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Showing posts with label Christopher Owens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christopher Owens. Show all posts
Christopher Owens ðŸ”–“Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud. So good I can't believe it, screaming with the crowd.”


So sang Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister in 1979. The track in question (‘Overkill’) would not only be the most astonishing collision of metal and punk up to that point, but it would be the beginning of Motorhead’s ascent into legend.

Since his death from cancer in December 2015 (two days after turning 70), the myth and legend of Lemmy has grown substantially. Regarded as a true rock n roller who drunk Jack Daniels every day while reading vicariously and playing loud music for a career, he lived life on his terms and never apologised for who he was.

So you would expect this autobiography, published in 2002, to be packed with rip roaring tales of debauchery, humour and music. And while these elements are all present and correct, it’s important to read it with the mindset that Lemmy’s bending your ear in the pub after having his tenth can of Carlsberg Special Brew.

Of course, it’s impossible to expect pinpoint accuracy and honesty when it comes to autobiographies of this nature (I seriously doubt that Lem’s mother saw newborn babies with rudimentary feathers and scales while working in a TB ward) so if you treat it as a pub yarn, then the stories about the 60’s, Hawkwind and Motorhead are utterly entertaining. Running throughout is his sense of humour, very much informed by The Goon Show and Monty Python. Take this example of how the band and crew dealt with a Norwegian promoter who kept giving them the wrong distances between gigs, meaning they were late on stage every night on that particular tour:

Finally in Trondheim we got totally fed up with him and covered him with squirty cheese. It was the fifth time we’d had to take a speedboat and we were two hours late for the show and we were really pissed off. Kids always think it’s the band’s fault when the gig starts late. So there we were on stage at last, and this cunt of a promoter was leaning against the PA like he was some Big Deal because it was in his hometown. And our roadies came up behind him and grabbed him, handcuffed him, dragged him out on stage and pulled his trousers down. Then they squirted him with the squeezy cheese and mayonnaise and anything else they could get their hands on. Our tour manager at the time, Graham Mitchell, walked up to the mic and said to the audience, ‘See this asshole? That’s why we’re late tonight!’ And, per-doom!, we pushed him off the stage. The guy wound up going to the police station – like that! Covered in slop, and in a taxi! After the gig, in the dressing room, we got the inevitable loud thump-thumpthump on the door, and it was this giant fucking cop – the Norwegians are real tall – who looked like the super-Gestapo.

‘I sink you haff done somezing very awful to this person,’ he informed us.

‘Yeah? Well, he told us all the wrong fucking directions,’ and all: we told him the story.

‘Yes, yes, yes!’ he said. ‘But zis is no reason to cover a man viz cheese!’”

Cultural differences, don’t you love them?

However, the reason I was a tad disappointed is that it felt like Lemmy was living up to his image a little too much at times. And yet the moments where he discusses his views on racism, Nazi memorabilia and history show that he was a proper self-educated working-class lad. A bit more insight along those lines would have been cool.

Then again, if it’s how he wanted to be portrayed, then he did so on his own terms.

Lemmy Kilmister,‎ Janiss Garza, 2002, White Line Fever: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster ISBN-13: 978-1471157653

White Line Fever

Christopher Owens ðŸŽµ with the 38th in his Predominance series.

“Please classify me. Force me to succeed/Change identity. And watch me change.” - D.R.I 

Horns up 


New Horizons 



Wasted Death – Season of Evil

Featuring members of USA Nails, Death Pedals, Big Lad, Petbrick and Beggar, this debut LP follows on from two brilliant EP’s and I’m delighted to say that all promises have been fulfilled: the songs are louder, nastier and the production manages to give proceedings a clear sheen while retaining the dirt and chaos needed for this mutant blend of d-beat crossover. Love it.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

USA Nails – Feel Worse

For their sixth full length in ten years, London based USA Nails carry on being one of the finest noisy, metallic and angular noise-rock acts in the world. Although every album (and split release) has been excellent, this one might be their finest moment owing to a brighter sounding production which captures their cacophonous sound in magnificent fashion.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Zenxith – Talk About Prolific

Based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Daniel McGee is indeed a prolific sort (his third album in a year, with a fourth just released) and is highly indebted to the C86/indie pop sounds of yesteryear. While some practitioners in this field tend to overemphasise the shambling, fey sounds of certain acts, McGee is a solid songwriter whose pop sensibilities indicate he’s one to watch.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Poppy H – Confidence of Crisis

This attempt to document “an overwhelming feeling that the world is closing in on itself, like a glove turned inside out” is a gloriously claustrophobic, mechanical and schizophrenic listen. Standout number ‘Kyushon’ melds dub, krautrock and ambient and ‘Cry Sis’ feels like a collaboration between Lustmord and Autechre. A soundtrack of existential dread.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Gvantsa Narim – Cruel Nature

Noted in the press release as “…an enigmatic sound artist…drawing inspiration from religion, esotericism and Georgian polyphonic music”, this is a haunting release where you envisage yourself both sitting in your car by a cliff as a thunderstorm takes place and swimming to the wreck of the Titanic where the voices of those who died sing loudly.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.


Golden Oldies


Laibach – Opus Dei


Released in 1987, their third album (and first for Mute) is where the band expand their martial industrial sound into something resembling commerciality. Covers of Queen’s ‘One Vision’ and Opus’ Euro smash ‘Life is Life’ are transformed into anthems for an imagined fourth reich, with the male choir providing camp and pomp. Elsewhere, ‘F.I.A.T’ and ‘The Great Seal’ encourage listeners to turn their back on their country in favour of the Neue Slowenische Kunst.


 

Public Enemy - How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?


