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Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Gearóid Ó Loingsigh ☭ writing in Socialist Democracy 

Beyoncé, Cowboy Carter (2024)

Beyoncé was back in the news once again for a spot of cultural appropriation. It was not her first brush with cultural Neanderthals, she has been here before for apparently “stealing” Egyptian culture by dressing as Nefertiti. Added into the mix was a lesser-known black artist, Kaitlyn Sardin, who excels at Irish dancing and dared produce some fusion dance routines.

I have dealt with Beyoncé and Rihanna wading into the murky cesspit of the cultural appropriation debate in the past when they were accused of appropriating Egyptian culture(1) and won’t deal with it here. This time though, the debate is clearly about music, produced by people who are still around and not the attire of long dead Egyptians with little connection to the modern country. The fact that white country music fans are still around to complain, doesn’t make the debate any less sterile or ridiculous.

Beyoncé’s faux pas was apparently to record a country & western album titled Cowboy Carter. Apparently, some were of the view that a black artist shouldn’t record a “white” song or perform in a “white” musical genre. Her first release from the album was a song she composed, Texas Hold ‘Em.(2) And the hounds of hell were let loose to howl and drown out the music. Some radio stations refused to play the song, though that didn’t stop it going to No.1 in the country music charts and the debate, though debate might be too fine a word to put on it, erupted. She is not white, she is not part of the country music scene and she should stay in her lane, is a crude but accurate summary of most of those criticising her. 

She is actually from Houston, Texas, not that it matters. One person interviewed by The Guardian responded that “It doesn’t matter that you came from Texas. It matters if you’re actually living a country lifestyle. It bothers me that her song is being called country.”(3) These words might be familiar to some. They are normally advanced by identitarians when talking about whites playing genres considered “black” and in some cases other non-whites have levelled this accusation against a whole array of non-white artists including Beyoncé. It is reactionary rubbish with the racism, in this case, hiding just under the surface, behind a veil of cultural purity. One even went as far as to say that he would bet that Beyoncé had never been in the country saloon he was being interviewed in. Well, many black women would steer clear of such venues, for more than obvious reasons.

Cultures are not pure, ever. None. Not now, not ever, not even going back to the stone age. I am very sure, no stone age hunter armed with a flintstone hatchet ever shouted “You’re appropriating my culture” when he realised some other village had come up with the same invention, or even just “stole” the idea.

Country music is not pure either and to the shock and horror of many a man yearning for the days he ran around in his white bedsheets, it isn’t even that white. Blacks have made significant contributions to country music, not least the musical instrument known as the Banjo. What would country be without the banjo? Rhiannon Giddens, the black musician has dedicated her time to reviving the banjo as a black instrument and recording some excellent music, though unsurprisingly she doesn’t quite stick to genres either.(4) Her site describes her thus:

Singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and impresario, Rhiannon draws from many musical traditions including blues, jazz, folk, hiphop, African, Celtic, classical, and jug band. She bridges contemporary and traditional forms, and few musicians have done more to revitalize old-time influences in current music.(5)
Rhiannon Giddens

She composes her own songs, covers others, even ones such as Wayfaring Stranger, recorded by many white country artists, though actually written and composed by two Germans in the 1660s. As far removed from her as from the whites who might like to claim the song as their own (Links below to Gidden’s version,(6) Johnny Cash’s(7) the Mormon Tabernacle Choir(8) and even Ed Sheeran’s(9) very uncountry version. I have included links to all songs and routines mentioned in this article). The song belongs to whoever wants to sing it, however they wish to, though I personally think Sheeran murders the song with a flintstone hatchet, but each to their own.

So, Beyoncé is quite entitled to record in whatever style she wants. Part of what rankles some is that she went straight to No.1 and will make a fortune from the album and this is part of the stay in your lane slogan applied to blacks and whites. Elvis made a fortune singing what was essentially considered, at least initially, to be a black musical form and other white artists who have done this have been criticised by a black bourgeoisie who want that slice of the cake for themselves. Some of the whites criticising Beyoncé are undoubtedly racist, some might just be musical purists, though music is one art form that just doesn’t lend itself to purity. Others, like identitarians everywhere, think that the money is theirs. Flip sides of the same coin.

