{"id":116,"date":"2013-12-03T19:00:39","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T19:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/?page_id=116"},"modified":"2014-01-19T22:55:23","modified_gmt":"2014-01-19T22:55:23","slug":"press12","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/history\/press\/press12\/","title":{"rendered":"The Face Of Punk Gothique"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a transcription of the Feb.1981 ‘Sounds’ article that gave name to the emerging new musical genre.
\n\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Face Of Punk Gothique<\/h1>\n

The UK DECAY Brussells connection , by Steve Keaton<\/p>\n

The Metro is deserted. Turnstiles gleam silver in the artificial light and eerie mechanical cries echo through the foreign silence. Occasionally a native (identifiable by their bleak dress and warts \u2013 nearly everyone over thirty has \u2018em here) stumbles blank faced past the empty ticket office and down the dead escalator to the brightly lit platforms, there to await trains I\u2019m sure will never arrive.<\/p>\n

Above the small winding streets are equally desolate, only empty MacDonald\u2019s cartons brave the drizzle blown along past the shuttered tea-shops by a weak breeze.<\/p>\n

This is Brussells and if you avoid the sex shop neon of the shopping arcades you\u2019ll discover a city as lifeless as a month old leg of lamb. The few people you may see wandering about have a glassy-eyed zombie-like appearance and it\u2019s only the apparent lack of gaping crimson wounds that assures you haven\u2019t waltzed unsuspecting onto the set of a new George A Romero fear fest.<\/p>\n

This is Brussells, capital of Belgium and the last date on UK Decay\u2019s European tour sheet.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a dull grey city of spectacular gothic architecture juxtaposed alongside the glum and modern, its almost Europe\u2019s answer to the Cabinet of Dr Calagai. The considerable contrasts reminiscent of the forced perspectives in that classic 1919 German horror flick.<\/p>\n

It may well be about as Rock n roll as West Runton yet it does boast a bizarre identity all its own. And the place suits the young British band like pine box does a cadaver. With song titles like \u2018Necrophilia\u2019 \u2018The Black Cat\u2019 (based on the Edgar Allen Poe story of the same name) and \u2018Rising from the dead\u2019 you can see that they\u2019re not your bunch of spiky tops.<\/p>\n

Abbo, the band\u2019s engaging vocalist once told me that they had a fascination with death (its ok he was laughing at the time). Even so their imagery is striking and the music is thick with Victorian menace – and Banshee\/Antz spice.<\/p>\n

Could this be the coming of Punk Gothique? With Bauhaus flying in on similar wings could it be the next big thing?<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been in my estimation one of the few groups generating and genuine excitement in what has been of late a desperately stale alternative chart. Their last single, \u2018For My Country\u2019 was with no exaggeration, something of a minor masterpiece, a vehement anti war piece built around a powerful militant beat.<\/p>\n

Now they\u2019ve just released their fourth, a double A sided effort of \u2018Unexpected Guest\u2019 and \u2018Dresden\u2019 on Fresh Records. And what a jewel it is, a fine successor to \u2018Country\u2019 it seems to grow in stature with every spin. In fact albeit a contradictory one.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was written at the same time as \u2018For My Country\u2019 reveals Abbo as he tries to peer beyond a clump of beaded hair that obscures his vision and veils his nose.<\/p>\n

\"UK<\/a>\u2018The first one was intended to be a passive, anti-nationalist thing, with \u2018Dresden\u2019 we\u2019ve taken a cynical view of passivity, like Chamberlain\u2019s passiveness could take twenty per cent of the blame for World War 2. The attitude that we wanted to put over was like, if fascists moved into England we move out. That\u2019s a very negative way to be.\u2019<\/p>\n

The flipside on the other hand is lighter fare, a typical Decay tale of ghostly visitation, shivermetimbers. But even this has a deeper theme, that of violation of privacy.<\/p>\n

\u2018Basically \u2018Unexpected guest\u2019 is a return to the same sort of story as \u2018Black Cat\u2019 (which incidentally is the title track of their second single; its just been repressed so check it out ghouls) but it does have a more realistic theme. It was written after we had a burglar in the house, he came one night while we were all asleep. I thought, Christ he\u2019s been through everything, from my old school books to me sweaty socks and I don\u2019t know who it was. And when I was small I always used to think that there was someone hiding in my wardrobe, that one night he\u2019d creep up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. That\u2019s all in the song too.\u2019<\/p>\n

