Dial P for
Pussy
Galore:
Part Five

Click
here
for
part
four



***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

They in effect reverse-engineered a new kind of lo-fi scum
rock from collections of obscure '60s garage-punk singles like
Back from the Grave and Nuggets—trying to preserve some
semblance of the disorienting experience they presumed au-
diences must have had 20 years earlier listening to cheaply
recorded, poorly played, but primitively ecstatic rock and roll.
-- Carly Carioli, The Boston Phoenix

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Jon also listens to the Gibson Brothers, and proclaims them
excellent, which I found a little unexpected. Although they
have a Cramps-like grungabilly sound, they're rootsier, less
garage-oriented. "They've been around forever," Jon added.

"So, what do you think about the groups people compare you to
the most, like the Rolling Stones, the Cramps, and Sonic Youth?
Have you ever heard or do you listen to any of them often?"

Jon replied "yes" to the first question, qualifying, "I don't think we sound like Sonic Youth, though our guitars are often out of tune..."

As for the 'Stones comparison, Pussy Galore has encouraged it
by swapping licks (and not crediting them), covering tunes like
"Get Off of My Cloud" live, and by releasing a severely limited-
edition version of the now-out-of-print Exile on Main Street.

"Will you ever re-release it?"

"No way!"

[Exile would later materialize on CD, only
to disappear just as quickly as the cassette.]

"Dick Johnson" (Dial 'M' for Motherfucker, 1989)

"Will you ever re-release any of your other out-of-print tit-
les, like Feel Good About Your Body or Pussy Gold 5000?"

"No. We have enough stuff out right now, as it is."

I wonder if Jon knows or cares that,
for this very reason, bootleggers are
re-pressing the stuff themselves—
and reaping the financial rewards.
I'd rather see 'em go to the band.

[The EPs Feel Good, Groovy Hate, and Pussy Gold are
now available as part of the Corpse Love collection.]

"When I first heard your version of Exile," I told Jon, "it remind-
ed me of the Cramps' Rockinandreelininauklandnewzealand."

"Really?!" Although he couldn't see why I would think that, and
insisted again that he'll never reissue it, Jon flipped at the men-
tion of that disc, proclaiming it one of the greatest things ever.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

And there you have it. Pussy Galore makes some of the noisi-
est, most aggressive non-hardcore I've ever heard, but they're
still punks in the same way as the Seeds or Standells. I wouldn't
recommend their fare to everybody, and if you hate it, you'd be
far from alone, but they're the ultimate garage band for the '80s.



Endnote: After one more album, 1990's Historia de la Musi-
ca Rock, Pussy Galore called it quits. Click the links for my
All Music Guide reviews of 1 Yr. Live, Groovy Hate Fuck, and
Dial 'M' for Motherfucker. Incidentally, the image at the top
post-dates Spencer's PG era and comes from Jazz Internet.

Full credit: "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at
the House of Blues in Las Vegas. The show was on
October 4, 2002. Photography by R.J. Bianchino
copyright © 2002-3 Moondog Productions."
Pussy Galore image from Last.fm.

Read more »

Dial P for Pussy
Galore: Part Four

Click here for part three

I asked Jon, "What about the
song 'Fuck Ian MacKaye.' Did you
ever record that?" Pussy Galore
used to perform it live while they
were based in DC, which the band
left because they never felt they
fit into that city's music scene.

"No," Jon replied. "We played it just to get attention." And
it worked (see Unrest's "answer" record, Fuck Pussy Galore
and All Her Friends). That comment confirmed my suspicion
that he really has been courting controversy from the start,
rather than just falling into it by accident time after time.

Jon did acknowledge, however, that he thinks Minor Threat,
MacKaye's early, straight-edge hardcore band, was "all right."

I didn't get the impression that he ever hated their music, or
that of the Dischord label's other acts; he probably just didn't
have much in common with those influential punks, not be-
ing straight-edge or hardcore, but I'm just speculating.



At this point, I queried Jon about the kind of stuff he listen-
ed to while he was growing up; anything that might have in-
fluenced what he's doing now or that he was just "really into."

"Nothing," he replied.

Bewildered, I volleyed, "Well, how did you end up making music?"

His answer had to do with getting aggression out and attracting at-
tention, as opposed to a love of music. That kind of surprised me.

"Weren't there certain groups you really got into in high school?"

"Well, yeah," Jon admitted, but he didn't elaborate, so who knows.

"So, what do you listen to the most these days?"

"Rap. NWA. We've been listening to them a lot lately."

"Do you like Public Enemy?"

"Yes. And Tad. Stuff like that."


Einstürzende Neubauten - "Yu-Gung" (Adrian Sherwood remix, 1985)

"Did you get Public Enemy's permission to sample the line,
'Don't believe the hype' in your cover of EN's 'Yu-Gung'?"