Beyoncé is not the only black artist to venture into the world of country,(10) Charley Pride and Ray Charles did so back in the 1960s at times of heightened tensions in the midst of the racial violence meted out against those demanding civil rights for blacks. When Charley Pride released his first country album, his image was not put on the record sleeve and they initially hid the fact he was black as part of their marketing strategy. He would eventually make it to the Grand Ole Opry in 1967. He had a total of 52 top ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.(11) No mean feat and not a once off foray into country music either, he was a country artist. Linda Martell fared worse as she never hid that she was black and though she would also perform at the Grand Ole Opry in 1970, her album Color Me Country(12) never had the same success. Ray Charles also dipped his fingers into the pond producing Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music(13) in 1962. It was a best seller, topping the charts. 

So, Beyoncé is by no means the only or even the first black artist to find success in the genre. Black artists have always ventured into genres that were not considered to be black. Others have gone the other way and identitarians tend to criticise white artists doing “black” music, though when Gene Autry, the white country and western singer, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy recorded a blues album, nobody accused him of cultural appropriation. Though even non-whites get accused by the black bourgeoisie closely aligned to the US Democratic Party of cultural appropriation, Jews, Asians, even Africans get in the neck. Samuel Jackson infamously accused black British actors of stealing their jobs because they were cheaper and questioned the cultural bonafides of British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo when he was cast as Martin Luther King in the film Selma.(14) He never criticised the decision to cast the black Yank, Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in the film Invictus or Matt Damon as the white South African rugby captain in the same film. Given the backlash against his comments he decided to keep his mouth shut when the British-Ugandan actor Daniel Kaluuya was chosen to play the black revolutionary leader of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton. No one is safe from the accusation. It is a bit like the MacCarthy trials. “Are you now or have you ever been a homosexual? No, but I slept with a man who was. Have you ever appropriated a culture? No, but I hummed a tune by a man who had.”

Which brings us now to Kaitlyn Sardin, the US black Irish dancer. She has recently gone viral, though not for the first time, with her dance routines and not being as powerful as Beyoncé has come in for some vile racist abuse.(15) She produced a new video which is what is now termed fusion i.e. Irish dance with some developments. This is now quite common and there is a host of Irish groups producing fusion. My favourite is a routine called Freedom with the voice of Charles Chaplin and images from Belfast in the early seventies.(16) Though the first person to do this was Michael Flatley with River Dance which not only broke many of the “rules” of Irish dancing, it even went as far as to incorporate the Lambeg War Drums in a much more positive sense than the annual announcement of Protestant supremacy for which they are used every July 12th. Of course, Flatley, unlike Sardin is white and of Irish descent.
Kaitlyn Sardin

As I said there are many fusion groups in Ireland, the one I previously mentioned and even one which is danced to classical music titled Fusion Fighters Perform Fusion Orchestra.(17) Again, all as white as the driven snow in Siberia. There is even an all-female Fusion Fighters group from the USA that does a tap dance routine to William Tell.(18) The particular group started off with Irish dance and moved into other styles over time, so much so that even their website acknowledges it has less to do with Irish dance than they used to.(19) It is what happens with culture. It evolves, all the time. Again, they are white and no one said fusion is not Irish dancing and no one said anything about not being Irish, even though their Irish connections may be as tenuous as Darby O’Gill.

The term fusion is one of those designed to assuage musical purists more than racists. In reality there is no such thing as fusion music. All music and dance are fusion till it becomes accepted as the standard, when new deviations or fusions arrive. Though dancing has existed in Ireland for centuries it has not been immune to outside influences such as French Quadrilles in the 1800s or other forms. The clues are in the names, hornpipes and polkas for example are two types of music that you will find in other parts of Europe and indeed in the case of polkas they clearly originated in Eastern Europe, though most forms including reels and jigs are not exclusively Irish either. All cultures borrow.

Most instruments used in Irish music are not Irish in origin. Some, like the flute have arisen in most cultures around the world and archaeological remains have thrown up examples everywhere of flutes and whistles made from everything, including animal bones. Fiddles arose over a long process around the world and it is a bit difficult to pinpoint them to one country. Uillean pipes are Irish, though they too were part of a wider process in Europe with different types of pipes arising. Though Scottish bag pipes are perhaps the most famous type of pipe, there are in fact lots of pipes throughout Europe and parts of Africa, Iran, Azerbaijan and even India. Other instruments such as the banjo are African in origin, though the modern banjo has developed over time since it was first brought to the western world by slaves. The piano accordion is a relatively recent European invention from the mid 1800s, a further development of the accordion, which was also a European instrument. If we rejected all outside influences and demanded purity, we would have little in the way of Irish music or dance, were we to have any at all.

