MUSIC PREVIEW ._ ___-_-_,,___,. _. _-._
lflquI- i l lizard BALL of confusion ielopiae
There's a lot to be said for reputation. lt * no sense of curiosity. All those
precedes musicians, it generates 9 American noisecore bands sound the I interest, it creates a fan base, it even same anyway, don’t they, all building 5 sells the odd record. In this, Don powerhouse tracks round favourite riffs , e I Fleming and Jay spiegel, two-thirds oi ratherthan melodies, trothing with i Gumball, are lucky guys. As the driving ; irrepressible electric energy, vocals force behind The Velvet Monkeys and : spiralling to lever pitch, nothing I HalfJapanese atvarious junctures in 3 suppressed. Well, here goes. . . , i a n o theircareers and BALLthrough its full : And whatdo we get, but pop music. ' lifespan, they have more than earned Certainly, Gumball hold The Guitar in ' ' ,. . pie. their place in the annals of American reverence but it’s here to serve the underground music history, while melody. With its spacey Hammond and , Fleming’s production work forthe likes . undeniably garage vibe, the lead track ' '- . of Teenage Fanclub and STP has ‘Light Shines Through’ sounds more i g .X . ,' gained him respect from the latest like prime-time Spiritualised than any i " generation of noise-lovers. art-rockterrorist combo. With the
g ‘Have you heard the new Big Country single'?‘ came the cry. ‘lt‘s shit! It sounds
The downside of reputation is that it root-raising exception of ‘Alternate helps forge prejudice. Holding the new : Feed', the Whole EP is infused with a
from No Place Like Home turns outtobe astruttin‘ l Southern-style number. i and proved the trickiest t blindfold test this year. Bruce Watson has come home for his tea. cars ringing, from the rehearsal room. After the temporary tenure in the drum seat of Pat Ahern and the brief return of Mark Brzezicki. the core ofthe band is now Watson. Stuart Adamson and bassist Tony Butler. Two newcomers on drums and keyboards are helping to make ‘Fields OfFire‘ really rock for the first time. explaining Watson‘s earache. Not unexpectedly. he doesn‘t think ‘Reptile"s shit. He doesn‘t even think that usingthe name ofa political party in the title is the slightest bit risky. and judging by the radio play
‘We don’t really plan it outthat much,‘ he says. ‘The only real 5 difference with Gumball is that we're ? concentrating more on having the 1 songs worked out a little bit more instead of just improvising them in the studio, which is what we did most of the time with BALL.‘
if the EP comes as a mild surprise, live they tread familiar fuzz territory. Although Fleming will always be happiest pottering in a studio, standing on a stage would seem to be Gumball’s natural habitat. Investigate or be damned. (Fiona Shepherd)
Gumball support Slowdive at Calton
like 22 Tom, ' Gumball EP above my turntablethere's ; dippy love lorthe pop song. This may a something.‘ i f r g . 4 have something to do With Fleming’s 5 Indeed. the first single I , ' i heightened sense 0t purpose.
i
Elizabeth Patterson and Gloriae Dei Cantores in rehearsal
Enthusiasts ofchoral music should
smdios, Edinburgh on Fri 20 and be well pleased on Saturday 1-1 when
. s s i s; s ' ‘ | ‘- headltne atThe Venue, Glasgow on Sat : [1." AW“? m Shim (4‘).“ K . _ “ Gumball 21 i Cantores gives ttsonly Scottish
appearance on an ambitious European tour through Holland.