The band formed some two years ago in Luton, part of a lively local scene that has sadly run out of steam, much to Decays regret. They were Abbo,\u00a0 Steve Harle (drums), Spon \u2013 great name that \u2013 (guitar), and Segovia (bass) and it was their unique stance, their preoccupation with the macabre which first attracted my attention. Since then I\u2019ve seen their mildly gory horizons broaden and the music mature into the fiendish force it is today. Frankly I\u2019ve been entranced. Their devotion to the movement that spawned them has been admirable. As well as trying to be a catalyst for other local bands, they\u2019ve run a fanzine, \u2018Suss\u2019 and attempted to open a shop\/Social centre for local punks. The latter has been only a partial success as Decay have been too busy touring to keep it a going concern.<\/p>\n

\"Abbo<\/a>Ask them if they\u2019re a punk band and the reply will be a loud: \u2018Definitely! We all came from the seventy-six, seventy-seven scene. The imagery, the music, everything reflects in our attitude. You don\u2019t have to wear bondage trousers and have Crass on the back of your leather jacket to be a punk y\u2019know. It\u2019s the lifestyle we lead. Fast and happy go lucky\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n

This is already their second tour of Europe, for a band with precious little in the way of greenbacks it must have been something of a gamble but it looks like its going to pay off. Interest from these uncultured climes is growing all the time, and the crowds they\u2019ve been playing to have been receptive to say the least.<\/p>\n

\u2018Berlin\u2019s a strange sort of place,\u2019 says Abbo, \u2018When we played the Club (I couldn\u2019t quite make out the name but if you croak \u2018Musical\u2019 in a guttural German accent you\u2019ll be on the right lines) we got a strange mixture of trendy jet setters, because there\u2019s nowhere else for them to go, and Berlins heavy punk-type movement not to mention quite a few hippies, it\u2019s a real cross section.<\/p>\n

Anyway the hardcore punks just sort of stood there and glared because they thought we were what they call Poppers, which is like Disco boys because we didn\u2019t have short cropped hair and our checked trousers didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n

The thing is though we\u2019d already arranged to play a free gig a week later at a place called the KZ thirty six. A squat in the Turkish part of Berlin, a real shitty area where all the street level punks live. The police don\u2019t dare go there, it\u2019s a real heavy place.\u2019<\/p>\n

Its later explained to me that KZ is the name of a concentration camp and Thirty six is the district. \u2018It\u2019s right by the wall,\u2019 continues Abbo, \u2018and no one wants to live there apart from the immigrants and the punks. All these Grebos live on one side and the punks on the other. There have been loads of riots over there, have they shown them on British telly? They\u2019ve just passed a new law in Germany over squatting and they\u2019re really cracking down on it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what all the fuss is about. So you can imagine why we weren\u2019t looking forward to it very much. We only wanted to do it as a Robin Hood type of thing.\u2019 The singer shudders at the memory. \u2018With all those greasers and punks in the audience it looked very violent, but it went really well, just a few scuffles at the beginning. It was just about the most rewarding gig I\u2019ve ever done.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Some punk came up to me the night before the gig and said, \u2018Tomorrow is zer start of zer revolution!\u2019, confides a wry faced Spon, \u2018I said, what? And he said, \u2018Oh ya, ver having der mass anarchist riot tomorrow!\u2019 (actually Spon related all this minus the Basil Fawlty accent. I\u2019ve added it purely for effect, who said creative writing is dead?) And it happened.<\/p>\n

Going to the gig we saw all these Police and roadblocks and stuff. Its strange because we want no part of an anarchist system, but they used our gig to build up the adrenalin to carry out their riot, everyone at the gig had batons.<\/p>\n

\"soundsGothiquecover\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Afterwards they all piled out and smashed out the windows to the banks and the big stores. The punks there really don\u2019t care, they\u2019ll stop at nothing to bring the system down.<\/p>\n

Thankfully this lunatic fringe seems to be concentrated mainly in Germany, far from the pastoral delights of Neasden; I wonder if the Regets have ever thought of going to Berlin?<\/p>\n