"Are you kidding?" Jon asked in amazement.

[Uh, no.]

The way he sees it, hip-hop acts have been ripping off
James Brown, et al. for years without giving them any cre-
dit, so why should his combo give those guys any credit?

What's the other sample you use in 'Yu-Gung'?" I asked.

"Rob Base and, and..."

"DJ E-Z Rock?"

"Yeah." The sample comes from "It Takes Two," a monster
hit in NYC the summer of its release, especially in Manhat-
tan, where he couldn't escape it no matter where he went.

"But otherwise, they suck," Jon stressed (several times, in fact).

Click here for part five



Endnote: Image from The Boston Phoenix.

Read more »

Dial P for Pussy
Galore: Part Three



Click here for part two



***** ***** ***** *****
Worst rock 'n' roll
band ever. I love it.
-- YouTube commenter
***** ***** ***** *****



"It seems to me that the people who find your stuff the least offensive are those who find the most humor in it," I noted.

"Yes," Jon agreed, "but we aren't a joke band. We're serious about
our music." That doesn't surprise me much. Pussy Galore's lyrics
can be pretty amusing, but in a more darkly comic way than the
Dead Milkmen or Mojo Nixon. You know, subversive. In the
same breath, he added, "We're not a real band, though..."

For a "fake" band, Pussy Galore has garnered a great deal of
attention, especially considering they're still relatively new on
the scene. They've put out several different releases since 19-
85 on a variety of labels and have gone through several line-
up changes. They currently consist of Jon, Neil Hagerty,
and Kurt Wolff on guitar, and Bob Bert on percussion.

In 1987, Neil left to devote his energies full-time to his ex-
perimental duo Royal Trux with girlfriend Jennifer Herre-
ma. He's back now, but who's to say whether he'll stay put.

As for Bob Bert, he originally drummed for Sonic Youth and
features prominently on their live record Sonic Death. Found-
ing member Julia Cafritz (vocals, guitar) left the group midway
through Dial 'M', and later formed Free Kitten with Kim Gordon.

Jon's wife, guitarist Cristina Martinez, went on to play with
Wolf in the Honeymoon Killers before forming Boss Hog with
her husband. When Julia and Cristina were in Pussy Gal-
ore, there were as many as five guitarists at one time.


"Fuck You, Man" (Right Now!, 1987)

I asked Jon if dropping bass and adding metal to their percus-
sive arsenal were planned or accidental developments. Jon says
he planned it to be like that from the start. As for the sheet metal
that Bob incorporates into his attack, Jon admits that he does like
industrial music, such as Neubauten, the originators behind "Yu-
Gung," so maybe that appreciation factored into the unique set-
up. (Could be that he admires Savage Republic, too, since those
guys have been banging on oil drums for a few years now.)

Though they operate without bass and conventional drums,
Pussy Galore are still as funky as hell, which is particularly
impressive for a combo without a "complete" rhythm section.

As for the kind of attention they've been garnering, well, people
either hate Pussy Galore or they love 'em. I told Jon I thought
that was pretty cool, because few other band these days have been
able to generate the same sort of controversy. (Hard to believe the
Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together" was once banned from the
airwaves. Times have changed a lot since then, and it's harder to
get a rise out of all but the most conservative listeners.)

I asked if he's read any of the many reviews and articles that
he and his band mates have inspired. "Yes," he said. "Does the
negative press bother you?" "No." (Clearly, he's also a man of few
syllables.) I got the impression that Jon likes to know what mus-
ic writers think about Pussy Galore, but that he doesn't let
any of it bother—or change—him and his group in any way.

Click here for part four



Endnote: Image from I Heart Noise.

Read more »

Dial P
for Pussy
Galore:
Part Two



Click here
for part one





***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Combining garage rock rhythms with bursts of noise,
New York's own Pussy Galore were taking no musical
prisoners–from song titles to album titles to damag-
ed song structures, they were all about attitude.
-- I Heart Noise

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Why," I asked Jon about Pussy Galore's latest release, "if the full
title is Dial 'M' for Motherfucker, does it read Dial 'M' on the cov-
ers and spines of all three configurations? What's up with that?"

Apparently, this wasn't censorship in action on the part of Car-
oline, their record label, or some other party, as I suspected, but
something the group planned so that "Tower would stock it."

For the free-speech adher-
ents out there: the word does
appear on the LP and CD la-
bels and is only missing from
the cassette version due to
a duplication error.

While I understand Jon's
concern regarding sales, I've always regarded Pussy Galore
as one of the least compromising rock acts around. I mean, this
is the same crew who titled a 1987 collection Groovy Hate Fuck
and an '88 EP Sugarshit Sharp (big Michelle Shocked fans...?).
It can't get much more profane than that, but perhaps the re-
sulting flack led them to hedge their bets this time around.

