The Counterforce No. 56
Ali Smith's The Ballad Of Speedball Baby, Damien Youth, Snotgirl, Death Or Glory, Yves Chaland, and Spare Parts
Ali Smith’s The Ballad Of Speedball Baby is one of the best rock bios I’ve ever read. And I say this without ever knowingly having listened to a song by the band. Of course that will change now. At the end of November, Adam Bouchard sent me the above photo, which was obviously intriguing. And a few days ago, after a bad run of borrows from the library - a ‘personal transformation’ book that had good tips and quotes but were couched in the worst story I’ve ever read, and poorly written too; a book by an author of best-selling comedic fiction that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about but early on he used the word ‘just’ twice in two adjoining sentences not on purpose and I don’t have time to deal with the emotional fallout of knowing millions of people accept such sloppiness; and one book whose main character was deplorable from page one and that ain’t for me either - well, after all that, I decided to give this other Ballad a go. I honestly wasn’t expecting much after this streak, but I was very quickly drawn in. Ali Smith sure can write. She has a wonderful way of putting things, of describing scenes and people, and it was all so pleasingly evocative as she took us through everything that comes with being in a band - the excitement and glory, the despair and difficulties, and showing once again that sadly all those negatives are at least 100x worse for a woman. Smith reads the audiobook herself and delivers on all these inflections too. I loved her extended unicorn analogy as a means of explaining what it’s like to deal with her father. Told with the perfect balance of emotion and humor, and large amounts of both in the mix. And there’s a lot more great stuff like this throughout. Smith also really delineates well the difference between too-kool-for-skool American audiences who go to shows simply to be seen there and chat, with little regard for the band playing, as opposed to Europeans who will spend days traveling through hardships just to catch a band they’ve heard might be good, and so much more if they’re a fan. The book ends on Speedball Baby’s first European tour after being picked up by a Dutch label and really captures the bliss of connecting with other humans through music and also the psychological and physical tolls such undertakings often bring. I’m still laughing that Ali was warned by another woman in a Dutch club that one particular d-bag “has sperm in his eyes”. A quite effective repellant, I would imagine. There are some really good laughs in here but also all the stuff about how much music meant to her and her bandmate Matt really hit home. Highly recommended
What a treat this past week has been for discoveries. For as well as this excellent new book, I’ve also been hipped to the wonderful songs of Damien Youth. A name I’ve heard for ages, but never actually listened to. Until now, when Glass Modern Records have released Secret Doors Inside The Rain, 18 tracks “specially compiled and curated for Glass Modern by DAVID J (Bauhaus/Love And Rockets).”
The scant biographical information on the Bandcamp page is from Ritchie Unterberger: “A mysterious cassette-only artist who began putting out material on tape in the late 1980s, although some of it started to appear on CD in the late 1990s. His music is haunting, acoustic rock with a sense of whimsy akin to Robyn Hitchcock or Donovan. It's solid, melodic stuff that would most likely appeal to Hitchcock fans, despite the sparse production.” Having happened upon gold in the past with Martin Newell, another cassette-only artist for most of the 80s, my interest was piqued. I do hear Hitchcock, yes, also Lou Reed, shades of David J himself, and Lovers Of Today is pure Ziggy/Hunky Dory Bowie, while Goodbye Sarah puts me in mind of Leonard Cohen. Venus Kissing Mars is absolutely gorgeous and will have the ache in your soul singing along second time through. I feel almost overwhelmed now. These 18 songs are enough to bask in for the time being, but on Damien’s own Bandcamp page there are 58, yes 58, further releases to investigate. Gonna be a good year, I love finding artists like this, who have a treasure trove to dive into
I tried to take it easy and slow down a bit over the holidays. And it was lovely to carve out some time and just sit and read comics. I really got into the first trade of Snotgirl - Green Hair Don’t Care - when it came out but hadn’t kept up. So I read all three trades and very much enjoyed them. Bryan Lee O’Malley is Bryan Lee O’Malley - cool, self-obsessed characters in a really good story, and for me it’s Leslie Hung’s artwork that really stands out and keeps me glued to the pages. She has a wonderful line and sense of style. I met Leslie back in 2017 after Snotgirl first came out at this cool small press expo in Glendale, CA when I was living in Atwater Village. A few tables down from hers was Roman Muradov’s who was away from his station during the time I was there but I was so impressed with the artwork on display, I messaged him afterwards and we did this great interview for The Comics Journal and I have since amassed almost all of his gloriously idiosyncratic and it must be said beautiful books. I tried to interview Leslie but we couldn’t figure out a time
Speaking of The Comics Journal, this week they republished a piece I had written for the Humanoids blog back in 2015. I’m really psyched to have it back up for people to read, being as it is an English language appreciation of the French comics master Yves Chaland. You can read about my introduction to Chaland in the piece, via the above illustration, and as I couldn’t find out much about him in English, I decided to rectify this, talking to Hanco Kolk, Joost Swarte, Luc Cornillon, Didier Pasamonik, and Bruno Lecigne to present some of Chaland’s life and work.
I also read Rick Remender & Bengal’s Death Or Glory. I had picked up the first issue for $1, as Image sometimes does, at my local comic shop a couple years ago as I liked the cover. Plus it’s the title of my favourite Clash song, how could I not give it a go? I really dug it and went back immediately to buy both trades. It’s a damn good outlaw story with plenty of carnage, relevant to healthcare issues today.
I finally had a chance to check out Evan Stern & Michelle Mylett’s Spare Parts podcast where they’re going to be rewatching and discussing all 80 episodes of Letterkenny. Gosh, I freaking love this, it quickly became my new favourite podcast. Binged all the episodes immediately. You know what a big Letterkenny fan I am. This summer I tried to list my 10 favourite moments and had to extend that to 15. This podcast is a joy to listen to. Evan and Michelle have such a great rapport, offering insights and inside stories not only to the show but also their lives. And they both seem like good people. There’s also a ‘Spare Hearts’ segment for the second half of each show where listeners write in and Michelle & Evan give romantic advice. Evan Stern has this thing that I’ve come across in only a few people, and I’m always impressed when I do, where he’s constantly making jokes and laughing about anything and everything but can stop that on a dime if a serious situation arises that affects someone’s feelings and become the most sympathetic soul you can imagine. This happens a few times as they discuss the relationship problems their listeners have brought to them for help. And Michelle & Evan are having special guests on the show - so far Tyler Johnston (Stewart) and Jacob Tierney (Glen) - both of whom have been fantastic. They stick around for Spare Hearts too. This podcast is a must if you’re a Letterkenny fan.
And on my own podcast last week I had a blast talking to writer Kevin Maloney. I’ve written about him here before, his The Red-Headed Pilgrim was my favourite book of 2023, and he’s got a great new story collection out in Horse Girl Fever. We chat about it, music, writing, the awesomeness of John Frusciante and Kurt Vonnegut, and more. Check it out here. Much appreciated it you wanna subscribe to the podcast or rate and/or review it