By 2007, Public Enemy’s message had long been drowned out in a sea of materialistic gangsta rap and self-aggrandisers like Kanye West. This, their 11th record, saw them fight back in aggressive form and even showed a little self-reflection on their longevity. ‘Haarder Than You Think’ saw them hit the UK top 5 but songs like ‘The Long and Whining Road’ and ‘Sex, Drugs and Violence’ help make this album their best since 1999’s ‘There’s a Poison Goin’ On.’


 

King Crimson – The Power to Believe


This 2003 record is (to date) the last studio album released by Robert Fripp and co. If it stays that way, then what a way to go. Updating the classic KC sound with added aggression on the chords and embellished electronic textures make this a monster that could more than match what the likes of Tool were releasing at the time, ‘Level Five’ is the undisputed highlight and ‘Dangerous Curves’ manages to sound like a mash up of Ferry Corsten and KMFDM.


 

ESG – Closure


While ‘Come Away with ESG’ is routinely (and correctly) heralded as a post-punk/funk classic, the band have plenty of other great releases to their name, with this 2012 LP being one. Sticking to their mission of writing music akin to James Brown taking it to the bridge, songs like ‘Thump’ groove like bastards while ‘Closure’ could have easily appeared alongside their early material due to its sparseness and ability to sound both funky and sinister. All hail the Scroggins family.


 

Townes Van Zandt – Delta Momma Blues


Although the product of Van Zandt living in New York for a few years, this 1971 classic opens up with an old country cover (‘F.F.V’), showing that the Big Apple hadn’t separated him from his roots. Although not quite as heralded as other albums of his, one can’t argue with the likes of the plaintive ‘Tower Song’ (a song that wipes the floor with anything Bob Dylan has to offer) and ‘Nothin’ (later covered by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss).



⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Predominance 38

Christopher Owens  ✍ was at the Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast on 23-March-2024 to listen toa live podcast delving into the world of loyalism.


A wet and drizzly Saturday night in Belfast. A scenario I’m all too familiar with and one that, if you allowed it, would prevent you from doing or attending anything of note. And with the Shrapnel Podcast doing a live recording, there is no excuse for laziness.

Advertised as sold out, the audience are an eclectic bunch, some of whom look around the room quite a bit. Not in a nosy manner but more along the lines of realising that they’re not the only ones who have such interests and finding relief in that.

The following took to the stage:

🖼 Sam McIlwaine and Gareth Mulvenna (Shrapnel Podcast hosts)

🖼 Davy Adams (former Ulster Democratic Party spokesperson)

🖼 Emma Shaw (founder/CEO of the Phoenix Education Centre)

🖼 Beano Niblock (playwright/author)


Beginning the talk by asking how each member of the panel would define loyalism, Davy is quick to point out that he doesn’t consider himself as either a loyalist or unionist anymore as he no longer has time for tribal loyalties, so his allegiances lie with his family and his community. Beano takes a different approach by saying that he would still consider himself a unionist but more of an orphaned one and that, once upon a time, the term he would have used was working class loyalist, but it doesn’t mean the same to him as it did in 1971.

Emma uses these moments to illustrate her belief that loyalism is a broad church but one that is based on family and service to the community and one that has been maligned over the years not just through a hostile media but also from mainstream unionist politicians who were all too happy to goad loyalists into doing their dirty work. The end result of this, according to Emma, is a belief that young people from loyalist backgrounds are disadvantaged educationally and in the job market.

This leads to Davy declaring that the term ‘loyalist’ was created by unionist politicians to differentiate between ‘respectable’ unionism and loyalism (although Sam emphasises that people have to take responsibility for their own actions), thus anyone who raised their head above the parapet were swiftly disowned and castigated as Lundys. Beano notes that this fractured unionism sends out a variety of mixed messaging (who do you vote for, what do they deliver) which makes it difficult to have a united front and, although Emma defends the right for voters to have choice, Davy and Sam bring up the fact that if there was one PUL party, how would it cater to those (like Sam) who would see themselves as left wing?

From a nationalist perspective, this diverse/fractured (whichever term you want to use) perspective can be frustrating as it means that if you ask three unionists/loyalists about their views, you’ll get three differing views back. Sam correctly identified some social issues that are divisive (same sex marriage, abortion) but you can also add the status of Northern Ireland as well: is it as British as Finchley or is it something else entirely? With nationalism/republicanism, there are of course similar debates, but the key is that the end result is Ireland being free from British rule. As pointed out by Enoch Powell 40 odd years ago, the ambiguous nature of relations between NI and Britain has never been truly resolved by unionists/loyalists and, to some, this uncertainty can seem like goalpost moving at times. So it’s great to see the panel openly discussing some of these angles.

Moving onto culture, Beano points out that many loyalists feel that Gaelic culture is being elevated and imposed upon them. Although Davy responds to this with derision by asking why anyone would feel threatened by Gaelic culture (especially when it was kept alive by Irish Presbyterians), Emma manages to tease out the nuances in the debate by discussing the GAA pitch in East Belfast and how resources have been allocated to it over other initiatives which could help the people of the East improve their lot in life via education or employment. She is keen to stress that she has no problem with people wanting to join the GAA or learn to speak Irish, but the perception that these projects have had a substantial amount of money thrown at them because they tick the boxes of what funders are looking for is one that has annoyed the local community.

I have to admit, this is a very interesting angle that I had not considered before. Anyone who is familiar with the gymnastics and conformity that is required when applying for funding will be all too aware of what is being discussed here. We have also seen how such rigid conformity has led to ridiculous situations where students of Asian descent are being denied places in universities (despite scoring highly in tests) because of diversity quotas.