Incidentally, Big Black released Songs About Fucking around the
same time the Leaving Trains issued Fuck, and both albums seem-
ed to do well on the independent charts, so I'm not sure that Pus-
sy Galore needs to tread quite so lightly, but I could be wrong...

I asked Jon if they'd gotten much feedback from feminists, since
some women take offense to their very name, even if Agent 007
got there first. Jon says they haven't received much of a negative
response, and sounded a little surprised by that. "Do you think a
response if necessary if a woman says she finds your work degra-
ding?" I wondered. Jon said it depended on whether or not she
was familiar with his work; in which case, yes. If not, then no.

Click here for part three



Endnote: Images from Musical Family Tree and the All Music Guide.

Read more »

Dial P for Pussy Galore



Here's another in my series of musician interviews for KCMU's long-defunct mouthpiece Wire. In this one, I speak with Pussy Galore's Jon Spencer, who would go on to form the more commercially viable Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (JSBX) and Heavy Trash. Along the way, he has collaborated with the likes of Andre Williams, the Gibson Brothers, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and wife Cristina Martinez in Boss Hog.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Pussy Galore created an unholy metallic ruckus that was
part serious avant-garde noise wail, part nonsense pose.
-- John Dougan, All Music Guide

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Riddle me this. What would happen if you took the following re-
cords and popped 'em in a microwave on high: The Rolling Stones,
Now!, the Fall - Totale's Turns, the Cramps - Rockinandreelininauk-
landnewzealand, Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch, and
NWA - Straight Outta Compton? Aside from the fact that you'd
have a sticky, black mess and a hefty repair bill, you'd also have
the raw ingredients for pressing up half a dozen copies of Pus-
sy Galore's latest long-player, Dial 'M' for Motherfucker.

In August [presumably in 1989], I interviewed Jon Spencer,
the lead singer of Pussy Galore by phone. He was back home
in New York City after the completion of the band's US tour.

First question: Why "Damaged"?

The original idea, as Jon puts it, was for Pussy Galore to
cover "New York City" by Johnny Thunders, "since we're from
New York," and for Tad to cover a Sex Pistols song about London.
Why a song about London for a band from Seattle, I couldn't say.

In any case, Tad's answer was, "No, I don't wanna cover a song by
a British band." And since Sonic Youth and Mudhoney had already
traded tunes for an earlier [Sub Pop] single, the whole Black Flag
idea came about. Jon said he liked 'em. Apparently Tad did, too.

Click here for part two



Endnote: Slightly revised from the original text.
Formed in Washington DC in 1985, Pussy Galore
called it quits in '90. Spencer image from the BBC.

Read more »

LOOPED: Part Three




Click
here
for
part
two




***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Loop were best experienced live. No two gigs were ever
the same, no song ever played the same twice. To them vol-
ume was vital to the whole experience. Loop live were 'felt'
not just seen or heard! A total assault on the senses."
-- Beggar's Banquet, Pspsyched (pronounced "spiked")

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Robert continues, "When we play live, we have no wish to repro-
duce exactly note-for-note renditions of what's on the vinyl. We
like to think that we never actually play the same song twice.
There's a very rough base to start with, because otherwise it
would be too unrecognizable." And in the concert context, Loop
successfully invested their material with new life, though they
didn't perform any of the covers they've recorded over the years.

He explains, "We want to get away from doing covers for awhile.
We've done three or four. We don't really want to base our car-
eer on other bands' material." Loop certainly hasn't based
their album covers on those of other bands. During the
course of our conversation, I discovered that Robert
involves himself in the artwork for all their sleeves.

The cover of their latest LP, released in England as two EPs,
features a doctored photograph of Jupiter, and their most re-
cent 12-inch, "Arc-Lite," sports a computer-generated image
of Mars. Is it any wonder this interstellar explorer digs Sun Ra?

As far as the two-EPs versus one-CD configuration goes, Robert
states that he prefers vinyl, and feels that the UK edition of A Gil-
ded Eternity "sounds equally as good as the CD. In fact, in some
ways I think it sounds a bit better—it sounds a bit more alive. CDs
sometimes tend to flatten the sound out. I was disgusted with a lot
of the record shops in America—all CDs. I think that's terrible."



Concerning current favorite records, Robert expressed fond-
ness for the Shimmy Disc label, particularly the late B.A.L.L.
and Bongwater. He also praised the new Killdozer single, "Her
Mother's Sorrow," while his favorite bands on Loop's first A-
merican tour include the Jesus Lizard, Bewitched (featuring
Bob Bert from Pussy Galore), and Seattle's own Nirvana.

