We should do a loaded thread. What a weird moment that was.
"Stress" was a great tune and they were enjoyable live iirc.
Saw them twice, once at a gig put on by St Albans AFA and in the New X Venue a few years later. Both gigs were way more straightforward 'punk' than the Word performance (which looks kinda goofy) - pre-gig rumours that BNP skins were planning an attack on the gig added to the adrenalin buzz. I still dig "On Yer Toez""Stress" was a great tune and they were enjoyable live iirc.
They were doing an important job in a significant "culture war" imo.
Don't blame him, they were abysmal. I'd be miffed not even playing at or going to it. Speaking of 'industrial', I've just remembered one of the worst UK bands I ever saw live: Sheep On DrugsI remember Genesis P-Orridge being miffed about being below Neds Atomic Dustbin on the bill at the Reading Festival.
Zodiac Mindwarp
Nah, "High Priest of Love", "Dangerous" and "Wild Child" were great!
I still own a few ZM singles and the first ep.
landfill indie is interesting for me, not because there's really anything about the sound that i like, but in keeping with the premise of the thread, there is something interesting about the fact that this resonated with so many people - lets face it principally white working class people in england, or at least that's what it always looked like to me, i mean these categories are gross and loaded but it seems relevant in this case coz its not like its the bangladeshi dispora or the private school kids who are into this, and its not like many girls are into it either for that matter - and that aesthetic judgements aside, that the music itself is so bleak, all about dealing with shit and trying to be hopeful. very boozy music too. goes well with lager. a lot of kitchen sink lyrics as well. totally anti-abstraction. capturing everyday things and emotions. its a boring conservative musical form but still something to think about.The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger (won't link because it's fuck!ing shit)
"Landfill indie" is mostly shitbrit imo.
Neds have passed the test of time - I'm waiting for their Slowdive-type re-appraisal
There is something about the British tolerance for deficiency that is unique - Joe Carducci, who I mentioned on the Heavy thread, talks about a kind of listening where you sense the group's intention and supply it aurally even when it's not achieved or barely even gestured at. He was talking specifically about how after punk and its ethos of deskilling, you had a lot of rhythmically substandard outfits who got very successful - how British rock in the '60s and '70s had been all about great drummers and rhythms sections (had been the country that had more or less invented Heavy in fact) but after punk you could prosper as a band with barely adequate drumming, feeble rhythms etc. That only got worse with indie and Britpop.
There's a kind of solidarity-based listening where you like the attitude or line of patter that the group puts out - support their values or reckon they are good people - and as a result are prepared to turn a blind ear to the manifest failings in sonic execution. You imaginatively project the kind of musical substance that they ought to have and would supply if capable of it, or prepared to go to the bother of learning how to deliver it.
Well, you're a man of taste, Leo. I wouldn't expect anything less. Does your rare US punk 7" stash include the first Nuns EP, by the way? I'm baffled that one's still floating around on Discogs for around $50 a pop, given the A-side's absolutely fucking flawless - certainly better than a lot of mediocre '70s platters that sell for $500-$1000+