1986 was a long time ago, and the NME’s compilation of the legendary C86 cassette was somewhat of a groundbreaking milestone for certain people, helping shape record collections as well as the general arc of guitar-based music in England and beyond. The closing track was a blitzkrieg of guitar strumming, “This Boy Can Wait” heralding to the world that Leeds has more going for it than just Gang Of Four and Mekons
Improbably signed to RCA (were Bowie, Reed and Iggy the only other good artists ever released on that label?), the band’s label debut Bizarro made a pretty big dent in the college radio world over on this side of the Atlantic. Thirty six years on, leader David Gedge is the only one left from the band but as the singer and songwriter, having some hired guns wasn’t a big deal and there were no doubts about the authenticity of the performance.
Rachael Wood in particular was a key part of the live attack, her serrated leads dovetailing neatly with Gedge’s frantic strumming. The kind of strumming that looked like he had a bumpstock grafted to his arm. The kind of strumming that cameras designed to capture a still image of a hummingbird’s wings would be needed to freeze the action of Gedge’s hand. The kind of strumming that would warrant a string tuning check after every song.
Sometimes the popular opinion gets it right, and the most streamed songs of the record still bring the biggest grins, with “Kennedy” and “Brassneck” still shining their clear and piercing beacon years on from when they were written. Intense and intimate, a pairing that any band would strive for.
And sometimes you go into a show expecting to be entertained, but also walk away learning something. Gedge was appreciative of the crowd that gathered tonight, and mentioned that sometimes he wonders if it’s worth it any more, especially when visa costs to come over and play were $5000, quite an onerous sum for a band who is playing small clubs. Well I’d say it was well worth the effort, and if Gedge’s off-handed comment that maybe next time they come over they would play Seamonsters, I’d reckon the same people would pack the venue.
Post-script: Though they didn’t play it, “Brassneck”‘s B side cover of Pavement’s “Box Elder” was incredibly prescient and was a good foreshadowing of their excellent 1992 series of monthly 7” records, with an original backed by a cover. Never figured I would have heard anyone record a Jean-Paul Sartre Experience cover but Gedge had his ears to the right ground. How about doing a Hit Parade set along with Seamonsters and eschewing an opening act next time?
No quibbles on the support act for this tour though. The Tubs have been burbling up around the outer edges of my consciousness but I’d never actually heard a song, and that goes for their predecessor band as well, Joanna Gruesome. Less jangle pop than I had imagined, the band played a super fluid and catchy version of guitar-based music that would be home on a C25 comp. The beautiful runs of Dan Lucas were reminiscent of Maurice Deebank from Felt, and between songs banter is always funnier when delivered in a hearty Scot accent; drummer Taylor Stewart was riffing on Harvard and Good Will Hunting in between pitching their merch items. We will definitely will be hearing more about this band.