Robert claims not to be a big follower of the Seattle/Sub
Pop sound—even though, with his long hair, plaid shirt, dark
jeans, and lust for volume, he would fit right in—although he
admits to owning Nirvana's full-length debut Bleach, which
he really likes, and the Mudhoney/Sonic Youth split single.

[Loop would go on the record a split seven-inch with Godflesh,
which now appears on The World in Your Eyes collection.]


"Arc-Lite" (A Gilded Eternity, 1990)

Further, Robert claims Hendrix as the Seattle musician he
admires the most. He collects bootlegs and t-shirts and look-
ed forward to visiting Jimi's gravesite while he was in town.

As for other artists from the past, he mentioned Can, whose mu-
sic he discovered years before, because his then-favorite acts, 23
Skidoo and Cabaret Voltaire, often cited them as an influence.

He notes that Soundtracks is probably his favorite simply because
it was the first Can LP he ever heard, but that he thinks they're all
good. He also enthused about the MC5's High Time, describing it
as "their most complete record, and it's got really great songs."

And the same could be said for Loop.

Click here to return to part one



Endnote: Slightly revised from the original text.
Click here for the Head Heritage review of A Gil-
ded Eternity. Image from Beggar's Banquet.

Read more »

LOOPED:
Part Two

Click here
for part one

I got the
opportu-
nity to talk
to the trim,
brown-haired Englishman before Loop's show this past May at the Backstage.

For a fellow who doesn't use a last name, in the vein of pop stars Dion and Madonna, I found the musician surprisingly down-to-earth. And in light of the fact that his work frequently inspires epithets such as as "arty" and "pretentious"—which aren't comp-
letely off the mark—that was a refreshing discovery. He was also quite forthcoming, though a record company rep specifically re-
quested that I not ask anything about the Spacemen 3 or drugs.

It's unfortunate that Robert doesn't field questions about the
band to which Loop bears the greatest resemblance, since such
comparisons aren't necessarily unflattering, but I guess he's tired
of talking about this similar-styled, but unrelated outfit over and
over again. As for narcotics, they shouldn't be an issue at all. Slight
fatigue aside, he was definitely coherent and clear-minded when
we spoke. The only apparent mood-enhancing agent: nicotine.

"Collision" (Fade Out, 1989)

Instead, I asked about the oft-used "guitar band" tag and what
he thought when listeners applied it to his combo. It makes per-
fect sense, really, since his powerful playing dominates every
Loop performance. "We are a guitar band," he admitted, "but
we try to make 'un-guitar' sounds. It's okay being described like
that, but it's when we're called a 'rock' band or something—I do-
n't really appreciate that. Yeah, it's slightly rock, but that's not
the sort of tradition we come out of." (Though Loop does rock.)

Their concert that night was good, but not quite the mind-ex-
panding experience I had been expecting. I wouldn't blame the
band entirely as they had no soundcheck. Although they arriv-
ed in town only two hours later than planned, their equipment
didn't follow suit until six hours later—in time for them to set
things up, but too late to play a single note as the opening act,
Love Battery, was scheduled to launch their set momentarily.

Once Loop started playing, they
sounded fine. What marred the gig
was the inordinate amount of time
Robert spent tuning and complaining
about the sound between every selec-
tion. (It sounded all right to me.) Still,
he has a reputation, deserved or not,
for being a bit of a diva once he takes
the stage, even though he seems like
a pleasant enough guy in person.

All things considered, I enjoyed the show. I especially
appreciated the fact that his vocals register more dis-
tinctly live than on wax where they tend to get lost in
the mix. He has a nice voice; I was never sure before.

As far as the difference between recording and playing live, he
noted, "There's a lot more room in the studio. Instead of playing
the whole guitar, we always play little bits at a time and join them
all together later, so they make a continuous whole...and obvious-
ly, if we did that live, we'd need eight guitarists!" Loop features
two; Robert on lead and Scott [Dawson] on rhythm guitar.

Click here for part three



Endnote: Slightly revised from the original
text. Images from TheSirensSound and Discogs.

Read more »

LOOPED

Now that Gilded Eternity (two-CD set) and World in Your Eyes (three-CD set) are receiving the deluxe reissue treatment, this seems like the ideal time to reproduce my 1990 Wire interview with Loop front man Robert Hampson (Reactor previously reissued Heaven's End and Fade Out, so their catalog is now complete). Sadly, the band would break up a year later, and Hampson would continue on as Main...and Robert Hampson.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Loop latched onto thrashed blues grooves and rode
them hard, oscillating between distorted, hypnotic and
ambient soundscapes while throwing in samples from
2001: A Space Odyssey for good measure."
-- Scott Thill, Wired

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

A loop is something that goes 'round and around. It's also the
name of a trio* from Croydon, England. Their music goes 'round
and around, too, but like a loop, it doesn't actually go anywhere,
always returning to the same theme. Each Loop song, from their
first record, Heaven's End (Head), to their latest, A Gilded Eterni-
ty (Beggar's Banquet/RCA), is different from the other—but not
by much. Each one is distinctively Loop's, and they're all good.