Emma reveals that, in the school where she is on the Board of Governors, there are over 20 languages spoken by the pupils (which, in theory, would make it an integrated school) but because it is classed as a state school, it is not entitled to funding from the IEF (Integrated Education Fund). She also brings up Lagan College (the first integrated school in the country) and, tying it back to her views on funding, points out that although the College likes to advertise itself as being oversubscribed (with the implication that people are fighting to get into the school) the reality is that several schools in the East have closed (such as Orangefield High School and Lisnasharragh High). So not only is it not a surprise that Lagan has high levels of applications, but that kids in the area have to be bussed out to other schools due to these closures.

Sadly, this is true. In 2015, the Belfast Telegraph revealed that:

…seven children from east Belfast had not been able to get a place at a local secondary. They were forced to travel either across the city to Breda Academy, which would mean two different buses, or go outside Belfast to Dundonald or Newtownards.

While there is an argument to be made that offering alternative environments for children to be educated is a good thing, this should be at the behest of the parents and the pupil themselves.

This moved into (what has been described as) the myth that Protestant youth weren’t interested in education, which everyone on the panel greatly dispute. Davy reminisces how education was very much drilled into him from a young age while Emma reveals that, as part of her PhD, she surveyed various primary and post-primary schools in Protestant areas and found that 98% of those she engaged with made it clear that they were very much encouraged by their parents and teachers to succeed in education.

Going to the Q&A section, my question about the possibility of loyalism becoming a populist movement (similar to what we’ve seen in the USA and, to a lesser extent, the south) is greeted with scepticism by Emma, noting that it would take a singular figure to unite the warring elements within unionism/loyalism (i.e. a Trump like figure). Davy describes populism as a threat to democracy (which, although I can see where he’s coming from, I’m not 100% sure I agree with him).

I am glad to say that the discussion on stage tonight was robust, intricate, level-headed, questioning and diverse. Each panellist represented a different strand within loyalism and weren’t afraid to ask each other difficult questions or tease out scenarios where they felt issues of class were far more relevant than loyalism (such as housing, education and employment) a very welcome approach and much more in the spirit of cross-community than a lot of the funding bodies set up to deal with such issues.

Amazing, the things you can find in your city if you venture out on a wet and drizzly Saturday night.


Listen to the Shrapnel Podcast here.

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Loyalism 🔴 Alternative Voices — Shrapnel Podcast Live

Christopher Owens ðŸ”– “Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature” according to the sticker on my copy.






I’m not certain if that’s meant to be a sales pitch or a warning. However, it’s in relation to the author Jon Fosse whose 40-year career as an author and playwright in Norway have seen him labelled “the new Beckett” and “the new Isben” respectively.

The press blurb gives us the plot in a suitably ambiguous tone:

A man starts driving without knowing where he is going. He alternates between turning right and left, and finally he gets stuck at the end of a forest road. Soon it gets dark and starts to snow, but instead of going back to find help, he ventures, foolishly, into the dark forest. Inevitably, the man gets lost, and as he grows cold and tired, he encounters a glowing being amid the obscurity.

And with the novella running to 56 pages, its safe to say this succinctly describes the plot. However, it’s all about the details.

It's not a million miles away from a book I reviewed on here a few years ago called Fin. But while that book was overtly spiritual, A Shining is less so and somewhat mysterious in what it is subjecting the protagonist to. Is he having a mental breakdown, have forces beyond his understanding compelled him to enter the forest, is he making it up? He doesn’t seem to be fearful of his situation, maybe more bemused and quizzical. This placidness renders him something of a blank canvass for the reader but whether that is good or bad is up for debate.

Take this segment where he believes that his parents are in the forest with him:

She says: you don’t know the way—and he says no and she says she was sure he knew where the way was, he always knew the way, she couldn’t remember a single time when he hadn’t known the way, she was sure he knew the way, she would never have imagined anything else, she says and she’s stopped, and she’s let go of my father’s arm and now she’s looking up at him, and she says, and her voice sounds scared: you don’t know the way, you can’t find the way back home—and my father shakes his head. She says: so why did we walk so far into the forest—and my father doesn’t answer, he just stands there stiffly. She says: answer me. He says: but we came here together. She says: no, it was you who dragged me into the forest. He says: but you wanted to find him.

There are a few interpretations here: the narrator’s fear that his parents have no interest in him manifests, he’s befuddled (which comes through in the imaginary dialogue) or there’s my belief that it doesn’t give the reader enough to work with. Coupled with the narrator being less of a defined personality and more of a Rorschach test and it all feels like a lot of (admittedly excellent) style and little substance which is reinforced by this quote:

…this sudden urge to drive off somewhere had brought me to a forest. And there was another way of talking, according to which something, something or another, led, whatever that might mean, to something else, yes, something else.

Unsurprisingly, many reviewers have picked up on the Christian angle that permeates throughout the text. Certainly, the title and premise seem to reference the phrase “Jai guru deva om” which, roughly translated, means “glory to the shining remover of darkness.” But, although I certainly recognise this interpretation, I maintain that Fosse writes in such an oblique, ambivalent manner that these issues are never developed not debunked.

Enjoyable, and evocative in places, but very much a literary game.

Jon Fosse (tr. Damion Searls), 2024, A Shining. Fitzcarraldo Editions. ISBN-13: 978-1804271032

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

A Shining

Christopher Owens ðŸ”– treads with the Teds.

You weren't here when the Teddy Boys arrived on the scene in the Fifties…London doesn't remember them with any fondness...Those crepe-soled shoes they wear, they had razor blades sunk in the toes. No, London doesn't remember the Teds with any fondness.

