FEATURE LlS’l‘
sound. For instance. we could never have done “Sidewalking” in 1985. and to me that‘s as much a progression as you can get.‘
Point conceded. Succumbed to any ofthe delusions ofgrandeur that rock stardom brings'.’
'I don't know. I think a lot of people find us extremely arrogant. but I don‘t feel that way at all. [just
Primitive‘s detachment and Guy Chadwick’s portentous tones tront bands that speak through their guitars— climaxes are reached through bruising collisions of guitars and drums.
The indie charts are nowadays upheld by house and thrash metal, and distributors that haven’t caught on have crumbled (like Red Rhino and Fast Forward), but the class of ’86 have annexed the ‘indie' term lorthelr own. Though signed to Epic, The Darling Buds are considered more ‘indie’ than De La Soul or Napalm Death could ever be. How many albums will The Wedding Present release belore they Iosethetag?
Tracy ol the Primitives agrees there’s a definite attitude that goes with the territory, and one that can be delined.
‘I think we've still got that identity, the Wedding Present delinitely, they’re
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think we‘re extremely good at what we do. lfI felt someone in our field was doing something better than me it would crush me. I just couldn‘t be second-best.‘
To keep their end up. they‘ve been doing dress rehearsals for the tour. with all their lighting and spanking new equipment. in the National Ballroom in Kilburn. just to make
still catering to their fans and their fans are really happy with that. lthink it’s still good to have that independent feel, to have that attitude is very important. Occasionally, we’ve done things like “Smash Hits”, and you get feedback from cousins and things, saying, “You’re really weird, why are you in this sort of thing”, and the teenvbop tans think it’s something quite strange, which I think is good.’ The House of Love’s Guy Chadwick is less patient with the whole subject. ‘l’ve had this conversation so many times, and l have to say I hate that “indie” name. We’ve never considered ourselves an indie band. We’ve always been an independent band, and we still are. In attitude we are independent. We've just chosen to put our records out through a ditterent company, and we‘ve made the right
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sure that everything goes without a hitch. ‘We’ve never done this before. but I think we‘ve needed to. Almost everybody does this. We’ve just not done it because we‘re tight-fisted bastards that don't want to spend the money on it.‘
The J 65143 and M ary (71am play the Barrowland, Glasgow. on Saturday 4.
FULL OF GAGE
decision aboutthat. ljustthink it’s total bollocks that you should be plgeonholed as a particular kind of band. We’re just The House of Love, and you either like our records or you don’t. We want to go as far as we can, we just want to communicate with as many people as possible. We just feel we’re a really good rock band and we can communicate in rock language. And everyone knows how laryou can go in rock music. So long as we feel that what we’re putting out is honest and true to ourselves, I don’t really care. We certainly haven’t compromised by signing to Phonogram — it anything it's the opposite. It’s much harder now. They demand a really high standard. And that is a real challenge torus, and that’s why the LP has taken so long to make. It we’d stayed on Creation, we would have released a substandard LP
Leaving the carnage behind, but not quite ready to relinquish their ‘bad boy’ image, East Kilbride band The Jesus and Mary Chain have acquired a new professionalism and cut out the feedback. Alastair Mabbott talks to lead singerJim Reid and muses over the state of independence of ‘indie‘ bands once they
become the property of the big labels.
that we would have deeply regretted next year.’
The Jesus and Mary Chain's recording career started on the hip Creation label, belore they moved to WEA subsidiary Blanco y Negro, and Jim Reid is adamant they did the right thing.
‘A couple of people implied that in going to Warners we'd sold out, but we did ‘Psychocandy’ on Warner Brothers, and that is the most extreme record anybody made in the 1980s, to my mind. And anyone that suggests we sold out, I really want to get them and shake sense into them— like, “How could you say that after we made that record on a major label?" We felt that if we’d done that on Warners we could do anything.’
The List 27 October— 9 November 1989 3