* Sometimes, like their rivals in Spacemen 3, a quartet.

Their name actually derives from a rare Velvet Underground flexi-
disc that accompanied a long-forgotten publication called Aspen.
Robert, Loop's founder, claims White Light/White Heat as one of
his favorite albums. Not surprisingly, it's the VU recording that
utilizes the greatest amount of repetition and distortion.

In comparing Loop to bands that have come before, VU defin-
itely qualifies, but rather than citing specific bands or records, it
makes more sense to cite specific songs. For instance, Loop has
more in common, stylistically, with VU's reverb-saturated "Sis-
ter Ray" or the much-reviled "Murder Mystery" than to VU in
a general sense. On the contrary, Loop is very...particular.

"Soundhead" (Heaven's End, 1987)

Further song references include Can's "Mother Sky," which they
cover on the B-side of their "Black Sun" 12-inch, Suicide's "Rocket
USA," which appears on their first LP, the Stooges' "We Will Fall,"
which was produced by VU's John Cale, the MC5's version of Sun
Ra's "Starship"—and not the Spacemen 3's—and even John Col-
trane's acid-drenched aberration "Om" ("I am Ommmm!!!").

If you were to play these epic (sound)tracks for someone who
had never heard Loop before, they'd still have some idea what
to expect, which isn't to suggest that they're completely predict-
able once you're aware of their influences; just that these num-
bers do provide some reference points towards understand-
ing what they're all about—and they're all about repetition!

Fortunately, the result isn't repetition as an end in and of itself,
although it probably sounds that way to their detractors. Simp-
ly put, if you don't like any of the aforementioned outfits, you
probably won't like Loop. Their goal is more about establish-
ing a certain mood than merely serving as something for lis-
teners to "rock out" to (although you can do that, too).

They're basically coming from the same sort of experimental
tradition that reached full flower in the late-1960s/early-'70s
German scene that spawned musical innovators Faust, Amon
Duul II, and Neu! Like fellow '90s mood merchants the Flam-
ing Lips, Robert doesn't like to be described as "a throwback
to the '60s" or "psychedelic"—one and the same as far as he's
concerned. "I think when you get called psychedelic," he ex-
plains, "it makes it sound as if you're still living in the '60s."

Click here for part two



Endnote: Slightly revised from the original text. Click
here for my Wire interview with Sonic Boom and here
for my Hype one with Jason Pierce. Image from Wired.

Read more »

Get Spiritualized: an Introduction to Jason Pierce
Interview by Rex Ritter, story by Kathleen C. Fennessy

Click here for part one

"Feel So Sad" is another Spiritualized single, an original this time, that doesn't show up on Lazer Guided Melodies. The first
version debuted on Recurring, the final Spacemen platter. Their extension of that Simon and Garfunkel-on-downers-as-recorded-in-a-gothic-cathedral epic clocks in at over 13 minutes. I can un-
derstand why he didn't include it, however, as Pierce has opted
to emphasize fairly concise pop structures over the free-floating,
sometimes-drummerless jams for which the 3 were best known.

From 1990-91, Spiritualized released several other seven-in-
ches in the UK: "I Want You," "Smiles," and "Sway," all of which
found a place on the new disc. Not exactly drone-fests, they're
still more abstract and less instantly accessible than the rest.

According to Pierce, it was
"more constructed" than the
other tracks. "It was made out
of five or six different riffs and
very minimal stuff that creat-
es something that sounds
more complicated than it
actually is. That was one on
the album that was very de-
finitely orchestrated in the
same way as "Feel So Sad."

[I'm assuming the "it" refers to "Sway," but a few words appear to
have disappeared from the original text, so it's hard to say for sure.]

Pierce notes that many songs date back to his Spacemen days,
but that he approached them differently from the ones he wrote
for that band. "I didn't try to chase a finished sound; I didn't ev-
en want to know how they were going to turn out. In the Space-
men, it was more like I knew what it should sound like, and tried
to get that down onto tape, which ended—not disappointingly—
but they never matched the sound in my head. With the stuff now,
I didn't want to chase any finished thing, so everybody basically
had free reign to do whatever they wanted. Now, we're not even
starting with a song basis. We're just doing what we want, and
everybody's in tune with what sounds cool anyway. The new
stuff usually starts as a more freeform thing, like the live
set. We're continuing to write that way at the moment."

Regarding the live show, he explains that, "The album is more
like the spine of what we're doing. I don't think we'll reach a stage
where the album will become old material or we're gonna prog-
ress on from that, because it's been made to be the backbone of
what we work on now. So when we play live we don't try to rep-
licate the album, we use it as a springboard to work on other
stuff. We plan to start touring around September, and we'll
probably come to the States around that time. Five members
[will come], and I think we'll be able to bring a horn section."