This quote, attributed to a friend of Jerry Hopkins (author of the infamous No One Here Gets Out Alive) is a succinct distillation of how people now view the first wave of Teddy Boys: volent, racist malcontents wearing long out of date clothing whose love of the fledging rock n roll movement laid the foundation for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (i.e. better things).

Like all narratives that seem too simplistic, there’s much more to the story than that. And Max Décharné (former drummer for the highly underrated Gallon Drunk) is determined to set the record straight.

Growing up in post-war Britain (particularly the East End of London), the birth of the teenager as a marketing concept coincided with the growing concern about their morality due to teen violence. As a result, the term “cosh boy” (which first appeared in print in 1950) quickly became associated with juvenile delinquency. However, in a foreshadowing of the moral panic about Teds, a cosh could be anything from a knotted hankie containing loose change to genuine coshes. Coupled with the simple fact that youths felt it necessary to carry something to protect themselves (even in 1950) and we start to see the formation of a folk villain.

By the early 50’s, there had been a revival in Edwardian fashion (because the fashion industry loves nothing more than recycling old crap and presenting it as modern) and working-class kids were spending a fair bit on Edwardian suits. Add in the DA’s (duck’s arses) for haircuts and the Teddy Boys were born. Quickly replacing the cosh boy, Teds were loud, crude and violent. Throw in the arrival of rock n roll (particularly ‘Rock Around the Clock’ by Bill Hailey and the Comets) and we have the birth of the real 1950’s (once described by Lux Interior as the height of culture in the Western world).

All of this makes for an enthralling and fascinating read. Going through contemporary news, Décharné clearly had a blast writing this book and his enthusiasm rubs off on the reader. What is a genuine surprise is the revelation that the Ted look actually predates the arrival of rock n roll in Britain by a year or so. Beforehand, cultural commentators of the day seemed to be unsure of what the youth were actually listening to.

Unsurprisingly, there are very few first-hand accounts of Ted life. Apparently, some were approached for comment but, owing to their age, chose not to discuss anything with Décharné as it was a long time ago and any teenage misbehaviour they’d prefer to keep to themselves. This is a genuine shame as it would be fascinating to read such recollections from people in their 80’s/90’s about being involved in such a subculture.

Where things turn sinister is the chapter about the Notting Hill riot in 1958. One reviewer has criticised Décharné by arguing that he downplays the extent of the involvement of certain Teds in the riot, passing most of the blame onto Oswald Mosley and his supporters. While I would strongly disagree that the author does this, I can see how a casual reader would come to such a conclusion as the chapter ends rather abruptly (as if there is nothing else to discuss).

On top of the points made by Décharné in the book, it’s important to remember that such a youth subculture would have thousands of members. By sheer weight of numbers, there will be scumbags in there who are simply following the latest fashion trend. Therefore, it’s a sad reality that there were Teds involved in the riot, but they did not dominate the anti-immigrant segment (indeed, one revelation is that in a 2003 BBC documentary about the riots, footage of Teds from the 70’s was decolourised and placed without comment in the narrative to illustrate their involvement).

As time wore on, the Teddy Boy look subsided, and the Beatles (all former Teds) took over the world. The rock n roll revival in the late 60’s/early 70’s would see a new generation of Teds emerge before they slowly metamorphosed into psychobilly and punk rock (Malcolm and Viviene ran a shop called Let it Rock before Sex plus look at this photo of John Lydon). Nowadays, the dominant image of a rock n roller is that of a quiffed up greaser in a leather jacket and Teds (even second-generation ones) have put away the brothel creepers in favour of listening to country music and going to see cover acts walking their way through once incendiary songs.

But listen to those early recordings from Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry. Despite them being nearly a century old, they still sound fresh, vibrant and raw. It’s no wonder that a generation of British youth, having come of age post WWII and seen the devastation of the Holocaust and Hiroshima, latched onto it for dear life.

Altogether now:

I'm gonna raise a fuss, I'm gonna raise a holler/About a-workin' all summer just to try to earn a dollar/Every time I call my baby, try to get a date/My boss says, "no dice son, you gotta work late.

Max Décharné, 2024, Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution. Profile Books. ISBN-13: 978-1846689789

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Teddy Boys

Christopher Owens ðŸ”– “Was it not corrupt to bury mother of 10 Jean Mc Conville. Is that acceptable to you. Selective outrage I thinks.”



Now who do you think wrote this? Some do-gooder who likes to think they’re a Good Person? An apologist for the British Army? A Twitter account that commemorates the deaths of loyalist paramilitaries without disclosing said fact?

Well, it was none other than Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews.

In 2012, using a sock puppet account, he proceeded to tweet out various criticism/insults aimed at various colleagues in his then party, Fianna Fail. Unsurprisingly, he was sacked when it emerged that he was behind the account. Embarrassingly for him, he had also attacked Sinn Fein about the Northern Bank robbery and the disappearance of Jean McConville. Tellingly, he was allowed to join the party (and is currently suing The Irish Times over an article about Hamas).

While it would be easy to dismiss this as playground politics, it is notable just how little Andrews seemed to know about the history of Fianna Fail, particularly how certain TD’s had ‘disappeared’ people themselves during the War of Independence. Indeed, the “good old IRA” disappeared more people in three years than the Provos did in thirty. When considered with the south’s whitewashing of its recent history (and barmy plans to commemorate their oppressors), it’s perhaps not surprising that this fact is not universally acknowledged.

