SANS TRAUMA
Caledonian Backpackers. Edinburgh. Sat 5 Feb 00.
Name Rilo Kiley
Occupation Pop {‘tlllCUf’S With friends in lo fl places
What’s this all about then? Although Bright Eyes turn at Glasow Ul‘l this month is .inouestionably one of the live liuriliuhts of March. you're well
A l; ., PI l, ,, . l: . -. , . $1fl‘.":3f?(l to get there long before ; ' I I I A, I 1, Ccnoi Oberst takes to the stage. ARI UP OF THE SLITS . ‘ . , , ._ a , I , ., _ I I, _ H Support. you see, comes from Barfly, Glasgow, Sun 6 Mar _ , I z, r 1,, ' , 1 ,. hotly heralded l os Angeline
quartet Rilo Kiley. who are not lust another towing support in the ClO‘.‘.i'(l, but rather a band whose personal and werkinq histOry is sloser intertwmed Wllll ()berst's.
If pedigree counts, Ari Up‘s assets are impeccable. No, this isn‘t because the i ' artist formerly known as Ariane Forster‘s mum Nora is a German millionaire, although, to be fair, having had Jimi Hendrix crash on her sofa certainly adds
to the allure. As does the fact that her step-dad is one John Lydon, nee
Rotten, one time Sex Pistol and punk rock iconoclast. ' " .' :i- i 7' - g
It was at her mum‘s Shepherd’s Bush flat, a beacon for punk cognescenti, ' -- 1 : . v. : ‘i -- l ' '- -' :i The” mm (“mm " “lease” ”‘ that Ari received her first guitar lesson. From Joe Strummer. As you do. - January - is bluntly titled so as to Rather than become some year zero equivalent of a well-heeled rock star r :i lmllmll‘r’ O'l(3“l)3“l"‘l" "‘0 appendage a la Mandy Smith, however, Ms Up hooked up with Tessa Pollitt, I z. i i “lllm‘m "W (Zl‘f‘mc‘el'sm 1""
record against earlier releases: quite Simply, Rilo Kiley are i’)ecoming More Adventurous. even after the inan/elloiisly lo-fi approach of 2001 's lake-Offs and Landings. and the followmg year's more ( ssured The Execution ofA/l filings. It was the latter of these records which saw them become one of the only nonOmahan bands Signed to the hugely resi'iected Nebraska label Saddle Creek Records. and also the one that featured a guest appearance by Oberst himself, still a mainstay of the imprint. Yet the band's decision to go with Warners for
Viv Albertine and Palm Olive to form the Slits, Britain‘s first high profile all 1
female DIY punk band. Aged a precocious 15, Ari and the Slits supported the 'PAiOMINO
Clash and Subway Sect on 1977‘s White Riot tour, the Edinburgh leg of which Bunker. G'asgow‘ Wed 16 Feb all but kickstarted the city‘s own punk scene into angular life.
The Slits would go on to influence the early 19905 Riot Grrrl wave of chick rock bands, as well as a more recent gaggle of art punkers, as was demonstrated when Ari and an all new version of the Slits, complete with a cool dude back-up band who can actually play, popped up last year to play a Sunday teatime show of old and new material at Stereo. Caught up in the moment, an elated Ari just about adopted support acts I Love Lucy and the Kitchen. Ari Up went on to play on London‘s South Bank as part of the Morrissey curated Meltdown festival.
Somewhere inbetween the eras, Ari played with the New Age Steppers on Adrian Sherwood's On-U-Sound label, moved to Jamaica, reinvented herself as clothes designer and solo artiste, hung with Neneh Cherry and had babies.
Now relocated in New York with her young son Wilton, Ari Up isn‘t shy of her legacy, and plans are afoot for the release of a live Slits album out from a
recording of a 1978 gig. More significantly, a new EP of freshly recorded " . V "' v i i' I i ' l v the 'ateSt release has 1
material, Baby Mother, is due soon. If even half the energy of last year‘s live t ' : -~ I: ' z w . :-v ,i: .' '~ 'ncredulou"|y fie” the”; brajlded
show is captured, it promises to be skankingly special. (Neil Cooper) l1» '- ' '~ a" :w : " v- ' 2 -- ' i, r . . QCHOUI" by the Conage mm“? ,, . . t ., . , ,. who still imagine them as
continued acolytes of the Postal Sen/ice, Bright Eyes. et al. Better not make mention of that appearance on a forthcoming The
,\l<‘il*l*r\Il\ ‘ ' " "‘ ' 1 ART BRUT . ,l I; ,, r ,1 r- , (, OC soundtrack. then . .. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, Mon 21 l I, . , , ., ,1 ., ., ‘lt's great playing for hipsters.’ Feb 0”. l l J l A l} l ‘ vocalist Jenny Lewrs (she used to “whey, I z, ',, I z“ [1,, QOOutWithJakeGyllenhaal, ,_ 1, 1, 1.. z. ., w (H ,2 gossip lovers) recently told VH1 in . , I, V , , ., her defence. ‘But it's also nice to ; .l f ,‘ l ,. ,_ , V , . be able to reach people beyond . . i l I . A l J , ‘ l I 1, that.’ In addition to the polish that , A ,. , , l l w ,, I, ,, I the new record brings to the .. H ' A: 'H' .,. , f band's sweet alt.country sound. _ g K: P z,_ _: , ... I I. .,._' ,, ,2. . the reliance on Lewrs' v0ice over 4.x“. ,-,.. ._. , i 1 I: .I , .. 1 gurtarist — and until now co- wering-gr '».1--: E :m-Stu: ~2. r '.'.--. '2 1'. ' z Vocal'StBlakesennenls‘has _ ‘E‘itu‘.;rf\‘,,,_-.\__..-_ ... w): H. _ I, ,1 ,y. I: ,3 been anotherdivisivefactor. yet . , . . q. i . I , , still Rolling Stone f0und it in them U l. p .. K; .. ,. _.\. W; ,, , I. .. tocall it ‘thedaterecordofthe .\:; .\.I1lg:l.k_;_l six; ,5 I I 1 If: [1,: I ,1. ,z‘ ‘ year'. So ask someone nice to go "\i‘. sent .a 8.: \. x: N. '. : :..', '5 I .;'-~_:'. : -'.-"‘: " ': Li:’ '1 wlm you (David Pollock) my“, IV.“ ‘ A q g, a, I ,’,y._._,7,..‘ .1 v ,. I ., W; GUU, G/asgow, Fri' 77 Mar. ., ,\o R, , . , . . . . , , . .. 5, . ,( I L, "I f
' ‘ P,‘;:' 2.3". THE LIST 71