Spiritualized - "Sway"

Another important distinction between Spiritualized and
Spacemen 3: horns (trumpets and saxophone), woodwinds
(flute), and strings (cello and violin) all play a bigger part in
the new project than they did in the parent band, which is
to say: hardly at all. Incidentally, Spiritualized's tour is-
n't likely to include Seattle, according to the folks at RCA.

As far as additional future plans, Jason says, "We've recorded
another single called 'Medication,' which will be released in En-
gland in about a month's time with a Peel Session we did." Also,
"Dean's band, Luna*, are going to do some stuff with Spiritua-
lized, and rather than me just guesting on his album, we're
gonna get the two bands to play on one song. We may do it like
we'd do one and send it to [them to] complete and vice versa."

* Dean Wareham, ex-Galaxie 500, current Dean & Britta

Aside from the Troggs, VU, J.J. Cale, the Beach Boys, and Sui-
cide, Pierce likes to relax in Rugby to the sounds of the Remains
and the Silver Apples, "a pretty cool band who pre-date Suicide.
They were doing the same kind of stuff as a lot of the experimen-
tal electronic bands, but they were doing it in the '60s. One guy
playing keyboards and one guy who drums and sings." And aside
from MBV and Galaxie 500/Luna, more contemporary favorit-
es include Yo La Tengo, whom he describes as "something else,"
adding, "their last record is great," and Mercury Rev, who've
"just done some shows in England that are probably the best
shows I've seen for years. Really, really something else."

Ritter interviewed Pierce by phone while he was in New York
doing press and publicity for Lazer Guided Melodies in ear-
ly June. Pierce and Sonic Boom recently joined Luna on stage
during a jaunt to the UK, so maybe those two are at least on
speaking terms again. For Spacemen 3 completists, Sonic's new
Spectrum release, Soul Kiss, has just been released by Britain's
Silvertone in a limited edition translucent "jelly pack," much like
the infamous Slayer "blood pack." RCA will be issuing it Stateside
in September without the special packaging. Having already heard
the import, I can safely that it's not too hard to figure out who was
the spaciest of the Spacemen 3. Hint: It wasn't Jason Pierce.



Endnote: Images from Pitchfork and TheTones360.

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Get Spiritualized: an Introduction to Jason Pierce
Interview by Rex Ritter, story by Kathleen C. Fennessy

As a follow-up to my 1991 interview with Sonic Boom, here's a newly revised version of a piece about Pierce, Sonic's ex-partner in crime.

Originally subtitled "An Interview with," I've changed it to "An
Introduction to," since there isn't a whole lot of interview here.

It worked like this: I came up with a list of questions, Ritter put them to
Pierce, and I penned the resulting article, which appeared in Hype in '92.

A founding member of Jessamine and Fontanelle, singer/songwriter/
guitarist Ritter would go on to collaborate with Sonic's Spectrum.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Live they kinda use volume as a drug."
-- Pierce on My Bloody Valentine

Chances are, if you were a Spacemen 3 fan, you already
know about Spiritualized. If not: Jason "Spaceman" Pier-
ce formed the latter while the former was in the midst
of its death throes, owing to major personality clash-
es between Pierce and Dave "Sonic Boom" Kember.

Chances are also good that if you liked the mothership outfit, you'll feel the same way about Pierce's more streamlined, but not radi-
cally different "melody thing" (as opposed to the 3's drone thing).

If you weren't hip to the group
and their four full-length releas-
es of prime psychedelic ooze, please allow me to introduce you to Mr. Pierce. If you dig his stuff, you just might dig it, too, ya dig?

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Lazer Guided Melodies is the title of Spiritualized's de-
but, available on Dedicated Records in the United Kingdom and
RCA in the United States. It's already met with a flurry of posi-
tive critical acclaim and high indie chart numbers in Britain.

In America, it's been doing quite well on the college charts, but
somehow I doubt it's gonna rocket into the commercial strato-
sphere of our fine land, seeing as how they eschew paisley out-
fits, puddin'-bowl haircuts, shuffling dance beats, heavy-duty
wah-wah guitar leads, or any of the other gimmicks neo-psych-
edelic acts have employed to attract attention in recent years.

Spiritualized - "Anyway That You Want Me"

Nope! Spiritualized offer up some pretty un-trendy
sounds, much as the 'men did in their heyday. Although
you could compare them to other UK shoegaze acts like
the Jesus & Mary Chain, MBV, and Slowdive, they really
do have their own thing going on, despite the fact that they
also fail to shout and leap about on stage. Their music isn't
as heavily Sonic Youth-influenced as the aforemention-
ed trio; they simply aren't as atonal or experimental.

