1980s/90s


ROY LONEY & THE PHANTOM MOVERS A Hundred Miles An Hour: 1978-1989 Raven CD www.ravenrecords.com.au


Roy Loney walked away from his role as the maniacally rockin’ frontman of The Flamin’ Groovies in the early ‘70s. But he kept the greasy spirit of his former band


alive with the collection of records he and his


Phantom Movers released between the late ‘70s and late ‘80s. Early rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, boogie, rockabilly and power pop are all worked to hip-shaking perfection on these slabs. What Loney and friends do best is what the early Groovies mostly excelled at: shameless, snotty, dirty rock ‘n’ roll, the kind of stuff that would threaten to blow the roof off of a sweaty nightclub. Loney’s tongue is always partway into his cheek, but he pulls off the harder-than-it-looks feat of being funny without ever letting himself or his music be reduced to a novelty. Brian Greene


FORGET ART, LET’S DANCE


The major label that wasn’t scared of being different. By MARCO ROSSI.


VARIOUS ARTISTS Out Come The Freaks: An Island Post Punk Anthology Island 3-CD www.islandrecords.co.uk


Now you would think, would you not, that an Island Records post punk anthology would be released on


the Island label? I’ve had the devil of a time verifying this simple fact, however. My promo copy bears an intimidatingly large Universal Music Operations logo; Amazon nominates the sinisterly faceless “Commercial Operations” as the label in question, while CD Now thinks it’s on Polydor. Visiting the Island and Universal websites results in little more than a welter of unsolicited pop-ups; and yes, I’m aware that an “unsolicited pop- up” could also be a ghastly euphemism. Now, Universal patently owns everything on God’s brown earth, but it’s the principle of the thing. I was so put off by my Luddite inability to get the internet to play ball that I nearly gave up and sat in the corner facing the wall, which would have been a shame as Out Come The Freaks makes for an entertaining listen.


Contentious in parts, cheering in others,


it’s a nostalgic headswim for those of us whose teenage years were soundtracked by the music herein, and an instructive reminder of Island’s commendable embrace of otherwise ungovernable maverick talents. Disc one, From Art Rock To Post Punk, is


the clear favourite. Bookended by Roxy Music’s wilfully pointy ‘Remake/Remodel’ (’72) and Marianne Faithfull’s exhausted, decadent ‘Broken English’ (’79), it also finds room for John Cale’s cadaverous ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, Nico’s chillingly enunciated ‘It Has Not Taken Long’ and The Slits’ entirely glorious ‘Typical Girls’. Disc two, Post-Modern Pop, scores most


heavily with ‘Things Fall Apart’ by the little- remembered Cristina and ‘Jukebox Baby’ by battle-scarred Suicide veteran Alan Vega (although ‘Is That All There Is?’ and ‘Dream Baby Dream’ would arguably have been more welcome). The nascent U2 hyperventilate amusingly through an earnest ‘11 O’Clock Tick-Tock’, and Grace Jones stalks imperiously all over The Normal’s ‘Warm Leatherette’. Disc three, Beats And Beyond, is a bit


draining in comparison – you can pretty much keep your Tone Locs, Orbs and Puressences – but top marks nevertheless for digging out ‘Little Arithmetics’ by dEUS and ‘The SAS & The Glam That Goes With It’ by Earl Brutus.


New


THE AMAZING The Amazing Subliminal Sounds CD www.subliminalsounds.se


With their name alone The Amazing are setting the bar very high and, naturally, one would expect their moniker to be vindicated. The involvement of


Dungen members adds to the expectation. The album opens brazenly with ‘The Kirwan Song’ featuring a riff lifted from ‘Sunny Side Of Heaven’ (from Fleetwood Mac’s much neglected 1972 Bare Trees album) –not a bad idea other than the rest of the song just isn’t as good as the appropriated tune. Overall the feel of the album continues in a style reminiscent of early ’70s singer-songwriter country-rock, folk slackers a la Nick Drake, lazy sunsets and swathes of trendier Coldplay embellishments which drift across the skyline. Not a bad combination and at times and, due to the retro production, you’d be forgiven for thinking this really was a ‘70s album.


Yet


despite moments where it all works, the nagging doubt is a lack of originality. Richard Allen


MARTIN BELMONT The Guest List Gold Top CD www.jungle-records.com


Belmont is one of a slowly dying sect of individuals once known as “professional musicians.” Starting out as lead guitarist of pub rock legends


Ducks Deluxe, Belmont went on to long stints with Graham Parker and the Rumor, Nick Lowe and most recently Hank Wangford. Today, Belmont supports himself playing the odd session and live performances in pubs & clubs with a variety of groups. On his records with the Rumor in the 70s and 80s, Belmont distinguished himself as both a singer and writer, but on The Guest List, Belmont is joined on an interesting set of covers by many of the singers he’s worked with in the past. Nick Lowe drops in for a great version of Charlie Feathers’ “Man In Love” and Sean Tyla’s gritty rendition of “Johnny Too Bad” is a definite highlight. Belmont – and this album –hark back to the era before internet jukeboxes, when a night out in London promised real ale and quality, down to earth music played by actual people. Pop music trends and tastes may – and indeed must - change, but sounds like this never go out of style. Stefan Granados


Nico: I want to be alone. 70


JELLO BIAFRA & THE GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE The Audacity Of Hype Alternative Tentacles LP www.alternativetentacles.com As relevant now as he was back in his ’80s heyday with The Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra returns with his new band The Guantanamo School Of Medicine. The relentless energy of their music is matched only by the urgency of Jello’s vocals and lyrics. Politically, the fire


For the most (and best) part, this new Clientele record sounds like a mere continuation of Suburban Light, the brilliant singles collection Merge released nine years ago. There are departures on Bonfires On The Heath, notably some Mariachi-style horns and one track that is driven by funk guitar (imagine The Famous Flames playing dream pop!). But at the heart of the excellent album is the same kind of mesmeric, lush, subtle psychedelia that made so many of our jaws drop when we heard Suburban Light. Spraying guitars, shimmery grooves, narcotic vocals done in hushed tones – The Church with a more direct nod to soft psych from the late ’60s, a more gentle Felt. They have such a command of the space they create, and that space is so pleasant a place to let your head get off to, they can keep making the same album for the next 20 years, as far as I’m concerned. Brian Greene


CUBICAL Come Sing These Crippled Tunes Dead Young CD www.deadyoungrecords.co.uk


Singers with a preoccupation for cigarettes, whiskey, Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart can rarely go wrong in the Shindig! universe and The


Cubical make no exception on their debut, churning out growling ’60s sounding garage dirges.


Produced by Dave Sardy (Dandy Warhols,


Rolling Stones, Brendan Benson) and centred on lead singer Dan Wilson’s raw and unbridled cries of lonesome West Coast-via-the Merseyside blues, Come Sing These Crippled


burns as fiercely in his belly as it ever did, as he pours vitriol on the hypocrisy of US ‘Homeland Security’, corrupt politicians, consumerism,


corporate exploitation and global capitalism in general. He obviously hasn’t forgotten his Dead Kennedy’s punk roots then, but musically this band is tight as anything – you won’t find rock this heavy in a granite quarry! ‘Panicland’ sounds remarkably like Motorhead in collision with The Stooges – the Detroit proto-punk influences are also evident elsewhere to great effect – thanks to the breakneck riffing and distortion guitar styles of Kimo Ball and Ralph Spight.


Without any hint of exaggeration there really


isn’t a duff song on here, and this has to rank amongst Biafra’s best work to date. Rich Deakin


THE CLIENTELE Bonfires On The Heath Merge Records CD www.mergerecords.com


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