\u2018From there we went to Rotterdam and Amsterdam, now Holland is ok but we played this place called The Milky Way which is infamous for selling its fifteen varieties of dope over the counter and we literally came out to a cloud of dope smoke and spent the night choking through the set. They\u2019ve got cushions on the floor, the hippies dream, a different world from England and Germany.<\/p>\n

Holland is stuck between the two, a passive place where people who can\u2019t take either system go because there\u2019s no real pressure there. It\u2019s so slow. Its got its own punk community but like everything else there its drug orientated.\u2019<\/p>\n

Decay have just negotiated the first major whirlpool of their career. The loss of bassman Segovia.<\/p>\n

\u2018The problem basically was we went full time, and Segovia didn\u2019t want to take the band any further. He\u2019s got a reasonable job and a pleasant girlfriend,\u2019 Abbo makes it sound like a disease,\u2019 and he couldn\u2019t really see his future with us or the band.<\/p>\n

He liked playing the music on a small level but was reluctant to make it full time. It wasn\u2019t unexpected, we talked about it for some six months or so and he left on very amicable terms. He didn\u2019t want to hold us back.\u2019<\/p>\n

Now I liked Segovia, he had many endearing traits like after a few pints he\u2019d attempt to engage you in conversation not an inch and a half away from the old olfactory organs. Such encounters would inevitably leave you well damp with spittle. He was a fine musician too.<\/p>\n

\u2018We had some trouble finding a replacement. Bassplayers aren\u2019t that uncommon but they have a tendency to be incompatible. We wanted someone local, from the same scene as us. In the end we decided to go for a personality rather than a bassplayer, we could always teach\u2019em to play.\u2019<\/p>\n

The personality turned out to be Lol, a young lady of striking appearance \u2013 destined to be a very high entry in the Sounds \u2018Horny bird like\u2019 chart, no question \u2013 classically trained keyboardist with another Luton band the Statics.<\/p>\n

It was a wise choice for not only is she a bloody sight better looking than her predecessor (no offence Seg) but a talented songwriter in her own right.<\/p>\n

Only there seems to be some confusion over her current\/future role in the band. Lol insists that she hasn\u2019t left the Statics and Decay aren\u2019t sure if she wants the gig permanent.<\/p>\n

\u2018I haven\u2019t really left the other band.\u2019 Explains the pink haired one, \u2019I\u2019m in both of them\u2026but I\u2019ve had a lot of hassle with the other band really. The guitarist is really good\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

Abbo steps in to help clarify things. \u2018the Statics are a group of people who play in a band and have nothing in common except their pleasant music.\u2019<\/p>\n

Once again he makes it sound like a disease<\/p>\n

\u2018Ooh, you cunt!\u2019 replies Lol sweetly. In fact Lol has only been playing bass for three weeks, having picked it up to join the band. \u2018I didn\u2019t really like it before,\u2019 she confesses, \u2018I\u2019d been playing for a week before we had a warm up gig in Northampton\u2026which was bloody useless, then it was literally into the deep end in Berlin, But I didn\u2019t mind, I really hate Luton, it was a good excuse to get out.\u2019<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been so much to do, I just haven\u2019t had a chance to get bored. But there all dirty sods really, they could all do with a good wash. The only problems I\u2019ve had really has been with Spon\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s why he wears Jackboots,\u2019 explains Steve Harle seriously, \u2018to encase the odour. Actually having a new person in the band has really made a lot of difference. It\u2019s made us see things differently, especially as she writes in another style to us. She\u2019s calmed down our more aggressive side.\u2019<\/p>\n

Like the Alien on the Nostromo, UK Decay are changing, evolving into something\u2026.different with every killing. They are already a formidable beast. Punk Gothique? Its looking just fine.<\/p>\n

Steve Keaton for Sounds Music Paper February 27th 1981<\/p>\n

Comment with your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail<\/h4>\n
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The following is a transcription of the Feb.1981 ‘Sounds’ article that gave name to the emerging new musical genre. The Face Of Punk Gothique The UK DECAY Brussells connection , by Steve Keaton The Metro is deserted. Turnstiles gleam silver in the artificial light and eerie mechanical cries echo through \u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":76,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-116","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":964,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/116\/revisions\/964"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/76"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uk-decay.co.uk\/heritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}