ROCK/POP Bloodhound Gang
Glasgow: Barrowland, Sun 25 Jun. _..
They’re the authors of that ubiquitous slice of electro-pop nonsense ‘The Bad Touch' (aka "let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel"), and their current album Hooray For Boobies doesn‘t just hint at a school boy’s obsession with obscene termi- nology — its offensiveness comes right out and grabs you. So The Bloodhound Gang are just another bunch of juvenile American shock- rockers, right?
Wrong. Lead singer Jimmy Pop, who’s the lyrical force behind lines like ‘You remember "fist" can be a verb’, is surprisingly personable and intelligent. Despite major alternative success in the US and a top ten hit in a string of European countries, he still has the loser mentality evident in a lot of the group's songs. ‘I don’t know how people can really get egos,‘ he states when quizzed about the rock ‘n' roll lifestyle. 'I still have to wake up every morning and see my face in the mirror, and I know what’s wrong with it.‘
His comments also reinforce the irony in their work, both in a lyrical and musical sense. Their electro-hip hop-metal-rap fusion is reminiscent of The Beastie Boys, shot through with a massive dose of pop sensibility. Samples of Falco sit side-by-side with Metallica and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, yet the end result is suprisingly catchy. And clever.
'lt’s good for us not to be stuck in one genre,’ states Pop. ‘We can mess around — if we wanted to do an R&B song, we probably could I guess. It’d be pretty stupid, but we could do it.’ Pop himself is behind the 805 fascination, reared as he was on Depeche Mode and The Smiths, and the other band members add
Bow to the low brow magic of the Bloodhound Gang
their bit to the mix: their dangerously underage DJ is almost exclusively into hip hop and, with a name like Lilpiis Thiinder, there's not much to be gained in probing further the tastes of the band’s guitarist.
But there's still the issue of extreme offensiveness, which can surely be nothing other than a shallow attempt to court controversy. Well, Pop does a pretty good job of denying it: ’You forget when you’re recording a record that anyone else is going to hear it. My whole plan, with the lyric writing, is to make my friends laugh and to piss off my mom.’
Will the charge of objectification of woman hit its mark then? ’Yep, I would say we objectify women,’ replies Pop ‘ . . . and men. I would say there are just as many penis jokes in there as there are titty jokes. We get more women to the show actually. It's just people that have open minds and a low-brow sense of humour’. Well, you can count me in. (Abi Bremner)
very anti-establishment, lyrically, very anti-oppression. To me, religion is anarchic.’ The comparison to punk might not be immediately obVious when you consider Qawwali has been dominant in Islamic culture since the twelfth century, using handclapping, percussion and Sung poetry as a vehicle to enlightenment. But Nawaz was impressed With the young ensembles’ enthusiasm to try something new: 'They had no objections to being involved in a very intense collaboration, Without any commerCIal incentive -— it just worked really naturally. It’s almost like Nine Inch Nails gets together With a traditional folk band.’
Nawaz is also impressed With the musiCIanship of the young Pakistani group: 'All I can do is sit there With my
H P HOP/WORLD Rizwaan-Muazzam Qawwali and Fun<Da>Mental Glasgow: The Arches, Thu 6 Jul.
What do you get when you cross teenage masters of devotional Sufi music With anarchic hip-hop rockers Fun<Da>lvlental7 A combination which is both volatile and enlightening something that is typical of The Arches' current Beat Route series. Fun<Da>lvlental have been a powerful presence on the British music scene for almost a decade. The line-up
Volatile and enlightening, Fun<Da>Mental's collaboration with
Rizwaan-Muazzam Qawwali
has changed different rappers, poets and Singers have been involved at various times but one essential ingredient remains the same. Founder and producer Propa-Ghandi (aka Aki Nawaz) is still pursuing his journey through musical and political ideals. Fun<Da>lVlental are well known for their pan-global samples and stance against oppression, and this collaboration With Ri/waan-Muazzam Qawwali breaks new ground, bringing the complimentary natures of two seemingly different musical genres to the fore. Nawa/ comments, ’a lot of Qavvwali music is punk, because it’s
tail between my legs, because miiSically they’re so far ahead. Not just intellectually but spiritually as well' For their gig at The Arches, Ri7waan- lvluazzam Qawwali Will perform a traditional set before being jomed onstage by Fun<Da>l\/lental, complete With rappers, DJs and some spectacular Visuals. Nawaz reckons the audience Will be blown away by the young Qawwali group: ’The way they explore their Whole style on top of these fat beats, it humbles me, to be honest.’ And, things have gathered speed Since their collaboration at WOMAD in 1998: ’At that time we created an edge With them, now we're beginning to cut the edge With them as well' (Lomsa Pearson)
preview MUSIC
ROCK/POP Suckle
Against Nurture (Chemikal Underground)
Suckle emit a peculiarly indiVidual pulse, music which sOunds enchanting, enticmg, even familiar at times, but is by no means sloppy plagiarism. ’There’s bits of Nick Drake in there,’ concedes Brian lvlcEwan, the band’s guitarist and hastily appomted influences co- ordinator. 'We're all fans of things like Nick Cave too, really dark-sounding stuff,’ interjects Frances lvchee, head honcho and songwriter for the band. These influences compound a love of traditional pop songs, pop songs which get twisted when performed by an unconventional line-up. Cello, glockenspiel and flute augment a guitar and drums set up. Two sets of siblings, the McKees and the McEwans (brothers Kenny and Brian) make up two thirds of the group, While 'the orphans', as Frances calls them, Elanor Taylor and Vicky Morton, complete the
sextet. At the forefront of the Suckle sound
is the vocals. The McKee sisters (Frances and her younger sister Marie) v0ice's teeter along in monotone before swervmg off and up, confounding thoughts of Where a song might go and taking you somewhere completely different. This brings to mind Stereolab, but mUSically there is far more depth. Taylor’s flute brings an edge to the proceedings. ’I said to Elanor not to play all that silly flowery stuff you hear,’ says Frances.’ True to her word, it is sometimes gentle,
sometimes dark, but always compelling. They signed to Chemikal
Underground records early this year and their debut album Against Nurture was a long time coming, given the band formed back in 1996. They laugh when qwzzed about how they ended up getting signed to the Glasgow label. ‘I slept With them all,’ giggles Frances. And While a humpfest between Suckle and the Delgados may seem like an unholy match, they still feel an affinity With label mates Arab Strap. 'We have the same level of thoughts about sex as Arab Strap probably,’ reckons Frances. Good clean liVing types the lot of ’em.
(Mark Robertson)
I Against Nurture is out now on Chem/ka/ Underground.
the Suckle sisters snuggle up
22 Jun~6 Jul 2000 THE “ST 43