The quartet's first sonic blast was the "Anyway That You
Want Me" single, released while the Spacemen were still a happening concern. As with the Fluid's "Our Love Will Still
Be There," it's another excellent example of a fine Troggs' tune made transcendentally better. (See also: Alex Chilton's "With a Girl Like You." Damn! Reg and the boys wrote some stunners.)

For some reason, this amaz-
ing track doesn't appear on
the new album. However, the
powers that be at RCA say
that it'll make an appearance
later this year as a B-side.

Another notable cover which fails to materialize on the
long-player is their take on the early and obscure Lou Reed composition "Why Don't You Smile Now," which wasn't record-
ed, at the time, by the Rock 'n' Roll Animal himself (you can find the rather goofy, highly-dated original version on the pre-Peel Slowly and See VU box set—and good luck finding that!).

Pierce's sweet and fuzzy interpretation of J.J. Cale's "They Call Me the Breeze," re-titled "Run," represents one non-original that does appear on Lazer (Cale gets a co-writing credit). In a different time and place, the rollicking drum-driven ditty would've become a hit.

Click here for part two



Endnote: I'm saddened that my glow-in-the-dark "Lazer" t-
shirt went missing somewhere over the years, although I've still
got the subway-sized poster tucked away in the recesses of my
closet. Images from NRK Lydverket, Spacelab, and Weblo.com.

Read more »

Sonic
Boom's
Revolu-
tion: Part
Five


Click here
for part
four



My '91 Wire interview with Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember concludes.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Wire: How do you know that "Jesus loves the Spacemen"?
And doesn't that line come from the Jazz Butcher?

Sonic: Almost certainly. I do have spiritual beliefs, but I don't believe in Jesus Christ as a person from Nazareth and...

Wire: You do mention Jesus Christ a lot. Do you like the image...

Sonic: Jesus, never Christ! Jesus is how I term the embodiment of what I believe in as well as the embodiment of my religious beliefs. In the same way, Lord is mentioned in quite a lot of the songs. It's like I use it in the same way the gospel singers would use that [term]. They use it as the embodiment of their religion. But my religion is more about belief in oneself and one's potential and belief in other people and the potential of people. I mean, I believe the kingdom of heaven is within. Different things can access you to that. Some of those are psychoactive drugs.



Wire: What got you interested in psychedelic music?

Sonic: Ummm, psychedelic drugs.

Wire: Just a natural progression?

Sonic: Almost as soon as I started taking drugs, the only
band, the only drug band that I listened to—before taking
drugs, really—was the Velvet Underground. And yeah,
the drugs made me want to listen to the music and the music
made me want to try different drugs. I felt that I wanted to ex-
perience different levels of consciousness anyway, with or with-
out music, but music is a nice jump to recreational drug use.

Wire: Who are some of the English bands
you like best or look to as contemporaries?

Sonic: My Bloody Valentine, and an American band that I think
are probably bigger in the UK, Galaxie 500. I like Dean Wareham's
solo stuff that I've heard, particularly a track he's done called "In-
dian Summer," which is on a record with Chemical Imbalance [fanzine]. That is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard, I think I can safely say. Also Daniel Johnston, another American songwriter—someone I admire as a contemporary. And Happy Mondays. Their first album came out the same time as our second album. In fact, they, or a couple of them, introduced themselves to me after a gig we played in Manchester around that time. They'd obviously recognized the parallel that we were running to them. Although they were using different types of rhythms and sounds, they were basically putting them together in the same minimal way and putting the lyrics on in the same sort of way to have a similar effect. Obviously, different people using different ingredients, but kind of baking the same cake, if you know what
I mean—pretty baked, the whole lot of us! [laughs]



Endnote: Spectrum plays Neumos
on 5/2. Image from Brooklyn Vegan.

Read more »

Sonic Boom's
Revolution:
Part Four

Click here for
part three

My '91 Wire in-
terview with Pete
"Sonic Boom" Kem-
ber continues.

***** ***** *****

Wire: Is it true that Perfect Prescription is a concept album about drugs?

Sonic: I think Spacemen 3 is a concept...

Wire: About drugs?

Sonic: [laughs] Yeah, well, my motto from the start
was "Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to."

Wire: I've got the record with that title, the "demos" record.

Sonic: Right, another bootleg.

Wire: For a bootleg, the sound quality is actually very good.

Sonic: That was the first thing...that was when I
chose to outline what we were—our manifesto.

Wire: What can you tell me about your song "Angel." Is that a true story?

Sonic: Yes, about a friend
of mine who overdosed.

Wire: Lyrically, it's something that stands out to me.