One person who has been doing their bit over the last two decades to not only separate truth from revision but also to help identify remains of the disappeared has been Padraig Og Ó Ruairc. Author of Truce: Murder, Myth and the Last Days of the Irish War of Independence his work has been praised by the likes of Ed Moloney as representing “…a refreshing, overdue and honest break with that mendacious past [of Irish revisionism]. It is to be welcomed with open arms” and his work has led to the recovery of one of the disappeared, Private George Duff Chalmers, who was killed and secretly buried in Co. Claire in June 1921.

Beginning by discussing the 1798 rebellion and the fact that many informers, loyalists and British soldiers were secretly buried after being killed before going through the various groups that the disappeared belonged to (loyalists, British soldiers, spies, RIC, identifiers etc), their name and their stories.

Going through the litany of deaths and secret burials, one can’t help but think of the Billy Batts sequence in Goodfellas transported into an Irish context, but this must be balanced out with some pathetic details about the killings (one was an alcoholic whose weakness was exploited by the British, while another wrote a letter to his commander before being executed).

Of course, it’s worth noting that the British also participated in such tactics, although admittedly not in the same volume. Ó Ruairc cites the North King Street massacre as one example, describing it as:

…the largest massacre of civilians by the British Army. In scale it outstripped the slaughter…in Croke Park in 1920…the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 and…Bloody Sunday in 1972. Yet the British government has never acknowledged the full role of British soldiers in perpetuating the…massacre and the Irish government has never commemorated the innocent civilians killed.

Interestingly, when it comes to the notion of such tactics being war crimes, Ó Ruairc doesn’t have much to say on the subject, more interested in tackling the hypocrisy of successive southern governments and arguing that the remains should be given back to the descendants for reburial but that “The Irish state is somewhat in denial over the level of violence used in the war of independence. They don’t want to go digging up the bodies” and that the British aren’t interested either as it would raise awkward questions.

Overall, I am quite content to declare this an important book about the Irish struggle for independence and one that:

⚰  emphasises that (as Toxic Holocaust once sang) war is fucking hell

⚰  helps fill gaps in our knowledge about certain periods of Irish history

⚰  allows for a better understanding of why they occurred

⚰  makes us realise that such actions were not an aberration within Irish republicanism

⚰  demolishes the “good old IRA playing fairly” myth.

If there is to be reconciliation, we need to be honest about the past. Pádraig Ó Ruairc has started the ball rolling. Let’s hope others come along. And let’s hope that the collection of brain-dead career politicians in the Dail do something about their own skeletons in the closet instead of sneering at the Nordies for having done the same thing.

Pádraig Og Ó Ruairc, 2024, The Disappeared: Forced Disappearances in Ireland 1798-1998. Merrion Press. ISBN-13: 978-1785375026

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

The Disappeared: Forced Disappearances In Ireland 1798-1998

Christopher Owens ðŸŽµ with the 37th in his Predominance series.

“No I won't wait for no one when you're coming round for me/And I can't take the bruising when you say you're over me/Oh stupid, stupid little things/Oh stupid, stupid little things.” - Inheaven

Horns up 


New Horizons 

Pissed Jeans – Half Divorced

Having lost interest in them after 2013’s disappointing ‘Honeys’, I have seen the light again and can declare ‘Half Divorced’ a fierce, driving record that is as formidable as anything Pissed Jeans have recorded in the past. ‘Anti-Sapio’ is a particular highlight with its hardcore speed and solo that is 100% effects driven, while ‘Sixty Two Thousand…’ has serious Black Flag vibes.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Sons of Alpha Centauri – Pull

More known as a versatile instrumental act that plays anything from stoner rock to post metal, this (their second release with Far/onelinedrawing frontman Jonah Matranga) is a continuation of 2021’s ‘Push’. Epic, sweeping guitar lines invoking pain and nostalgia sit nicely alongside moments of chugging intensity and Matranga’s yearning and impassioned vocals.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Crawl Space – My God What Have I Done

Described as “…short sharp blasts of ultra-frenetic, intense and to-the-point American hardcore punk in the vein of Negative FX, Agnostic Front, The Abused and Deathwish”, this mini-LP is brutal, primitive and utterly uncompromising. Sounding like it was recorded in a basement with four cavemen let loose on instruments. Astonishing stuff.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Nnja Riot – Violet Fields

The press release sells the record as “…raw energy of noise…melodic layers and pulsating beats to create shamanic experimental songscapes” but this undersells the music. There is a genuine dissonance going on at times (such as in ‘Horror Heart’) and a kind of pastoral ambience, soundtracking the contradictions of living privately in a metropolis like London.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Poundland – Mugged

Predominance regulars Poundland are back with another record that documents the general collapse of living standards through some dirty and abrasive noise rock. ‘Spawn of Thatcher’ has serious Flipper vibes due to the rolling bass and off-kilter saxophone, while ‘Broken in Two’ is filthy doom as played by noise punks. They need to play Ireland as soon as possible.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.


Golden Oldies


Brain Tentacles – S/T Members of Discordance Axis, Keelhaul and Corrections House get together to record an album in the vein of the great Naked City records as well as Melt Banana. Opener ‘Kingda Ka’ really epitomises the spirit of the band’s influences, with blast beats, scuzzy bass and carnival like saxophone. ‘Fata Morgana’ goes for a more atmospheric, post punk sound. I love how the understated sax compliments the brooding bass lines, creating a mood of despondency.

 

Okus – Scourge Drogheda based crust/sludge with members from legendary Irish bands like Pink Turds in Space, Fuckhammer and Raum Kingdom. As to be expected, the power coming off the music is devastating. From the moment ‘Famine Feeder’ opens, the listener is plunged into a black, overwhelming nightmare that (musically) sits between Sacrilege and later Napalm Death. ‘Burning Crosses’ is a particular highlight due to the drums and black metal guitar riffing.