EEEI- UK. [taly and Poland. Based in (‘ape I ' ; Cod. Massachusetts. the choir is no 0 n ; stranger to such traVels. previous
tours taking their special sound
presence othis predecessor, the band i throughouteast and westEurope as
it's already received. he‘s 7 3'9 happy With him- “50, M3tilll0n'8 : well as the Soviet Union.
fight i I agonlSlnglV Slow deVelODmeni has ‘ Professionally trained. (iloriae Dei ‘Nah. that new Prince been hurried along by his musical ('antores —- Singers to the (ilory of
single isdedgicr. and '1 input, not a contribution that Fish ever (ind - hciiet-e it is through singing
thal'SgClllng Plat/“50" 3 made, apparently. I that their aim of promoting peace.
the radio too. I think people realise that
one Slat that Hogarth has made "0 understanding and harmony among
“Republican Pam. attempt to audition was Paul ! people ot‘dili‘ere'nt nations and
Reptile“ is awee dig. it‘s Ga§00lgnet Who lie met alt 0' all cultures can be realised.
not a serious statement.‘ ; unlikely surroundings, a Pet Shop Boys ! Specialising in (,iregortan chant, ltmafksaradical gig. their repertoire etn'ers‘ settingsof
depanurc’ as mum biz ‘He was Sitting there With his texts from British. American.
lingo would have it. i ‘What'.’ Oh. [thought you meant Mark had
crutches saying he'd just bought a European and Russian sources front keyboard to keep himself amused when i the 11th to the 20th century.
Mancdagm MM. , he’s awavtrom home. andhe was { Although their visit to Scotland uvmdoncwthingsumhc . I . . .Martllton i asking me what to do With it,.how to ; includesonlyone public concert. tiring mm. pam‘wcec Morale was high inthe Marillion camp i swrtch tton and stuff. Solsatd, “Teach 5 they will also take part in an
, always beenlooked down % whentheirsizeable singerFish strode f me how to kicka ball straightandl ; ecumenical service at Glasgow on because it doesn‘t = off to pastures new. will.“ I‘m always being asked to do (‘athedral at 3pm on Sunday “tend like the Old begplnc ' 'Ttte Option to knoct‘ it 0" the head ; these football matches versus Iron 5 'Following the documentary ‘A (‘all gurtar sound. We tended , wasn't even considered,’ remembers ; Maiden or someone and I’m the worst ' to the East' about the choir's tour of “mm” “"“hcr WWW" keyboard player Mark Kelly. ‘We'd ; football player in the world.’ the Soviet Union and
the time. producers and
l . . . . . .
. . . . writtena lot of musrc. we teltthat Itwas And Gazza’sthe worststnger. Ooh, l Czechoslovakia which was shownon that. and this time the . , . I . . . . . . . _ pmduccmid. “Just be really good and atthe very teastwe < bitch. Just as well I m not carping at scotttsh I eleytston at Easter.
Big (‘()un[r\r. Dmhc . ShOUld make one more album. We ! Kelly- being in Marillion is a thankless (iloriae Dei ('antores will again be things you want to do and i were very optimistic, probably 3 job, and ten years of slagging can get recorded by Scottish 'I‘eleyision for l'll guide .veuf' Andwc i stupidly, really.’ i underthe skin. Mostly, he just laughs it ‘two half-hour worship services to be JUStdld stuffwe were i ‘Stupidly’. becauselhey We"? l off, but. . . screened in December. They can meme"; M i ambitious enough to want a ; ‘The one thing that bothers me at the I also be heard on BBC Radio 3 on 24
. dit‘m‘ d.‘ on). replacement Who COUld be a ‘Staf' as moment is that so many people think November in an hour-long Big (.ountry s only lll‘t’St’! - . - , . . . . r .. inUmareafunlw'rWOf . 3 well as do allthe usualthtngsllke tht8 i we play heavy metal. We can tftgure It programme of American music. (heyeuriakeyplm-gm I '- lyrics. sing and get out on astage i out. Any suggestions?‘ ((‘arol Main)
Tower Rec-unit, Graig”. wrthout fainting and, while It s I (Alastair Mabbott) Gloriae Dei ( Union's play the (m Fri20ar 7pm, followed debatable whether or not Steve Marillion play the Playhouse, Steve/13‘0" I lull. RSA MI). Glasgoit' [ bye Signingsession. Hogarth matches the imposing | Edinburgh on Sun 22. on Sat 14.
28 The List 13 — 26 September 1991