Tag: The Kinks
Luke Haines and the English North/South Divide
by Dion on Nov.18, 2009, under Uncategorized
Known for his highly literate lyrics on his solo work, along with his time spent in the Auteurs and Black Box Recorder, Luke Haines has a new album out called 21st Century Man. Jarvis Cocker’s oddly priapic solo release this year, Further Complications, was mostly disappointing, but for those looking for a witty, smart and musical Cocker-like album for 2009, they should definitely check out Mr. Haines’ new work.
Neil Young wrote Southern Man as an anti-slavery missive about the American South, and with his new album, Haines repurposes the north/south American divide and casts it in a (very) English light. His album sounds like a particularly fun and exciting history lecture, with songs referencing everything from Van Der Graaf Generator (Peter Hammill) to German cinema (Klaus Kinski) to English art (Stanley Spencer gets a shout out on English Southern Man). I’m living oop North in England at the moment, but songs like this make me kind of wish I was moving down south. The album starts off on a laid-back ballad note with Suburban Mourning, whose music (with odd, electronic sitar-like stabs and all) perfectly fits the lyrical theme of complacency/malaise commonplace in suburbia. Peter Hammill effectively uses crunchy guitars in what I’m guessing is the only Van Der Graaf Generator tribute out there. The album nicely and (mostly) effectively flits around musical styles, rocking out at one moment, moving through electronic and settling back into a lounge-y rhythm the next. Wot a Rotter fits firmly in the ‘rock’ camp, stomping along on a Gary Glitter beat with bile behind the lyrics. Our Man in Buenos Aires sounds both debonair and sinister, like the theme song for a yet-to-be-imagined Bond villain. Particular highlights include Russian Futurists Black Out the Sun, with electronic squelches emphasising the paranoia of the lyrics, and English Southern Man’s wistful but realistic look at life on the bottom side of this island (although he does acknowledge the existence of us northerners with a quick reference to Leeds United). There are some missteps however. White Honky Afro tries way too hard and pushes a joke that wasn’t very funny in the first place. Haines does on occasion let his snide remarks get the best of him, and it often covers up any emotion or sincerity in the songs. It can sometimes feel like he’s just throwing as many highbrow references at the wall as he possibly can, in order to see what sticks. Still, this is a very worthwhile album and he saves the absolute best for last. The album’s title track acts as a perfect summary/mission statement of what Haines seems to stand for - moving on but always looking back, wry gallows humour colouring his outlook on life. Entertaining and educational, this album is a pleasant addition to the very English side of rock music. And on that note, here’s a few very English, very regional (in my mind) voices to settle the north/south England debate once and for all.
The North
Northern England has a strong rock background, dating back to some band in Liverpool. Buzzcocks were good representatives during the punk years, and post-punk was practically invented up north, spearheaded by Joy Division and also well-represented in the spikiness of Gang of Four, who are still influential on bands like Franz Ferdinand, and the inimitable rantings of Mark E Smith’s the Fall. Britpop was also half northern, but unfortunately, for most people that brings to mind the loutish lad-rock of Manchester’s Oasis (who I do like, in small doses), but in my mind is better represented by the humour and intelligence of Pulp. The north has produced some of the finest English bands of the 21st century, including Doves and Arctic Monkeys.
As a worthwhile companion piece to Luke Haines’ new CD, I’d like to draw attention to Badly Drawn Boy’s (Bolton) 2006 CD Born in the UK. Although it didn’t seem overly popular, I thought it was an excellent reflection on being British (for what that’s worth, coming from a transplanted Canadian).
The South
The south produced the Rolling Stones to the north’s Beatles, and they continue to produce music down there (or so I’m told). Given the nature of the country, a lot of this is pretty London-centric. The Kinks were one of the most English of the English bands in the 1960s and 1970s, singing about the loss of empire and other English symbols like Churchill (I’m assuming the prime minister, not the car insurance) and the Queen. Punk birthed the Sex Pistols and the Clash down south, and Blur epitomised the southern strand of Britpop in excellent fashion. The 2000s brought in bands such as the Libertines, Bloc Party and Hard-Fi, while London’s multicultural nature was a hotbed for some excellent musical fusion, like M.I.A.’s rap-electro Tamil funk.
Finally, there’s some peculiarly British artists who tried to bring peace between the warring regions. The Streets made good use of their midlands roots to produce excellent music beloved by chavs everywhere, and the Who, southerners through and through, recorded perhaps the finest live album ever up in Leeds. See you next week!
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love?
Gang of Four - Return the Gift
Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales of San Francisco
Badly Drawn Boy - Born in the UK
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
The Libertines - The Man Who Would be King
