Thank you friends. Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you...
Post 100 took us to the streets of Memphis and Big Star's mighty Third/Sister Lovers, and now we head across several ponds to the Antipodean other end of the musical world, Brisbane, Australia, to scale the top of the punk rock mountain for enlightenment from one of the very greatest bands ever, The Saints.
If you don't know what I am talking about, call a close friend and have them come over and smack you in the head.
The Saints are simply the best; as good as any punk band out there. If you love great rock and roll, this music needs to be a part of your musical world. The snottiest, hard rockingest, youthfully energetic, guitar thrashing, in your face punk rock there is. The easiest description is to say they are like an Australian Ramones, but that is far a too easy and not too apt statement. For one thing, before there were Ramones, before Sex Pistols and the only band that mattered, there was Edmund Kuepper, Chris Bailey, Ivor Hay, and
Kym Bradshaw, in the garage, doing what they wound up doing so well for three tremendous albums. Their music reminds me as much of super frenetic versions of 50's and 60's music. Their musical legacy has now influenced several generations of Australian bands.
Another great thing is their iconoclasm, their lack of tolerance for foolishness and clicquery. The same angry jaundiced worldview expressed in their songs was in turn directed at the insular and intolerance of punk rock. New club, different badges. A band unappreciated in their homeland until they made a splash in London. Getting criticized by punks in England for not fitting the mold, growing their hair long. It all seems pretty silly today, more popular delusions and the madness of crowds. A musical cultural movement that was under attack turning around and eating itself. I say listen to the music and let that be the final testament, if we need testaments at all. The Saints got shot by both sides, but sold out to noone. In the salad days of Green Day, Blink 182, etc. it seems kind of trite. But when I was in a band at College we couldn't get booked at the school pub because the student said "I hate the band and everything they stand for", whatever the hell that meant. So much for liberal arts.
Wild About You is a fantastic collection of all the studio recordings of the early Saints, when Ed Kuepper was still on guitar, released on Raven Records about 10 years ago. It contains their first three albums, (I'm Stranded, Eternally Yours, Prehistoric Sounds), cuts off of singles and eps, and a few unreleased numbers.
Outstanding from beginning to end. I know that many people draw a line in the sand between the second and third albums. I won't argue that on Prehistoric Sounds they took a different direction, slower, more like a traditional rock album, with great seamless use of a horn section. But only the most doctrinaire music fan can be dismissive of this album's merits. As I see it Prehistoric Sounds is still pretty terrific, but without the visceral thrill of the prior two albums. The same intelligence and attitude is there in an undiminished amount. It's a similar argument to Stiff Little Fingers Now Then... album. Very very good, but the fans don't go crazy when they hear "Big City Night" like they do "Suspect Device". It's difficult not to make such comparisons.
Of course, I haven't had the luxury of hearing the original Saints perform. I was hopeful that I would get a chance to see these guys. Despite all the enmity I had heard existed between Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey they got together for a few festivals in Australia. But as far as I know, the reunion was a temporary one, and there are no plans to take on a World Tour. I don't think they played the state ever so it wouldn't really be that nostalgic. I sort of hope that if they came to the US that they wouldn't be playing the Mercury Lounge or some such small venue. Of course in a selfish way, to see such an amazing band in a venue like Maxwell's in Hoboken which hold less than 200 people would be a pleasure I would feel very unguilty about. I guess I'm saying that I would hope that these guys would get the popular credit they deserve, beyond the critical accolades they've received.
The collection begins with a flat-out howling punk rock classic, the one that show up on compilations. I'm Stranded flings a defiant gauntlet to the world, taking on the tribulations of conservative life in Australia and defiantly standing up to the view of Australia being a stereotypical backwater. The Saints have a huge chip on their shoulders, and their attitude punctures all the popular prejudices they had to contend with. They were from someplace outside the rest of world and they were outside the society they lived in. Pure rock n roll rebellion.
The insane thing is, this entire collection is crammed full of classic songs, both originals and amazing interpretations of other people's tunes. Ed Kuepper's buzzsaw guitar work still knocks me out, its something that I could never get tired of. And Chris Bailey is the perfect snotty punky frontman. Listen and be amazed at Demolition Girl and Wild About You! One of my favorites is the blistering Nights in Venice--I still can't believe that its nearly 6 minutes of bone rattling glory. It's over before I realize it. This Perfect Day is another A-list tune, a perfect frenetic buzz kill of a song. And of course there is the classic punk screed against crass commercialism,Know Your Product,delivered pre-Sex Pistols.
