Jesus Lizard: probably very nice to children, really.
One of the greatest things about this year’s T in the Park is the fact that the Jesus Lizard will be playing. I can’t emphasise how important this is. David Yow, the band’s near legendary singer, a man who more often than not is in the audience, and occasionally intensely naked, before the band have finished playing their second song, is on the line from after-dinner Vienna, recalling his own special memories of playing in Glasgow.
‘There was a bunch of, twelve, thirteen girls dressed in these pink, like, nighties, with red make-up across their eyes. And we used to do this song where i would stick the microphone in some girl’s face and just tell her to scream, and l was doing that and looking close at her face, and i realised that she needed a shave, and that it was a guy, half of the people dressed that way were guys. So I talked to them after the show and said: “What’s the deal, why are you guys dressed like this?” And he said: “What? We came to see you guys.” It was very cool.’
Recently arrested in Cincinatti for dropping his pants onstage (‘Cincinatti’s famous for its censorship and uptight fuck-up administration'), Yow concedes that some aspects of his stage performance are by now what is expected of him, rendering them somewhat redundant. But, as he says, ‘lt’s still fun, so what the hell.’
You’ll be able to guess from the above, that the Jesus Lizard as a whole are huge fans of that rrradical chick Alanis Morissette, and are absolutely thrilled and delighted to be sharing the same stage with her at Strathclyde Park. ‘HAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! - hey, where we’re playing in Scotland, Alanis Morissette is on the bill,’ shouts Yow to the rest of the band, obviously kwn to share the good news. ‘Yeah. Duane’s probably gonna try to fuck her.’ (Damien Love)
Jesus Lizard play the Main Stage on Sat 13.
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‘I went to the cemetery this summer as well, to make some extra money,’ confesses Par Wiksten, the voice of the Wannadles. This, obviously, sounds well dodgy - unless, that is, you happen to be aware that during the two-month period that constitutes Sweden’s summer, along with bass-player Fredrick Schfinfeldt, the singer/guitarist turns grave-digger. Just to get beer money, like. And, of course, the relaxation. ‘We know the guy who runs the place and he lets us come and go as we want to. it’s pleasant. We get great summers up here.’
There’s - hey - not too much of the grave about the Wannadies’ music; although, - hey - plenty of that ‘great summer’ feeling comes through. Wiksten himself describes the band as ‘liard-rock-pop. Pop, pop, pop.’ which lust about gets it right, though a very happy HEM is a fair enough touchstone too. When the band first came our way, about a year ago, they were being touted by certain elements as among the spearhead of ‘the Swedish lnvasion,’ along
with Whale (‘liard-rock-funk-party-band’ according to Wlksten) and the Cardigans (“Kitsch-lounge-oversweet-band’). The point being, ‘llere come some Swedish bands who aren’t as duff as Ace of Bass, What a suprise!’ So, have the band found themselves being patronised because of their nationality?
‘A little bit since everybody’s human,’ says the incredibly reasonable singer. ‘If I meet someone from Scotland, I expect them to eat haggis, and if I meet someone from England, I expect them to be a bit snobby and eat chips and beans every day. And of course, everybody thought that we lived with reindeers and were born in a Volvo. We’ve been confronted with the myth about Swedes, which is kind of amusing from time to time, to let people believe that it’s true, like “Yeah, we lust luck 24 hours a day, just walk around having sex with everybody”.
Ah. So that’s a myth then. I knew that. (Damien Love)
The Wannadles play the IIME Stage on Sun 14.