Green Mile’, and the person reacted by exclaiming ‘The Green Mile! The Green Mile!’ in the manner of Quentin Crisp and doing a mime of boo-hoo crying and chair based electrocution. You would think this person a tit of the highest order, and rightly so.

Smiths fans, however, are lovely. It’s easy to have a crush on a Smiths fan. If you’re a fan of football team, at some point a friend will say to you “ Oh, you should meet Keith, he supports Team X too”. When you meet Keith he turns out to be a borderline racist who watches Man Vs Food and has read one book, which turns out to be Bravo Two Zero. But if someone says “Oh he/she likes the Smiths” you are almost certain to get on with them. Perhaps that due to The Smiths, between the four members, cover all bases. They are as funny as they are sad. As sexy as they are virginal. As cool as they are daft. As rock and roll as they are shy. It’s hard not to fall for a band like that.

Also, The Smiths are enjoyed by people who really love music. There are people who use music as pleasant distraction. A CD put on in the car, a radio switched on to accompany the washing up. And of course there’s nothing wrong with that. But for others, they see music as not just as an escape but another world to run away too. To believe in. A light to look for to prove that their heart still beats. The Smiths are that kind of band. They really are.

There was a documentary on The Smiths on the BBC last night. It was OK (it must be hard to cover a band that fans know the story of back to front and inside out), but a bit Morrissey-centric I felt. There is a danger, I think, of the cult of Morrissey pushing the Smiths horribly over-ground. Remember when Top Shop started doing Joy Division T-shirts? If a band as darkly life affirming as Joy Division can be made so mainstream and inoffensive it can happen The Smiths. Maybe it already has. The Salford Lads Club pictures and the conventions are wonderful and healthy (How I longed for those when I was sixteen). But listen to the records. This is where the band really, truly live on. These are the albums and singles that won our hearts and held them so gently for so long. This is where they truly belong to us, uniquely and unshakably our own. The Smiths are mine, and they owe me a love bite. I wont share them.

"We have all been teenagers, some of us will be teenagers forever" Of Needham and Snodgrass

In 1992, the BBC advertised for people to take part in their Teenage Diaries, a series that involved lending handpicked British youths one of their expensive cameras with which to record fifty hours of their lives to later be edited to forty five minutes. Loughborough Megadeth fan Chris Needham sent off an envelope filled with his best lyrics and poems and covering letter explaining if the BBC that if they wanted a no bullshit diary of what it was like to be a teenage thrash metal fan living in the East Midlands, then he was their man. What resulted is some of the most extraordinary footage ever recorded.

I rediscovered In Bed with Chris Needham after finding a link on facebook. It’s a minor miracle this footage still survives, its existence a testament to its cult like status. There are no DVD’s, just grainy internet footage gleaned from a heavily past-around VHS tape.  Passed off as a record of the titular Chris trying to get a heavy metal band off the ground, it’s actually the truest, most awkward portrait of what it is to be a teenager ever shot.  To call it warts-and-all is to do it an injustice.

It’s easy to laugh Chris Needham (all teeth, wire rimmed specs, shit stopper jeans, and wool mullet), principally because he is unintentionally (but genuinely) funny. Like absolutely everybody aged 17, Chris was a bit of twat. Coming across like cross between Holden Caulfield and Saxondale, we see him lost in the skinny, spotty, gangling, strange and foul smelling world of the teenage boy. He gracelessly bumbles his way around his little life, getting bollocked by teachers, being embarrassed by his Nan and rehearsing with his band Manslaughter. You can pretty much see the hormones coursing through the grease and the spots of his face.

The reason, I think, we all can laugh at Chris’s cringing lyrics and monologue rants that would shame Rick from the Young Ones, is because we see a little of our own inner pretentious little Herbert. Yes, it’s a terrible cliché, but there is a bit Chris Needham in all of us. “All you old bastards, you old farts should listen, you should learn something from this” he snarls. The irony is of course, as soon as you hit twenty, you’ve learned the lessons already. The Facebook link was put up by Dan, an extremely cool (and very pleasant) young man who plays in one of my favourite new indie bands Evans the Death. And yes, even you Dan, were like Chris once. Be ready to look back and cringe.

Amongst the smirk worthy, daft footage is moments of genuine warmth. Whilst young ‘uns these days have invented sixteen new sexual positions by the time they are eligible to vote, we see Chris timidly exchange Christmas cards with his girlfriend. The footage oozes blushing embarrassment . We see him where he is perhaps genuinely at peace, when he is fishing. The placid water of the canal perhaps mirroring his inner tranquillity.

