|
Staff pick of the week...
This week...Bill picks it!
Echo & the
Bunnymen stand as one of my favorite bands of the past 25
years. Sure, I liked The Smiths and The Cure and those groups
may have sold more records, but I’ll choose the moody,
psychedelia-kissed, Bowie-meets-The Doors rock of the Bunnymen
for my 20 year stint on a desert island long before I pick
anything by those wailers. Outside of “Bring On The
Dancing Horses” and “Lips Like Sugar,” the
American market – mostly those of you who are younger
and getting your information from 80s radio shows – know
little of this terrific band led by the egomaniacal crooner
Ian McCulloch and guitar shaman Will Sergeant.
Better hair than Interpol anyway, while appealing to your
inner cores’ yearning for a sense of history.
I’d urge you all to buy the remastered editions of this stunning
Liverpudlian band’s first 4 releases. “Crocodiles” merges
postpunk-informed, Television/Velvets-esque guitar heroics
with Doors-derived mood and imagery. “Heaven
Up Here” plumbs depths deeper than The Cure and while using
more colors. The Cure could be down right bleak and stark,
but Echo & The Bunnymens’ downers were multicolored (or is
that multicoloured). “Porcupine” started
reaching for the stars by coalescing the band’s past influences
with a greater identity of self, richer production work, and
added string arrangements. “Ocean
Rain” is my favorite because it’s so overblown with strings
and because the mood varies a little back and forth whereas
their previous album seem to tow the line emotionally from
beginning to end. Here you have lush pop songs met with darker
tunes.
“My singing on this album is pretty good. Not quite Jacques
Brel – he had one of the best voices around – but a lot better
than Big Country and U2… Whatever I do is capable of being
a classic. I could probably mumble anything and somebody would
think ‘Great, that. Passionate.’… I’ve got great lips. I’ve
got a great face. It’s not my fault… I wouldn’t have thought
any band could make it with a W.C. Fields lookalike for a singer.
If Jim Morrison had looked like Jim Kerr he’d still be alive… Who
buys U2 records anyway? It’s just music for plumbers and bricklayers.
Bono, what a slob. You’d think with all that climbing about
he does, he’d look real fit and that. But he’s real fat, y’know.
Reminds me of a soddin’ mountain goat…” – Mac the Mouth,
1984
I saw Echo & The Bunnymen play a few times with bands like
The Church, New Order, Gene Loves Jezebel, and Hunters And
Collectors and they ALWAYS delivered the goods live. In fact,
one of the best shows I’ve ever seen paired E&tB
with The Fleshtones and an unlisted Billy Bragg at the Bismark
Theatre in Chicago in 1984. The Fleshtones whipped the crowd
into a frenzy, then when the crowd is primed for Echo & The
Bunnymen a socialist armed with a guitar strolls out and folks
started throwing their plastic cups at him. My friend Karen
and I seemed to be the only two concert-goers in attendence
who elected to clap politely for the unknown Billy Bragg. By
the time Echo & The Bunnymen stormed the stage, the crowd
was worked up into a lather and the band held them in the palm
of their hand for the entire set. I’ve been hooked ever
since!
Interested in hearing more? Try The
Chameleons (listen to "In
Shreds From Return Of The Roughnecks"), Teardrop
Explodes (listen to "Ha
Ha I'm Drowning"), and The
Sound (listen to "Winning
From the Lion's Mouth" and "I
Can't Escape Myself From Jeopardy").
|
