The Counterforce No. 34
Paul Simpson, Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, Chemtrails, Melanie, and more
Paul Simpson’s Revolutionary Spirit: A post-punk exorcism is mandatory reading for any music fan and especially for anyone who has ever gunned for artistic glory. The first section alone does a magnificent job of detailing a key element and event in the story - The Wild Swans traveling to The Philippines in 2011 to play for thousands of rabid fans, the one outpost in the world where they are given their rightful due - whilst also giving a grand overview of Paul’s career and ambitions. He conveys so well the huge presence of magic in artistic creation, and the importance of ‘stepping into the stream’ that I felt a sustained rush through reading the entire book, like that Mary Chain line from Head On - ‘makes you wanna feel, makes you wanna try’. So inspired by Paul’s musings there were numerous times I put the tome down to kickstart plans for the two records I hope to make this year - one by a band in my head called Bronze Age Medallists and the other a collection of rainy day window acoustic numbers called Cinnamon Shoppes - and even write two new songs that I now can’t stop singing to myself for yet another EP that came to me midway thru the book, based on the personal legend of the Raccoon Sisters, two young ladies I would see all the time at Boston clubnights in the early 2000s but never learned their names. It was a great feeling to get all worked up and in the zone again, esp as I’ve been dealing with this concussion, but back to the text at hand.
As well as offering his own artistic vision, the book is very funny. Self-deprecating, never cruel. His experiences with LSD are most amusing and the chapter about him attempting to front a heavy metal band in the early 90s is hilarious and also quite genius. And throughout it all there’s running commentary on his sartorial sensibilities. As Paul says, he “changes clothes to greet the postman”.
When I was Comics Editor of The Quietus I would try to cover comics that were connected to music in some way. And of course the big one of that is where The Teardrop Explodes got their name. So I was thrilled back in 2012 to write one of my first ever pieces for tQ on that very subject. Read it here. I emailed with Paul and almost everyone who was involved with the band, bar Julian despite my efforts. The tale of discovering the name in an old issue of Daredevil at Paul’s Rodney Street bed-sit in Liverpool is one of music’s great origin stories, of course given a re-telling in the book. My favourite Wild Swans song, from the killer The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years album, mentions that very flat in the lyrics. Liquid Mercury, an amazing pop song
Ever since reading Repossessed and then Chris Adams’ Turquoise Days: The Weird World of Echo & the Bunnymen, Rick Webb and I have been convinced that a Pete deFreitas film needs to be made. Throughout Revolutionary Spirit, Paul speaks of deFreitas with love and wonder, further confirming this idea. The two shared a flat together at one point, deFreitas bringing his motorcycle up the three flights of stairs to store in his room, and at one point a young Courtney Love comes to stay with them…
It’s recently been a great time to discover new music too. A couple weeks ago I was intrigued by Harmony Holiday’s tweet about her piece on Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru. Checking out the Ethiopian nun’s records, I found some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. Plaintive solo piano pieces, simultaneously soaring through both the wonder of the spirit world and the despair of our own domain. And there are also plenty of peaceful pieces of pure joy like ‘Mother’s Love’ below. Or as Harmony so excellently puts it “there’s a sense of gothic disenchantment that she rollicks in until it’s almost mirth”. I adore this type of music.
I also saw a tweet of a Louder Than War review of a Chemtrails gig asking “Are Chemtrails the new Joy Division?” Seeing that the photo was of a female-fronted outfit, I was doubly intrigued. Having a listen I don’t think they sound like Joy Division at all - more glam/punk with the occasional sprinkling of Pixies dust - but I very much fell in love with the band. In one of Daniel Kitson’s shows he defines happiness as something like ‘enjoying something while also having something else on the horizon you’re going to enjoy’. And I felt this way as I made my way through the three Chemtrails albums.
Less than a month until Sporting Moustaches is published! Planning some readings - NYC at WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint April 3rd, 7PM (RSVP here, it’s free of course) and April 19th in Nashville at Random Sample opening for the lovely Taxiway. Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and LA are all in the works. Let me know if we can set something up in your town
SEVEN SONGS
Melanie - A Little Bit Of Me. I was not aware of Melanie Safka’s music when she passed away at the end of January. But in my feeds there were so many people with great musical taste paying tribute to her, I had to check her out. A Little Bit Of Me is my current fave. Lovely song. Too bad I missed when she played Jarvis’ Meltdown Festival in 2007
The Wild Swans - Revolutionary Spirit. As far as debut singles being a statement of intent go, this is one of the best. Sweeping in scope though, as discussed in the book, accidentally recorded in mono. The session funded by Pete deFreitas
Zeitklein - Car Door Life Raft. My old partner in pop from The Soft Close-Ups, David Shah, has been doing some lovely stuff with his new project, Zeitklein. The new single has the wonderful line “a life-size dose of heartbreak”.
Care - Flaming Sword. Paul also talks quite a bit about his (abandoned) 80s project with Ian Broudie. The story of how this song came into being has the stuff of legend - otherworldly forces conspiring to bring inspiration at just the right time, and with a healthy dose of humor.
Chemtrails - Naked Souls Get Swallowed. Another of my faves from their The Peculiar Smell of the Inevitable album
The Indelicates - Flesh. One day I’m gonna dedicate a whole newsletter to talking about how The Indelicates are one of the best bands ever and how everyone should be listening to them. And oh what a treat to start now if you haven’t heard them, you’ll have six albums to explore. I consider their sophomore effort, 2010’s Songs For Swinging Lovers, to be their masterpiece and one of the all-time great records. So many songs to choose from but Flesh has been stuck in my head since I woke up. And this video is over the top.
Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru - Homesickness. Another gorgeous piece from Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
As always, these Seven Songs lists are collected here on a monster Apple playlist