So, Kaitlyn Sardin should be celebrated. She is from the US, is black and more importantly is very good at what she does: dancing. The fact that she is not Irish or she recently produced a fusion routine is neither here nor there. Any liberal who got lost on the internet and accidently read this article will probably have nodded most of the way down: until now. The ridiculous statements made about Beyoncé and Sardin are generally rejected by liberals. But when the cultural capitalists hiding behind identity politics make similar claims against white artists or indeed between other non-white artists this rubbish is taken seriously. Culture does not belong to anyone, you don’t have to be white, black, Asian or Latin to perform in a particular style. Culture is a gently flowing river you bathe in, swimming ashore where you please along its route or letting it sweep you out into the sea. It has always been thus and always will be, despite the attempts of cultural capitalists to appropriate culture for their own grubby money-making ends, or racists imagining some non-existent purity. It doesn’t mean that some of the commercial outings by Beyoncé and other artists do it well. They don’t. Beyoncé was criticised for her depiction of India as a white paradise and other artists such as Gwen Stefani, Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea have been accused of engaging in crass portrayals of the cultures they seek to borrow from(20) and in Ireland we know a thing or two about how crass Hollywood can be when it comes to depicting Irish music. But that is another matter, many artists in particular genres have come up with really crass portrayals of their own cultures. The point is whether culture is pure, has lanes and you stick to them due to an accident or birth.

The legendary US folk singer Pete Seeger would joke that plagiarism was the basis of all culture and he was a wonderful plagiarist who introduced musical forms from around the world to a US audience at a time when there was no internet and it was not an easy feat. He introduced the song Wimoweh to the world, which has gone through multiple adaptations,(21) some of them very good and others absolutely dire, such as that recorded by the English pop group Tight Fit in the 1980s.(22) The original song however was quite different in style and written and recorded by the South African musician Solomon Linda(23) who was swindled out of the royalties on the song. Had Seeger stayed in his lane, most of us would never have ever heard of Linda or the story behind his song.

Demands for cultural purity are inherently reactionary, as are demands to stay in your lane, be they levelled by whites, blacks or Asians. Culture is to be celebrated and expanded. The accusation of appropriation would only make sense if someone like Seeger had said he wrote Wimoweh, that would be straightforward dishonesty, something he could never be accused of in his multiple adaptations of songs from Ireland, Japan, China, Indonesia, Scotland, Chile, Nicaragua amongst other places.

Beyoncé’s foray into country is perfectly fine, though personally, I don’t like her music, including her country. But that is my personal taste and has nothing to do with appropriation or other rubbish from cultural capitalists. The Irish radio on Saturday’s used to broadcast an Irish music show from the musical company Walton’s. It always finished off saying “If you do feel like singing a song, do sing an Irish one.” The exhortation was for all, not some, the point was to celebrate and enjoy music. Lets leave the cultural capitalists, purists, identitarians and racists to the handful of songs they mistakenly believe to be pure.

Notes

(1) See Ó Loingsigh, G. (02/05/2020) Cultural Appropriation: A Reactionary Debate. 

(2) See Beyoncé’s version here.

(3) The Guardian (04/03/2024) I can guarantee Beyoncé has never stepped foot in here: Houston’s country saloons review Texas Hold ‘Em. Diana Gachman.

(4) See for example Another Wasted Life.

(14) The Guardian (08/03/2017) Samuel L Jackson criticises casting of black British actors in American films. Gwilym Mumford. 

(15) Irish Central (25/03/2024) Irish dancer’s fusion choreography goes viral, triggers racists. Kerry O’Shea 

(16) See. 

(17) See.

(18) See.

(19) See.

(20) Business Insider (14/01/2023) Gwen Stefani is only the latest glaring example of cultural appropriation in pop music. Callie Ahlgrim. 
(21) See.

(22) See.

(23) See.

⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist with extensive experience in Latin America.

Beyoncé, Irish Dancing And The Nonsense Of Cultural Appropriation

Christopher Owens 🎵 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 🎵 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

Gearóid Ó Loingsigh☭ writing in Socialist Democracy examines the relationship between music, religion And liberation Struggles


Chilean folk singer Victor Yara

Lots of people on the Left, from revolutionaries to liberal wokesters (who are in fact generally quite rightwing) frown on religion, for obvious reasons and certain musical forms that they associate with religions, for less obvious reasons. Religion, struggle and music have gone hand in hand, though, for quite some time. It is not that surprising. Many lefties would be surprised to find out where some of their favourite songs and tunes come from or what happened to them afterwards.