Don't talk to me about what you done
Ain't nothing has changed it all goes on
And they'll keep laughing till the end
I've seen them drive around in cars
All look the same get drunk in bars
And don't talk back we got no social rights
Oh perfect day
What more to say?
Don't need no one to tell me what I don't already know
We got no high times always flat
If you go out you don't come back
It's all so funny I can't laugh
Oh perfect day
What more to say?
Don't need no one to tell me what I don't already know
The Saints also do some unusual covers, which they execute in typically brilliant fashion. They do a revved up version of Connie Francis' Lipstick On Your Collar!! And it's both hilarious and pure rock n roll. Elvis's Kissin' Cousins is also roughly sent through the Bailey/Kuepper meatgrinder with equally entertaining results. When you hear these songs, you begin to get an idea of where their musical roots originate. Of course, if I didn't mention the absolutely over-the-top version of Ike and Tina Turner's River Deep Mountain High I ought to be horsewhipped. This is definitely one my favorite covers ever, ranking with Husker Du's apocalyptic take on Eight Miles High. On River Deep, The Saints show themselves to be masters of tempo and dynamics. Bailey howls like a transplanted southern preacher here and the excitement slowly builds to pure destruction. In their covers, they both mock and show reverance for the past. They even do a bit of social commentating and satire in their mock dance-craze song Do The Robot.
In between the noise they also manage to deliver some memorable ballads like the AllTheYoungDude-ish Messin' With The Kid and the darkly grandiose Memories Are Made of This. The band critiques the "no worries" Australian attitude in Orstralia, where you can sit back, bake in the sun, watch telly and leave your brain at home. Bailey pointedly compares day to day life as "living in a chain gang" in Memories. In Messin' With The Kid, "all your kid dreams have melted under the sun". A favorite is the ode to a dissolving relationship This Time, where a couple go through the motions and stick together for no compelling reason. And its a very well constructed classic pop song with a great horn arrangement.
I'm talking to you but you're in a trance...
You're talking to me but I ain't got a chance
Cause you'd rather sit with your radio
You're lying in the sun and you read magazines
You think that you know everything on the scene
But you're hanging around, only fooling yourself.
I listen to the tunes from Prehistoric Sounds and I can't help but think of The Commitments, with the soulful singing and the horn lines taking the place of the stinging guitar, at least on some of the songs. They do a nice uptempo version of Otis Redding's Security and also Aretha Franklin's Save Me. Bailey's Take This Heart of Mind is not out of place in this company, as is Everything's Fine. But there are a variety of songs here, including the cowpunk of Swing for The Crime, which Prehistoric Sounds leads with. The ballad All Times Through Paradise sounds like a dark proto-Bad Seeds number. Crazy Googenheimer Blues is a strange blend of Motown bounce and rockabilly.
The original band held together for three records, except for the replacement of bassist Bradshaw with Algy Ward after (I'm) Stranded. But Kuepper and Bailey had creative differences over the band musical style. Bailey continued The Saints and had success on MTV in the 80's with stellar albums like A Little Madness To Be Free, All Fool's Day, and Prodigal Son. Some of his recent albums are a bit of a return to his punk roots. Kuepper formed the jazz punk group Laughing Clowns, the mockup hard rocking group The Aint's, and has had a distinguished solo career with numerous great albums. Wild About You ends with an interesting unreleased song Looking For The Sun, which does not sound like any song in their canon. It's sort of a jangle guitar Byrds meets Eric Burdon garage ballad. You wonder if this is where they were headed before the split. I think these guys were probably capable of anything, really.
But Wild About You is a perfect anthology of one the top punk bands ever, on the level of The Clash, Ramones, Buzzcocks, Pistols, etc. If they were from America or England they would be lionized. For the completist, there is the box set All Times Through Paradise, which includes a bunch of demos and great live tracks, which was recently reissued. But if you like what you hear you will probably want to hear the later Saints, Chris Bailey's solo work. The Laughing Clowns are pretty much a unique band that I think someday will get their due. I don't think there is anything out there quite like it, and Kuepper deserves high praise. His solo works like Electrical Storm and Honey Steel's Gold are also worthwhile. Or check out the compilation Butterfly Net. The Aint's are also worth a listen, especially the hard rocking live album SLSQ. Or there are the jillion recordings on Kuepper's Prince Melon Label.
So enough blah, blah, from me. Do yourself a favor and get acquainted with this exemplary band. You need this, believe me. I wish I knew about these guys when the music originally came out, but I was busy listening to Boston and "Green Grass and High Tides". You can avoid this fate. So wish CT a Happy 200th. Maybe we'll get in another 200 before I finally succumb to carpal tunnel. Or tinnitis.
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