The John Spencer Blues Explosion: greased~up glory.
ethos »- blending traditional Asian music and wrsdom wrth Western dance styles to provrde a soundtrack over which to rail against lfljtlSllCC‘ at home and abroad. The sleeve notes commendany reprint a Simplified version of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights (50 years old this year) and Amnesty's address. However, Erotic Terrorism often favours straightforward hardcore over the delicious ethnic beats of yore and wrth titles like ’Blood In Transrt’ and ’Sliced Lead' you wonder if there’s any room for entertainment left in therr music. (ES)
Various
Jawa a
The release of this CD compilation of six Scottish bands marks the culmination of a ten-month proiect for music technology students at Greenock's James Watt college. Each of the groups, selected from a batch of solicrted demos, contributes two tracks, Supplemented by the pastoral strur‘nrning of Picnic Perverts. Local heroes Whiteout are back in less obvrously retro mode, The Cyrkles turn in two very immediate examples of melodic beat pOp, APB pay unnecessary homage to 80s funk, landing somewhere between acid Jazz and Level 42 and Glasgow's The Cornmeroals go all Jethro Tull on ’Ivlononchromonotony‘. A reasonable showcase which has the air of a superior demo. (FS)
Sonic Youth 8: Jim
O'Rourke
Sonic Youth/Jim O'Rourke (SYR)
331' “if ‘7’? ‘3?
If your knowledge of New York's sonic deconstruction specialists :s limited to the relatively smooth-edged accessibility of their Geffen output then you’re in for a severe shock to the system wrth this treaSure trove of uneasy listening. The third in a series of no fuss, low key releases, this latest offering see the Youth paired wrth left- field minimalist composer Jim O'Rourke. Unsurprrsmgly the mood here is solidly uncompromising and all the way experimental. With two of the album’s three tracks clocking in at a weighty twenty and 29 minutes respectively that's plenty of time for free form experimentation. Strictly one for the hardcore only. (LT)
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosron Rocketship (Au Go 60) it x at it
Wherein Aussie garage specialist label Au Go Go reprise 'Rocketship’, a track from the last JSBE long player Nowl Got Worry, and throw in a handful of tracks recorded very much alive and raging at the Hotel Congress in Arizona in November ’86. Mini album, ER or whatever you care to call it, there’s still ample room for wild- eyed Jon Boy Spencer and fellow travellers Judah Bauer and Russell Simins to recreate the unadulterated mayhem of their terminally messed- up, Elvis-fixated, white trash boogie.
POP Pulp
This ls Hardcore (Island) ‘k 1r sir
Pulp: 'T his pop star lark is a laugh. isn't it?’
Success doesn't seem to have agreed entirely with Mr Cocker. Or at least it doesn't seem to have made him happy. In fact, if anything This Is Hardcore returns to dig its fingers deeper into the sores which previous albums opened. If ’Misshapes’ was about not fitting in then much of this album increases the feeling of isolation and adds an unhealthy dose of paranoia. 'This is our “Music From A Bachelor Den"/The sound of loneliness turned up to ten,‘ are the first words which Cocker utters.
The big anthemic tunes like 'Common People‘ which made Different Class an upbeat smash are largely absent. In their place we have the regret- tinged sleaze of the eponymous track; the wistful jangle of ‘l'm A Man' (sample lyric: ’My car can get up to 110/You've got now here to go and ' you'll go there again’); and the widescreen drama of 'T he Day After The
Revolution'.
8y discarding some of the pop sensibility that marked Different Class, Pulp have taken the chance to dig into more sombre musical territory. The results are less immediately catchy and will lose some of their newer fans. The more committed will be rewarded for their perseverance. Just don't expect
a party soundtrack. (JT)
Manic big reverb vocals, demented stumbling rhythms, paint stripper guitars, frenzied a.w.o.l. shrieks of theremin and foot to the floor frontal lobotomy delivery — the Blues Explosion are here in all their lowdown greaser glory. (LT)
Royal Trux Accelerator (Domino) 4r sir «k at
Accelerator is an appropriately named disc. One thing the Trux don’t do here rs to hang around in the one place for any great length of time — nine tightly crafted tracks in 35 minutes and a raggedly off-kilter mix of sounds adds up to one crowded mix. Influences encountered on this eclectic stylistic ragbag range from reconstituted Exile era Stones through miscellaneous 60s garage punk and a host of dislocated pop influences vra brief hints of the Dylanesque. And all the while tha' Trux do the business with unshakeable suss and their unmistakably sharp sense of thrift store chic. (LT)
CHi
Sincerity Is A Boy Called Del (Simpleton Records) "K i: *-
This srx track mini LP from the Edinburgh three-piece finds them in ferocrous fettle. Opener ’Afterburners’ starts in a somewhat Arab Strapesque fashion with barely audible mumbling backed by a simple melody. Havrng lulled you into a false sense of security, the feet come off the brakes and it’s well thought-out hardcore all the way. If you like your headfucks hard and fast then this is one for you. (IT)
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KRISTIN HERSH : LIKE YOU
out 16!]: March 98 Featuring exclusive versions of Shake
and Your Ghost
Barbican Centre, London The Music Centre, Dublin Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow
TAD 8005 00
20 Mar—2 Apr I998 THE LIST 45