That religion and music should blend easily in periods of struggle is not that surprising. Old man Marx gave us more than a hint in his oft abused quote on religion and opium. He wasn’t condemning religion in that particular quote, he did quite a lot of that elsewhere, but was rather explaining what its social role had been. He described it thus.

Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.(1)

So, it should come as no surprise that some, not all religious or religiously inspired music, should deal with social issues or a yearning to be free from oppression. Nor should it surprise us that some of these songs have crept into the secular vernacular at times of heightened struggle, sometimes in conjunction with believers in religious superstition and on other occasions in direct opposition to them.

The US folk singer Utah Phillips once remarked that the Salvation Army used to break up public union meetings by marching their bands down the street playing religious tunes. According to him the Wobblies (the IWW, Industrial Workers of the World) used to borrow the tunes and put new lyrics to them because the tunes were pretty and people knew them and they wrote lyrics that made better sense and thus thwarted the Salvation Army’s attempts at union busting. However, one of the songs he sang from that period was Solidarity Forever. The tune is a religious tune, Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us(2) (I have included links to songs where available). 

It went on to become associated with a song celebrating the life of the abolitionist John Brown, in the song John Brown’s Body. Though a song about a political struggle against slavery, it was unsurprisingly full of religious imagery, and Brown himself was quite the fervent evangelical. His body moulders in the grave, but his soul apparently went marching on. Pete Seeger would revive this song.(3) 

And before the Wobblies ever did their own version it reached its maximum religious expression in The Battle Hymn of the Republic, a song written in a Union army camp during the American Civil War that cast that war in a religious almost apocalyptic light of the final fight between good and evil, with its lines of  “As he died to make men holy. Let us die to make men free.” For many outside the folk circuit, it is this version that is not only sung in the US as a patriotic song, but is sung in many churches around the world as a religious anthem. With the Wobblies it came full circuit and was rid of its religious imagery and was neatly a song of struggle calling for the destruction of the established order and not the individual religious transformation.

When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run.
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun.
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
But the union makes us strong.

It is not the only time religious songs have dealt with earthly suffering as part of what Marx referred to as an expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Other religious tunes would find their way into the secular world and even stay there, thanks to struggles and not religious superstition, though in some cases the lyrics changed. Pete Seeger was not only one for singing such songs with no changes, he also revived others and changed them to make more sense as Utah Phillips would put it.

Seeger’s revived a version of How can I keep from singing? a Christian hymn written in 1868 is one such example. It is very religious, but in Seeger’s version he makes some changes. The lines

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

Become a bit more secular with love replacing Christ as the dominant force in life, that saves, redeems and guides us.

Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

He also incorporated later verses added by Doris Plenn in the 1950s

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death-knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile,
Our thoughts to them go winging
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?(5)

Here of course, singing is also raising your voice, and making it heard on issues, very often involving political prisoners. This might be an obscure example, even for the generation that first heard it sung in the 1950s & 1960s during protests. However, there are other examples of secular movements borrowing religious songs whole hog, and turning them into anthems albeit with some changes such as substituting the word heaven with freedom and so forth. We shall not be moved, became a protest song in the 1960s, not only in the US, but also in Ireland and other parts. The Freedom Singers version sung at the March on Washington in 1963 managed to hang on to that religious feeling.(6) Other versions by Pete Seeger not so much.(7)

This song though is often sung in a religious context as I shall not be moved.(8) It did not require much to become a political song, just a political context and some minor changes. Its origins are disputed to some degree, though it is a spiritual song attributed to black slaves before emancipation.(9) It was popularised in 1930s labour struggles before it became popular again in the 1960s. It was even translated into Spanish and recorded by Adolfo Celdrán as an anti-francoist song.(10) His version is very upbeat and the lyrics are somewhat changed, though the chorus is a straightforward translation of the original.

Of course, the 1960s was a period of musical explosion with the folk song, jazz and blues revival and the mainstreaming of them all along with new musical forms such as soul and of course the mainstreaming of gospel. So, it should come as no surprise that old songs, some with a very religious flavour were revived, nor that gospel should give a voice to black communities fighting against Jim Crow in the South and discrimination throughout the US. One such song was Oh Freedom, which mixed religious salvation in the hereafter with freedom from slavery in the here and now.

Oh, freedom!
Oh, freedom!
Oh, freedom over me!
And before I’d be a slave
I’ll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free.