Sonic: Musically, it's inspired by Lou Reed's "Street Has-
sle," which "Ode to Street Hassle" was inspired by, and is a continuation. In the same way, "Angel" is a continuation of where "Ode to Street Hassle" left off. It's basically...what can
I say? It's about a friend of mine who died. It encapsulates
the thoughts and feelings I felt when that happened.

Wire: I'm also curious about "Revolution." What
spurred you to write a song like that? It's different
lyrically from what Spacemen 3 usually does.

Sonic: Well...not particularly. Thematically, not lyrically, but
thematically, it's more political or sociopolitical even though it's
not political-politics. It was basically [that] I wasn't very happy
at that time. I could see that what I'd felt over the previous few
years was...a negative social situation amongst what I'd consider
my peer group...or social group. And I felt that there needed to be
some changes and that a lot of people were looking to make chang-
es. To a certain extent, I was talking about a drugs revolution. The
normal thing in England is for people just to go out and drink five
pints of beer every night. People start to realize that there are
more beneficial ways of raising their consciousness and there
are a whole load of levels of consciousness worth experien-
cing that had far more to offer than alcohol.



Revolution
(lyrics: Spacemen 3)

Well look out

Well I’m sick
I’m so sick
Of a lot of people
Tryin’ to tell me
What I can and can’t do
With my life

And I’m tired
I’m so tired
Of a lot of people
In a lot of high places
Don’t want you and me
To enjoy ourselves

Well I’m through with people
Who can’t get off their arse
To help themselves change this government
And better this society
‘Cos it’s shit

But hold on a second
I smell burning
And I see a change
Comin’ ‘round the bend
And I suggest to you
That it takes
Just five seconds
Just five seconds
Of decision
To realise
That the time
Is right
To start thinkin’ about
A little…
Revolution!

Click here for part five



Endnote: Spectrum plays Neumos on 5/2. Im-
ages from Rhapsody, words from Lyrics Time.

Read more »

Sonic Boom's

Revolution:

Part Three

Click here for part two

My '91 Wire interview with Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember continues.

***** ***** *****

Wire: Which is

your favorite rec-

ord of all the ones

with which you've

been involved?


Sonic: My favorite track is probably something like "Ecstasy Symphony." My favorite LP is possibly either side one of the

new one [his side] or Perfect Prescription. I like them all. They

are all really great, so—I'm bad to say that, aren't I? [laughs]

Wire: How will you make records in the future? Are you go-

ing to continue to make one half and Jason the other or...

Sonic: No, no. The band split up. Spacemen 3 split up.

Wire: There have been these rumors that you

were getting back together. They aren't true?

Sonic: Let me set the record straight. You see, we'd been

drifting apart for various reasons for a number of years, and

we recorded Recurring, and decided it was a great album. It

would make a good swan song. We weren't getting on, so

we decided to complete the album and call it a day.

Wire: So you're gonna go off and do solo stuff and Jason's...

Sonic: No, I've got a new band called Spectrum—after the solo LP. I'm doing some gigs with them, I've already done some gigs with them. I'm doing more the end of this month and, hopeful-

ly, the end of this year—early next year—we'll be in the States.

Wire: Do you like that format better—working in a band—as opposed to working solo?

Sonic: Yeah. I've nev-

er done anything solo.

Wire: Well, except

for your record.

Sonic: I mean, I've recorded a lot of things solo. Even in Spacemen 3, there were things I've recorded totally by

myself. Even on my solo album, there are four or five peop-

le on each song. There's a band on each song, as it were. I mean,

I can do things by myself, as well. I can stand up and sing and

play a keyboard or stand up and sing and play a guitar. It's

an alternative thing I do sometimes, a low-budget set.

Wire: What can you tell me about the seven-inch Drone

Deam EP released by Sympathy for the Record Industry?

Sonic: In the UK, with the Spectrum album there was a

bonus offer to people where they could send for an EP with

those experimental tracks on it. The two tracks are playable
at any speed—16, 33-1/3, 45, or 78 rpm. That was a color-

ed vinyl ten-inch. In the US, Sympathy put it on a colored

vinyl seven-inch with a brand new picture sleeve.



Wire: Have you ever met Martin Rev or Alan Vega?

Sonic: Yes, both of them, several times.

Wire: Do you see the kind of music you make

as a sort of guitar version of what they do?

Sonic: Yeah, particularly. I mean, we actually cover "Ché"

on guitars on the B-side of our "Revolution" single. We did that

song on guitars. I also do a Suicide song on my solo album.

Wire: "Rock 'n' Roll Is Killing My Life."

Sonic: Right, that is done on keyboards in that instance.

Wire: Do you see yourself using keyboards more in the future?

Sonic: No, I've been using keyboards since Perfect Prescription, and I still mainly use guitar on stage, and in the studio I use both.

Click here for part four



Endnote: Spectrum plays Neumos on

5/2. Images from Last.fm and 991.com.

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