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By utter coincidence (I was round having tea at my mums and she had it on the Skybox), I caught Snodgrass on the same night that I caught up with young Chris. The teleplay (screenplay by David Quantick and based on a story by Ian R MacLeod) re-imagines John Lennon’s life as if he had left the Beatles before they properly took off. We see his world as a jobless 50 year old, sleeping in spare rooms and talking to himself on the bus as he passes posters advertising The Beatles he has no part of touring such hits as Mary Has a Little Lamb.

Funny, dark and affecting we see Ian Hart’s Lennon set in a grey world surrounded with what he calls ‘Snodgrass’, (people who you know, work and pay the mortgage. That kind of loser) while his brain fizzes and pops with tart Scouse wit. We feel sorry for the faux-Lennon, because of his life and because we know what he missed. 

I wonder if we would have felt so sorry for him if actually was a Snodgrass. A 50 year old Lennon with a wife, a family and a couple of kids, a Lennon who enjoyed gardening, playing in a local pub skiffle band at the weekends and collecting paintings by the unknown Stuart Sutcliffe when he has a bit of spare cash. Would we ache for him so much if he got what he was clearly searching for all his life, some peace of mind? Could you imagine a Lennon free of his demons, enjoying being a granddad? Could you imagine a BETTER granddad? But of course, that doesn't make good telly.

“Me auntie used to say ‘Oh guitar’s all right, John, but you’ll never earn a living at it.’ Fucking hell, Mimi, you weren't wrong…” mutters Quanticks Lennon. Maybe not, but for the Chris Needhams of this world they can mean the opportunity to show off in front of girls at the college talent show, or if you’re really lucky, star in a BBC funded Heavy Metal video with your top off. Most of us start off as a Chris Needham and end up a Snodgrass. We dream of stadiums and gold records, not doing the extra hours to pay the mortgage, of screaming girls not earning a quiet life. I’m slightly ashamed to say this speaking a man in his mid-thirties, but there is a part me that will forever be drawn to dicking around with a drum kit in a form room. Long live dreams, long live rock.

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The Fireworks

The Fireworks

Pop world 2013. The Prime Minister David Cameron sells off the NHS while the press mourn the split of TV show X-Factor’s runners up JLS. The news pretty much ignores the privatisation of the country’s most cherished service but seek Cameron for a quote on a multi millionaire footballer biting another multi millionaire footballer. Whilst still awaiting an heir apparent to the throne of the late John  Peel, the BBC appoint Edith Bowman her own show on 6music. An appointment based not on musical knowledge or passion, but on an ability to be inoffensive.  The news of the come backs of the groups M People and Texas coincide with the news of the closure of Bristol’s The Croft and London’s Bull and Gate. As Flavor Flav once opined, these are some serious times we are living in G.

Thank goodness for the artistic, the brave and the life affirming. Thank fuck for The Fireworks. A four piece involving the thinking parts of Big Pink Cake, Pocketbooks and The Wedding Present, they could perhaps be forgiven for resting on their laurels. Not a bit of it. The Fireworks music is heart soaringly free of restraints and triumphantly fuzzy and uplifting.

The band revises the spirit of C86 and Sarah Records and dancing and laughing and loving to combat the ignorant, the elitist and the plain bad. This is, I think, the perfect time to create and inspire. Like The Fireworks, we can tackle the constant stream of bad news on TV and the papers, the venues of our best days closing without our permission and the bands we adore splitting up. We can soar over the apathetic, the bigoted and the small minded. Bands like The Fireworks prove that cheap and nasty is always, always, always, always better than expensive and nice. This is the time to form that band, write that blog, print that fanzine promote that pop show and release that record. The world needs you and your input. Love, laugh, listen. Create, inspire, network. Unite and take over. 

http://thefireworksgopop.bandcamp.com/

A Little Orchestra-Josefina

A Little Orchestra

A while ago, I went out with a girl who was keen on folk music. We had a little arrangement, her and I, that we would take it in turns to entertain each other on ‘date’ nights. Now, being a lovely and thoughtful young man, I took the woman we shall call C to see Tender Trap with Cherry Coloured Pop Djing in Manchester. A slightly sweaty, but pop rush-y time was had by all. Then (then) came her turn to suggest an evening of frivolity. This turned out to be FOLK NIGHT.

She promised an entertaining evening where rustic fellows clang frothing caskets of ale together while singing heartily songs of yore while a shy young lady played a flute. What I got was quite different. Old men with bits of pork pie in their beards plucked and picked as they accompanied seemingly never ending ditties about children drowning in wells and lost loves called Rosie, whilst younger men (pork pie beard apprentices that carried the scent of sheds, wet wool and wanking) slapped the pub table with glee and apparent enthusiasm. I’ve had more fulfilling times at bus stops.

I’ve bored you with this tale of youthful excitement to perhaps illustrate my feelings towards the music known as ‘folk’. It was slightly concerning, then, to be asked to review a EP with a lead track entitled ‘Josefina’. Luckily, it’s really quite beautiful.