And of course, there is that most famous of protest songs from the 1950s and 1960s, We Shall Overcome. It has a longer and more convoluted history than some of the others. The tune itself comes partly from two religious songs, Prayer of the Sicilian Mariners and O Sanctissima,(11) taking the lyrics also from a gospel song I’ll Overcome Someday,(12) undergoing some changes in the black tobacco workers strike of 1945-46. Then Pete Seeger got his hands on it, changed some the lyrics again and made it into what it is now known as,(13) echoing what he claims his father used to say to him, that plagiarism was the basis of all culture.

Though some songs went in the opposite direction. One of the most popular country/gospel songs is I’ll Fly Away.(14) The lyrics are clearly escapist, they are a perfect summary of religion being the opium of the people that deadens the pain and makes it all that more tolerable. Despite what is being said about the influence of religious songs here in this article, religion is not a force for liberation, even though people have turned to it on occasions in times of struggle.

Some glad morning when this life is over
I’ll fly away
To a home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away

I’ll fly away, oh Glory
I’ll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I’ll fly away

Just a few more weary days and then
I’ll fly away
To a land where joy shall never end
I’ll fly away

It couldn’t be clearer. Death relieves all pain (technically true, as the corpse no longer feels) and there is some free from pain reward in the afterlife, one that is not available in the current actual real life. But this song was inspired by some lines from a secular song The Prisoner’s Song,(15) recorded by Vernon Dalhart in 1925(16) and later by various country artists such as Johnny Cash.(17) This crossover or inspiration was less common.

The US, a deeply religious society was not the only one to find such musical influences in songs of struggle. Ireland’s canon of songs of struggle and indeed ordinary folk and traditional songs is replete with references to gods, faith etc. Though it is not as common as you would think and I know of no examples of religious songs becoming secular songs of struggle, other than some of those borrowed from movements in the US where this transition had already taken place. I don’t have enough knowledge of other parts of the world, but it is safe to say some such crossovers took place. The ANC anthem N’Kosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was a religious song.(18) The title means God Bless Africa, though it was incorporated as the new national anthem with verses from the previous Apartheid anthem as part of the deal with white and transnational capital.

In Latin America, given the influence of Liberation Theology it is not surprising to find lots of religious references in songs of struggle, from Argentina up to Mexico with Cuba being a notable exception to this. Nicaraguan musicians such as the Mejía Godoy brothers were famous for it with songs such as Christ from Palacagüina.(19) In the song the child Jesus defiantly tells his mother that he doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a rheumatic carpenter, but rather wants to become a guerrilla fighter. Of course, when the guerrilla priest Camilo Torres joined Colombia’s ELN and was killed in combat, it lead Uruguayan singer/song writer Daniel Viglietti to write his song Cross of Light.(20) Camilo Torres had famously stated that it wasn’t important whether we believed the soul was mortal or not, as we all agreed that the human body was.

They say that following the bullet a voice was heard
It was God shouting: Revolution!

General, inspect the cassocks
A sacristan has a place in the guerrillas.

There were of course other responses that were more unforgiving of not only the reactionary role of the Catholic Church and religion in general but even questioning the idea of the Christian god. The Argentinian, Atahualpa Yupanqui in his song Little Questions for God, famously recorded by Chilean folk singer Victor Jara, murdered by Pinochet, puts it very bluntly.

There is an issue on earth
More important than God
And it is that nobody coughs up blood
For someone else to live better…

Does God look out for the poor?
Perhaps he does, perhaps not
But he surely dines
At the boss’s table.(21)

So, what is the purpose of this article? Other than an interesting historical perusal of the origins of certain popular songs. To say that our cultures are complex and are woven with a fabric made of many threads, some of them obscured in the haze of history by now. There are those on the left who moralise and see themselves as being above it all and holier than thou (pun intended). Pious priestly anarchists and woke types for the most part, who think they have cast off all vestiges of the past and institutions that they, correctly reject. But our society is a complex mix of the social forces that produced it, from the Methodist preachers involved in the first attempts to set up trade unions, such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs to liberation theologists in Latin America praying out of the barrel of a gun, having in many cases, the same negligible effect as praying to the mythical invisible man in the sky, but that is a matter for another day. Theology is theology at the end of the day.