   

Arms Race – New Wave of British Hardcore Clocking in just under twenty minutes long, this is a savage UKHC album. By combining the shambolic crust of Chaos UK, the speed of USHC and the vocals of Nic Bullen, it sounds like it could be the missing link between Siege and Napalm Death. ‘Terror State’ speeds along in proper fashion, before slowing down towards the end for a more tribal feel. This prepares the listener nicely for ‘Slander and Abuse’, which has a rather haphazard feel to the drumming (‘the hardcore beat’ as Mick Harris describes it), before speeding up again.

   

Protestor – Hide From Reality. Featuring members of the excellent Red Death, Protester play straight up DC hardcore. Opening with a lone bass riff before building into a tribal, foreboding riff, ‘Dead Inside’ attacks those who “wasted…fucking time and…don’t know why.” ‘Won’t Back Down’ taps into the power that bands like Negative Approach and SS Decontrol harnessed when they sped up. I love the simple chugging during the verses, which complements the main riff perfectly.

 

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Predominance 37

Christopher Owens  🔖“It was safer here during the Troubles.”


On the face of it, it’s an absurd statement. But when you dig a bit deeper, the statement becomes one of longing for a time of tight-knit communities, no heroin epidemic (except for Dublin) and no social media. But is that really true.

The author’s bio on the Cork University Press website tells us that Mulcahy:

…is an associate professor of sociology at University College Dublin where he teaches courses on different aspects of crime and criminal justice. He has conducted research in the USA, England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. His main research interests revolve around issues of policing and police legitimacy; political violence and conflict resolution; and crime, community and marginalisation.

So he’s clearly someone who can look at this topic while having an understanding of the complex minutia that lies at the heart of the matter.

And while it is a worthy addition to the bulging shelf of conflict related material, it’s not much fun to read.

Looking at the first few decades of the North, Mulcahy correctly identifies that ordinary crime was fairly minimal compared to similar sized areas in the UK, largely due to the religious and socially conservative background that both nationalists and unionists came from. But what made the state abnormal was the amount of police officers and reservists (the B Specials) per citizen and the obvious way in which the Stormont government allowed the police to become subordinate to them in order to suppress dissent, particularly through the use of the Special Powers Act, leading to various periods of internment and laws in place where refusing to answer incriminating questions and the compulsory carrying of identity cards.

It was little wonder that John Vorster, the South African Minister for Justice in the apartheid regime, once said that he “…would be willing to exchange all the legislation of that sort for one clause of the Northern Ireland Special Powers Act.” As Adrian Guelke writes, Vorster probably had this particular clause in mind:

If any person does any act of such a nature as to be calculated to be prejudicial to the preservation of the peace or the maintenance of order and not specifically provided for in the regulations, he shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence against the regulations.

Do bear in mind John O’Neill’s quote that:

Where violence clearly emanated from a unionist source…unionist politicians, press and RUC typically downplayed attacks and there were no mass raids or arrests (often the telling signature that the RUC believed unionists were involved - IRA attacks were inevitably followed by intense raids and multiple arrests). All this signalled to the Catholic community that those who carried out the attacks were beyond the reach of the law…

With all of this in mind, is it any wonder that this emphasis on one community generated fierce resentment over decades, exploding in violence during the civil rights marches?

During the conflict itself, ordinary crime still remained low compared to the rest of the UK but issues around policing became even more problematic (quelle surprise, I hear you say). One such example was the RUC’s seeming inability to arrive in time to stop a crime taking place (such as joyriding or a robbery), a relatively simple task that would have demonstrated to nationalists that the police were genuine about wanting to serve both communities. Although Mulcahy correctly points out that the RUC were often weary of such calls due to the possibility of them being attempts to lure officers into IRA traps (and even quotes one source confirming this), the vast distrust on both sides meant that nationalists often felt it more appropriate to approach the paramilitaries in order to ensure that justice was dispensed. Also, there was always the possibility that said criminals were in the pay of the police to keep an eye on republicans (hence why they were bequeathed the nickname “£10 touts”).

With such serious breakdowns of trust and communication, how could the RUC ever expect to win the confidence of uninvolved nationalists?

While there is no doubt that the main topic and the offshoots make for interesting discussion, I must confess that I did not find the book to be a particularly exciting read. While I was aware that charts and statistics would make up the bulk of the findings (due to the very nature of what is being discussed), I had hoped for more stories and observations to balance things out.

Due to the broad time line and overview, it wouldn’t be fair to expect Mulcahy to focus on specific areas of crime the way Heather Hamill did with her 2011 book The Hoods: Crime and Punishment in West Belfast. However, the moments where little anecdotes are used are certainly memorable and help put a very human perspective to faceless statistics.

Overall, not one I would recommend to a casual reader. But it acts as a neat compendium of statistics for students of the recent conflict.

Aogan Mulcahy, 2023, Crime and Conflict in Northern Ireland, 1921-2022. Cork University Press. ISBN-13: 978-1782055730

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Crime And Conflict In Northern Ireland, 1921-2022

Sweat Drenched Presss ðŸ”–is on the cusp of publishing a new book by Christopher Owens.



 

BOOK LAUNCH


Coming Soon @ Christopher Owens



After the success of his debut collection A Vortex of Securocrats, Belfast based author/poet Christopher Owens will be releasing his debut novella on Saturday 24th February via the Brighton based experimental publishing company Sweat Drenched Press.


Entitled “dethrone god”, it is an amusing, poignant and thought-provoking tale where the reader follows the unnamed narrator as he tries to get home from Belfast city centre from a night out. Along the way he annoys horny teenagers, gets a milkshake thrown at him and reminisces about is life. Crucially, he is also hiding a very dark secret.