I say luckily because the artists involved are the wonderful A Little Orchestra, who you would probably know from their work with The Loves, Pocketbooks and the Pipettes and latterly with firm brilldream faves The Understudies. A band so seemingly lovely I was genuinely quite scared that they would be too hand-woven for my pop fuzz ears. But the EP is a treat.

The aforementioned lead track ’Josefina’ is sung by the sweet, slightly aching voice of Rachel from Model Village. This song is summer. Not Beach Boys summer or Ibiza summer, but a chilled glass of white in Whitby summer, as the sun starts to sink and you pull a cardy over your shoulders and think about how you’re going to spend you’re evening as you watch the sun set slowly over the harbour. That kind of summer. The song is effortlessly enchanting.



Elsewhere on the EP is ‘East Coast’, with it’s tinkling strings and dancing flutes flits Tinkerbell like around the sweetly blunt vocal out pouring of Ballboy’s Gordon McIntire.  “And the east coast night /And the summer haze/ Is all you'll ever need /Young men rise, old men fail But never really leave” he tells us. 

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 “I want Julia in 1985 /Sheepskin coat, patterned tights /I want Julia and me to see a movie /One that makes me kiss her/ I never did” Lyrics like that could only belong to the tongue of Darren Hayman who stars on the keyboard led The Permanent Way, a track that sweetly and dreamily drags folk kicking it’s little heels into 2013.

The beauty of this EP (a 7” on brown vinyl) is it sweetens a style of music to such a degree that even dyed in the wool indie kids can enjoy it. I’m going to spend the beginning of the summer with this on the turn table, sat on the windowsill thoughtfully sipping at tea. The folk is alright, just don’t tell C.

The Josefina EP (Elefant Records), is available now on limited edition chocolate-coloured 7″ vinyl from: http://alittleorchestra.bandcamp.com/ (you can stream some tracks too) for just £5. Expect it in the shops April 29th.

Charlotte and Magon-Black Horses

When you write stuff about music, you get sent emails by bands hinting that you should explore their music. The first heartbreaking thing I learned about being sent demo's is almost none of them are terrible, however most of them a crushingly competent and samey. The video for Charlotte and Magon's Black Horses is quite different.

It's a journalistic challenge this. I've tried time and again to accurately describe it, the nearest I can get is Kate Bush if she read Plath rather than Bronte and a film which is Amelie as directed by Nick Cave. It's gentle, a little unsettling and dark as Guinness. But wholly unique. See what you think.

You can’t knock a brogue, can you...? The Understudies part two-Bree Wright

Can I describe the Understudies in three words? This. Is. Desire. Bree Wright

In the first part of the Understudies interview we met Brian Bryden. If Brian is the poetic mind of the band, then it's artistic eyes belong to keyboardist Bree Wright. Kind of an ad-hoc artistic director  she is responsible for the records looking as good as they sound. The sleeve for 'My life is not French film EP', for example, uses Ken Russel's stunning image of a 14 year old Teddy  Girl against the back drop of a war-torn East end of London. As well as being a bit Smiths, it's also one of the first photographic record of British youth culture. It's an inspired choice. As I said in the first interview, I was wowed by the image going as far as the record download slip from the '...Summer of Love' 7". Is attention to details important to Bree?
It is. That particular image was from the statue that the lyrics were inspired by so it seemed a natural thing to do. I think like most of us I grew up poring over artwork and inlay sleeves. When you didn’t know a lot about a band (in the pre-internet age) it felt like you were discovering more from those few details. Also personally, my parents never had vinyl that I recall as we moved a lot when I was younger and I grew up with cassettes and CDs, so it’s all been a bit in reverse for me and I’ve realised how much a part of the whole experience it is. I feel very lucky to be involved in that.

She is also, with new boys Ian Cowen and Thom Allott ((They have been fitting in..)Very well! It's been great to have Ian as Brian was adding so much in the studio it was getting essential. They've definitely gotten the feel of the existing songs, I can’t wait to start on some new stuff with them. And they're both such lovely guys too, obviously, so they're fitting in nicely.) and drummer Kris colour in Brian's songs with delicate phrasing with verve and tiny pockets of panache. Although Bree seems to think they may not be needed at all!

We’ve known Brian for such a long time now and he’s always written incredibly honest songs so it’s something that we’ve grown used to. Mostly we’re just hoping we can do them justice! I often think he’s at his best with those types of quiet songs too, sometimes they need nothing more than him and guitar.

The bands excitement about the new LP is absolutely infectious. Most of our songs have been knocking around for a while but not been recorded, though we do definitely have new ones in there. It should have a good variety and there’s some quite mental guitar stuff which I actually love. One thing we've noticed in the recording process is that there have been some dark horses and a few we weren't thinking were contenders are suddenly standing out. Also, A Little Orchestra have been recording on a couple in the last few days and they've just transformed them, really taken them to a new place. It was like one of those moments I'd always heard people talk about, we were really blown away by them. 

