Rock and roll is littered with artists who want to escape the bitterness and artlessness of their hometown. Lost, beaten suburbanites look skywards and dream of the big city-the hustle and the people whilst hardened city kids vow to themselves to escape the smog and crime and escape to the country. But what if you wanted to make your hometown a better place? There is a slightly wonky definition of Bohemia that describes it as trying to make your life better, not through politics, but through art. Is it possible to make your hometown bearable, cool even, through creativity and belief? Durham band Martha, and in particular their self titled debut EP are testament to creativity and togetherness. It's a classic.
The
lovely people at Tuff Enuff have made my dream come true by finally
releasing it on vinyl. Back in 2012, Martha released their eponymous
debut EP on cassette and CD and (presumably surprisingly to the band)
where taken to the bosom of the indiepop community. On the surface,
this seemed something of a mismatch-the stripy-topped Walter the
Softies aligning themselves with the Durham Menaces-, but Martha and
indiepop really do compliment each other. Both thrive on inclusive,
friendly, and cheap venues and tiny, day dreamy record labels. And,
of course, a mutual adoration of the first Housemartins LP.
The
main reason people fell in love with the Martha EP is simply because
the music is so brilliant. On initial listening, the songs kick out
the speakers in a kind of Big Star/Buzzcocks amalgam of pop and punk.
But actually the songs are based on an almost Motown formula-No
messing around rhythms, a chorus to shout along to and a heart that
is almost defiantly joyful. So far so pop, but This IS a political
band, presenting their politics in stories about the everyday. These
are tales about the crushed, and those who kick back, sometimes the
same person in the same song.
***
***
One
of pops neatest tricks is present a song and later reveal an
unexpected depth to it. Take Neil youngs FM anthem 'rocking in the
free world, a song with verses so teeth grindingly angry the listener
can only conclude the chorus is presented bathed in sarcasm. Or Happy
Hour by the Housemartins, less a tie loosening peon to the pleasure
of a post work pint, more a lemon sharp warning against falling for
the same backward thinking that traps your workmates. Even bona fide
classics like the Leader of the Pack by the Shirelles is seen in some
circles as a gum popping camp curio rather than possibly the darkest
45 ever released. Similarly, Martha songs are almost like punk
oyster's holding intellectual pearls.
Take
1978, Smiling Politely, which on my Ipod sounded like a gum chewing,
dusty, sun dappled anthem or a paranoid ode to a road trip which
pushes the pedal to the floor in the hope the velocity of the car
will keep a relationships flame alight. But it's in fact a tribute to
the incredibly inspirational poet /activist Audre Lorde. Lorde gained
as many critics as supporters by confronting racism within the
feminist movement.
"What
you hear in my voice is fury, not suffering. Anger, not moral authority" she
told her critics. Throughout her life, and after her death in 1992,
she has inspired and educated through her essays and poetry. (Anyone
who has had their interest piqued by Martha name checking of this
artist should start with Sister
Outsider: Essays and Speeches)
And
Gretna Green, is that simply a song about wistfully looking back on
lost love and chilly regret? Not quite. Gretna Green (the place) is
just over an hour away from the scene of the Quintinshill
rail disaster. In May 1915, two signal men were due to overlap their
day and night shift. However, George Meakin and James Tinsley had
come to an arrengement. There was a train going from Carlisle to
Beattock that would go from Gretna to Qunitinshill, thus saving the
man doing the early shift the mile and a bit walk. However, this
would have the man arriving for work at 6.30am and and not 6. As the
men rotated shifts, the came to an arrangement where the men would
fiddle the records and get an extra hour in bed.
Tinsley and Meakin were discussing the war with two brakesmen in the signalbox when a local train fireman signed the train register without carrying out his duty by reminding the signalmen that his train was on the Up main line. Three minutes later, the first two of five trains would collide on the same junction. The collision and resulting fire injured 246 people and killed a further 226, mainly soldiers of the Leith Battalion of the Royal Scots.
Seemingly, the song is about someone waiting for their lover to arrive so together they could wed at the nearby Blacksmiths Shop(where young couples had wed since 1754) or at the very least eloping together. But tragically one half of the couple had died in the rail disaster, leaving the other half eternally waiting. The line calling marriage a patriarchal scam and the fact most of the fatalities where young men in the armed services it would appear the song was written from the point of view of a young women. It's hard not to wonder what she did with the rest of her life.
Tinsley and Meakin were discussing the war with two brakesmen in the signalbox when a local train fireman signed the train register without carrying out his duty by reminding the signalmen that his train was on the Up main line. Three minutes later, the first two of five trains would collide on the same junction. The collision and resulting fire injured 246 people and killed a further 226, mainly soldiers of the Leith Battalion of the Royal Scots.
Seemingly, the song is about someone waiting for their lover to arrive so together they could wed at the nearby Blacksmiths Shop(where young couples had wed since 1754) or at the very least eloping together. But tragically one half of the couple had died in the rail disaster, leaving the other half eternally waiting. The line calling marriage a patriarchal scam and the fact most of the fatalities where young men in the armed services it would appear the song was written from the point of view of a young women. It's hard not to wonder what she did with the rest of her life.
***
Martha
humbly offer us the startlingly simple idea that music should not be
about margins, fame or notability but about making new friends,
seeing new places and above all having fun. Martha, like the Spook
School, The Tuts and the much missed Ace Bushy Striptease make you
want to be part of their gang. Not because of an attraction to T-bird
cool but because they make everything look like so much fun. Despite
lyrically tackling monstrously serious issues, they still stand by a
defiance
of taking themselves too seriously that borders on militancy. Time IS
short and life IS cruel but it really is up to US to change this town
called Malice, or Pity Me or Shrewsbury or wherever you find
yourself. The thing with small towns is if you don't do it yourself,
no-ones else will. Like Josie Long said so brilliantly, if you want
something to exist, sometimes you have to make it yourself.
Creativity in these towns is not a luxury but a real necessity. Even
if buying the records and t-shirts is too much for you, support your
local girl gang, punk band, indie venue. Every now and then a record
turns up that reminds you why all this is worth it. The putting on
gigs, the traveling for miles to spend £3 on watching bands above a
room in a pub, the having a band sleep on your sofa, the writing for
a fanzine or a blog. Sometimes a record reminds you that you made the
right choice-that not worrying about where your career is or getting
a mortgage or having babies is perfectly acceptable way to live your
life. You are not wrong, just different. Martha's debut EP is one of
those records, and I love it to the bottom of my daft heart.
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