Will he tell us what it is?


As much a character study as it is a love letter to the modern Belfast, “dethrone god” delivers on the promise evident in A Vortex of Securocrats and sets a high bar for Northern Ireland fiction in 2024 as well as an amazing cover from Belfast based artist Duncan Ross.

2


"An excellent book that gradually reveals its purpose. It made me want to read it again, which I was more than happy to do."


Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Kleistwahr)


"An intellectual, street corner treatise on Belfast and surviving its mean streets. Beautifully written, intelligent without losing any of its grit. Highly recommended."


Tony Nesca (author of About A Girl)


"Trainspotting through the lens of Bukowski."


Alexander Kattke (author of On the Compassion of Spiders)


“Belfast Noir par fheabhas.”


Brandon Sullivan, reviewing for The Pensive Quill 


⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Coming Soon @ Christopher Owens

Brandon Sullivan ðŸ”–I was delighted to have the opportunity to review Christopher Owens’ new novella, Dethrone God.


Like his previous work, A Vortex of Securocrats, Owens has invited us into a Belfast that feels familiar to those of us who have lived there. But we are invited to be tourists, through the lens of our narrator.

I found reading this similar to a night out; encountering some morons that wish to harm you, and, perhaps, being revisited by demons when you least expect it. The protagonist takes us across the city centre, with street names, branded shops and eateries. 

The superb writing and imagery in Dethrone God makes the following reflections on a city, which is also a dominant character in this story:

Despite its many faults, and even in this weather, I worship this city. There are many cities that have more in the way of culture and subcultures. Many that offer more exuberant sights. Many with an even richer history. But none match this city for the hold it has on me. Life is an intangible puzzle of beauty, and the main one for me is just how much this city means to me.

He “worships the city” even as some of its inhabitants make his life difficult. But, perhaps more troubling than the all-too-familiar “spides” in the town is an inner-monologue hinting, and then screaming, about a dark past. Muct like Belfast, and even more like the centre of Belfast, the past makes itself known. Not for the first time reading Owen’s writing, a tangible sense of the familiar arrives with the intimidatory knowledge of what happened and to whom in the streets where people now shop and make merry.

Our narrator expands with erudite flair about the fate of many European cities and about the anxiety he has about it happening closer to home. Brilliantly observational, he wonders:

… if the 'monoculture' that's infecting cities around the world will take the character out of my beloved Belfast, reducing it to nothing more than an extension of the many shopping centres that pollute the sky.

An example of this that hit home to me was the fate of St Comgall’s School, just off the Falls, pockmarked with bullet holes that announced the dawn of the Troubles, and soon to be nothing more than a memory. As Owens eloquently put it: “The sands of time are not kind to footprints.”

The narrator and the city share dark secrets. They are observant of modernity, and some might say progressing. But they are weighed down upon the past.

I found this an exhilarating read. The prose is beautiful, and for me it was like having a conversation at times. But the author doesn’t let you get too close to the narrator, despite all you have in common. The jarring nature of memories and confession remain in the background.

Again like Vortex of Securocrats, troublesome flashes of memory dance across the pages, like a BBC News 24 compilation with the sound off. Never explicit, just hinting. The murder of young Jamie Bulger, the fate of the Titanic, the screams of the aftermath of the Ormeau Road bookies massacre. Victims, perpetrators, the jailed and the jailers. A haunting vista that elicits a kind of nostalgic horror, the opposite of 1990s retro Channel 4 documentaries with bought memories from Stuart Maconie. It’s something altogether more alluring, and much more sinister.

This is a fine book. 70 pages, so doesn’t take long to read. But it demands re-visits. And stays in the mind. Anyone with an interest in noir writing, Belfast, the Troubles, or the nature of guilt and trauma should read this.

It left me feeling a sense of loss for what was, and nervousness about the future. This is, perhaps, at odds with logic.

I eagerly away his next work. Belfast Noir par fheabhas.

Christopher, Owens, 2024, Dethrone God. Sweat Drenched Press. ASIN: ‎B0CT96J9JK

⏩Brandon Sullivan is a middle-aged West Belfast émigré. He juggles fatherhood & marriage with working in a policy environment and writing for TPQ about the conflict, films, books, and politics.

Dethrone God

Christopher Owens  🔖 on How a Generation of Brits Reinvented Pop Culture.

The influence of the comic book has never been greater, from movies to streaming and beyond, but the journey comics took from disposable kids' magazines to literary prize-winning books and global franchises turned on a highly unusual group of writers and artists. Few would have expected a small gathering of British comic book fans and creators in the early '70s to spark a cultural revolution, but this was the start of a disparate movement of punks, dropouts and disaffected youths who reinvented a medium and became the imaginative heart of a global success story.

So says the burb for this book, and often there is a fair bit of embellishment in there to make the story seem more fairy tale like to the average punter on the streets. But in this case, it’s absolutely true that an assortment of English writers and artists who had grown up reading Leo Baxendale strips in The Beano (Minnie the Minx, Bash Street Kids), Dan Dare reprints in Eagle as well as whatever Marvel or DC titles could be found thanks to the American GI’s stationed in Britain during WWII passing them on, would help to elevate the comic book into the prestigious format it is today.