It would seem things are unbelievably upbeat in the Understudies camp (Favourite moment? All I can say is I’m glad you’ve asked me this after we played Union Chapel the other week! So yeah, that! Amazing.) and I cant help but hope the positiveness makes it on to the grooves of the records.

Before we let the Understudies slip away back into their creative hole, I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I didn't ask on behalf of all the Bree-ettes on where she gets the inspiration for her outfits from:-

Haha, are we really doing this question?! Excellent. Umm, there’s little consistency. It used to always be a dress, now it’s more likely what I wore to work that day or what’s clean! And you can’t knock a brogue, can you...?

Poetry, Bus stops and underpants-Brian Bryden and the Understudies

 Brian Bryden, guitarist, songwriter and singer of the Understudies is happy man. "The  Union Chapel show was pretty amazing, John Jervis of WIAWYA records invited us along and we had the opportunity to play with the little orchestra as they're also doing strings for the forthcoming album. They were brilliant and really made the songs work in what is the biggest and most beautiful venue we've played. We were quite shocked about how many people turned up but managed to hold our nerves. Gold stars to Thom and Ian as it was only their second gig with us."

I love the Understudies. Though they are yet to reach the epic levels of output of the Fall, I have loved every single song they have put out, possibly even more than the author himself "pretty much everything we've put out up until now has been home recordings done in my bedroom which we've never really been happy with."

They have a knack of encapsulating life into a three minute musical Polaroid snapshot with the panache of writers such as Richard Yates, JD Salinger and Miranda July. Songs of nostalgia, sensitivity, and genuine warmth, they manage to keep their feet on the ground with an almost Carry On sense of humour "we don't tend to take ourselves very seriously, it must be exhausting maintaining the level of earnestness and cool that some people strive for. Being quite shy but having the ridiculous urge to get up on stage and sing seems a bit daft but when it's good it can be life affirming."

Like every good pop band, the songs are the key "We do try to approach the songs with as much respect as we can though. Quite a few of my songs have their beginnings in memories and things that have happened but they're usually just a jumping off point and once the songs are beyond the first few lines they kind of take on a life of their own, half fiction half truth. Others have no grain of truth or experience whatsoever and are just inspired by a line or title that pops into my head at 3 in the morning."  

Possibly the strongest work in their current cannon is the Oddbox single 'Everyone Deserves at least one Summer of Love'. Under the watchful eye of designer extraordinaire and band keyboardist/vocalist Bree Wright, the record is a beautifully packaged coloured 7"(even the download code slip is a work of art). The titular A-Side is a self assured, galloping heart stopper that sees its epic verses melt into a toffee-tasty life affirming chorus.  "Surprisingly that one isn't autobiographical at all. I actually pinched the opening lines from the tombstone of some long lost member of the aristocracy whilst wandering around the Victoria and Albert museum, the rest is just my imagination as they say, the title was actually the last thing to come which is a bit arse about face for me. I can tell you though, that I wrote the song in my pants whilst watching the snooker world championships on telly. It's weird but true. I've written some of my best songs whilst watching snooker in my pants, must be the meditative aspect which allows the mind to wander or something."

The flip is the equally assured 'If I come to You'. A gently slow-burning, warm-as-toast arpeggio ballad. It's naked honesty is hard not to fall head over heels for. "with if i come to you... I just wanted to be honest really, not clever or knowing or ironic or whatever. You run the risk of falling flat on your face but I think it's a risk worth taking sometimes."

It's all change for the Understudies at the moment, with a line up change and a new LP on the cards "As luck would have it Ian Cowen was free and we pretty much offered him the job halfway through our first rehearsal. Same applied to Thom Allot Who we recruited after Graeme left to concentrate on his writing. They both clicked from the start which makes it really easy. We're only a few shows in but it's going really well and we've had some really nice feed back. Got plenty of shows lined up so we're quite eager to get back to playing after a quiet 2012."
The swan song of the original line up is the wonderful video for 'Erika K'




Perhaps the the best thing about the Understudies is the fact hey love music and records just as much as you and I do. It's there in the attention to detail and beauty of the record packaging, it's there in the lyrics about French films, bus stops rooted in nostalgia, it's in Brian Bryden's blood. "First and foremost I am a fan. I can't really remember not being interested in music. I was a totp and smash hits obsessive as a kid and pretty much followed on from there and it's been a constant companion all my life. It's a massive cliche but I have no clue what would have filled the void in me if I music hadn't found me. I'd be a completely different person. "

Can he squeeze the vitality, poetry, and day dreaminess of the Understudies in three words? Of course he can-"Buy. The. Album!"