Starting off by discussing legendary artists like Dave Gibbons, Kevin O’Neill and Ian Gibson graduating from the 1960’s fledging fandom circles that so bemused comic book publishers at the time to working on long forgotten titles like Lion, Jet, Valiant and Jackie. Eventually, the writing team of Pat Mills and John Wagner help put together Battle and Action. While the former remained a solid sales earner, Action became notorious for its violence, which led to one issue being withdrawn,

As noted elsewhere:

The fateful issue, published 18th September, was Action’s thirty-second…Perhaps it had grown too confident, but it was also the victim of circumstances. Early in the month, football violence had once more hit the headlines when Millwall fan Ian Pratt died at New Cross station following a scuffle with West Ham supporters that led to him falling under a train pulling into the station. That week’s cover sported an illustration by Carlos Ezquerra, later a stalwart of Judge Dredd in 2000 AD, and featured an angry mob in the foreground, flames behind them engulfing tower blocks. In the foreground a punky looking youth swirls a metal chain, bearing down on a middle-aged man, prone on the floor. While nearby a policeman’s helmet lies on the floor. The implication that the fallen figure is a bobby is obvious.

Arguably, the British comics industry had never seen anything like it. While war stories were staples off British publications, the Tommies would always beat Harry Hun and the worst that Dennis the Menace got was a slippering from his dad. This leads to a chain of events which result in the creation of 2000AD, becoming Ground Zero for British comics and creators.

Moving onto the halcyon days of the 1980’s and how the independent scene flourished through the likes of Viz, Warrior and Deadline as well as how so many writers and artists were picked up by American publishers, Stock captures the sense of endless possibilities as well as how the medium and the market grew due to classics like V For Vendetta, Watchmen and Tank Girl.

But Stock is able use this book as a a cautionary tale of how an industry can destroy itself through neglect. One example given is The Dandy. At its peak, the comic had a circulation of 2 million worldwide and yet, by the time the print copy was discontinued in 2012, it was shifting 8000 copies. By contrast, it’s rival (The Beano) could still move 38,000. Obviously, children’s extra-curricular activities have changed substantially over the decades and print media has been in decline for quite a while. But note the difference in circulation figures?

Another example is hopping on the cultural zeitgeist for credibility. By the early 90’s, there was a general feeling that some creators were running on an empty tank, once pioneering titles had subsided into wilful obscurity and the hope was that films would help to replenish the ranks. However, film adaptations of Judge Dredd and Tank Girl merely add to the downward spiral by removing the subversive elements of both and pitching them as straight films, thus alienating the fans and drawing no response from the average cinemagoer.

Although a little drawn out in places, and a little too in thrall to Grant Morrison (the definition of a chancer) for my liking, this book celebrates a moment in time that cannot be recreated at all but the reverberations continue in 2024.

Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!

Karl Stock, 2023, Comic Book Punks: How a Generation of Brits Reinvented Pop Culture. Rebellion Books ISBN-13: 978-1786186942

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Comic Book Punks

Christopher Owens  🔖 on the Simplicity of  Musical Minds!


. . . the catalyst is important because, sadly, think about how many people do have an idea. Many English schoolteachers have still got their novel under their desk. They never sent it away. How many people come up with a film outline but never really commit? That’s what we loved about the punk thing: it made us commit.

So said Jim Kerr, Toryglen kid who went on to conquer America with his friend Charlie Burchill thanks to their band, Simple Minds. A name that, up until fairly recently, invoked derision among music critics and fans due to their stadium years (1985 – 1992), exemplified by this joke from Mark Lamarr:

The album ‘Street Fighting Years’ was dedicated to a Chilean poet. The connection being that Chile and Simple Minds are both notorious for atrocities committed in stadiums.

However, the post punk revival in the early 21st century has helped to shine a light on their early catalogue, leading the band to revisit them in the live arena. Nowadays, albums like Empires and Dance and Reel to Reel Cacophony are (rightly) regarded as pivotal records. Songs like I Travel, Theme for Great Cities and Premonition exude a mixture of curious experimentation and a wide eyed outlook. Astonishing material.

And now long-time fan/journalist Graeme Thompson has put together this tome which not only tells the story of the band in those years but offers up his interpretations of what makes those records so brilliant.

Emphasising both Kerr and Burchill as working-class didactics, Thompson depicts 70’s Glasgow as a place of endless possibilities due to its longstanding trade links with various countries, a rich civic society and a radical political history, but also a place where many thought its best days were long gone. Thus, this combination of gritty realism, a long legacy of creativity and the notion that the rest of the world was a boat ride away fuelled Kerr and Burchill

Thompson also gives props to Derek Forbes, Brian McGee and Mick MacNeill for being key contributors to the band’s imperial phase but also looks at the various circumstances that would see them departing as the 80’s progressed due to exhaustion, ego and reduced musical involvement. Forbes and MacNeill are forthcoming about these issues and offer a glimpse into how being (unintentionally) ebbed out of the songwriting process (especially when you have contributed so much over the years). This is an oft remarked, but not widely understood, problem that bands have to negotiate as time (and ideas) move in favour of the leaders. Add in commercial expectations and new band members who you don’t share the same musical camaraderie with, and it can be an explosive situation.

Where Thompson really comes into his own is discussing the merits and songs of each album. His assessment of Empires and Dance as an album that doesn’t yield to specifics because Kerr …is intrigued by the pleasures and pretensions of abstraction…rarely to the point of wilful incoherence…He is a man living his life and at the same time playing a part. He is at the centre of his own movie. Someone might be watching; best keep up appearances brilliantly sums up the schizophrenic nature of the record where disco, glam rock, jazz and electronica are melded together to create something not quite European but certainly not something parochial.

Mark Lamarr be damned. Simple Minds were amazing and let this book remind you of that,

Graeme Thompson, 2023, Themes for Great Cities: A New History of Simple Minds. Constable Books ISBN-13: 978-1472134011

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist.

Themes for Great Cities: A New History of Simple Minds

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