The other part of Marx’s quote on religion that is often ignored by people who have either never read him or get their politics from Facebook memes is:

The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo…

When people engage in struggle, they embark on a path towards tearing down that halo, but it is not an overnight process, something the Anarchists could never get their head round in their discussions with Marx, who was not in favour of wasting too much time convincing people that there was no soul, but rather in fighting for their real material bodies. So, people in struggle adopted some of the songs to the new circumstances or continued, as they fought, to seek solace in the songs of their particular religious superstition. What should they replace them with?

Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower. The criticism of religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.Yes, there are lots of songs from cultures all around the world that have no religious references. But this is a process and does not happen overnight. Rejection of religious superstition generally flows from people engaging in struggle, it is not the impetus to struggle. Many famous atheists such as the late Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins or Stephen Fry are reactionary dyed in the world imperialists with a penchant for singling out Islam above all religions. Dawkins once infamously remarked whilst sitting in a stereotypical English park setting that the tolling of Anglican bells was somehow genteel when compared to the Muslim call to prayer, which he described as harsh.(22) The man’s musical taste is shite, to put it bluntly, but it is not the case that people who reject religious superstition embrace more progressive ideas.

Stephen Fry for example, had little to say about Palestinians and accepted Israeli propaganda in his Alternative Christmas Address. Hitchens was all gung-ho for the Iraq War and Dawkins in his book The God Delusion claims what he terms the “educated elite” are more prone to atheism, which is a highly suspect affirmation for which he, the scientist offers no evidence. He goes on to then describe the Anglican Church (established church as he put it) as a pleasant pass time. His condescension for the working class and contempt is barely disguised through his book, he says less educated as he is too posh to say Chavs, or maybe even too posh to have heard the term.

Rival churches compete for congregations - not least for the fat tithes that they bring - and the competition is waged with all the aggressive hard-sell techniques of the marketplace. What works for soap flakes works for God, and the result is something approaching religious mania among today's less educated classes. In England, by contrast, religion under the aegis of the established church has become little more than a pleasant social pastime, scarcely recognizable as religious at all.(23)

So, these religious songs that talk of the human condition and those that were adopted and/or adapted in the process of people’s struggles are to be celebrated, not mocked or frowned upon. It is through their struggles that they will leave religious superstition behind, and not just the rational result of education. Meanwhile, open some wine, put on some music and if you can’t enjoy Mahalia Jackson singing some gospel, then you are wasting both the wine and the electricity and need to broaden your musical horizons and stop hanging around with Pious Priestly Anarchists.

Notes

(1) Marx, K (1844) A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.

(2) See 

(3) See 

(4) See 

(5) See  Enya also did a version of it, though in a completely apolitical context.

(6) See

(7) See 

(8) See 

(9) See Hawn, C.M.(02/02/2023) History of Hymns: ‘I Shall Not Be Moved’ 

(10) Sabatella, M. (n/d) We Shall Not Be Moved: About the Song. 

(11) See 

(12) See 

(13) See 

(14) See 

(15) See 

(16) See 

(17) See 

(18) See 

(19) See

(20) See 

(21) See 

(22) See 

(23) Dawkins, R. (2006) The God Delusion. London. Bantam Press p.41

⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist with extensive experience in Latin America.

Music, Religion And Struggle

Christopher Owens 🎵 with the 36th in his Predominance series.

Horns up for
Annie Nightingale,
who died earlier this month.


New Horizons 

Guiltless – Thorns

Claiming that your band “…creates apocalyptic soundscapes in their imaginings of the surreal return to proto-human civilisation, as well as what life might be like for the survivors of the next mass extinction event…” is some claim. Luckily, Guiltless step up to the plate in remarkable form with gigantic, doomy crushers like ‘Devour Collide’ and ‘Dead Eye’ that could function as much as soundtracks for modern living as well as cathartic headbangers.

The EP can be streamed and purchased here.

The Body & Dis Fig – Orchards of a Futile Heaven

Possibly the most important (and adventurous) American act of the last 20 years, The Body release another collaboration, this time with electronic artist (and Kevin Martin collaborator) Dis Fig. While not as imposing as 2014’s ‘I Shall Die Here’ (which also has a heavy electronic sound), it still offers up a foreboding atmosphere which is punctuated by Dis Fig’s haunted, ethereal and at times angry vocals which offer up hope and humanity amidst the chaos.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Orchard – ‘Till You Fall Down

Most indie rock these days is simply careerist bilge, so it’s refreshing to hear an act who lean back towards the shambling indie scene of the early 80’s with influence from the K Records catalogue. But the moments that really stand out are when Orchard leave the frantic power chords in favour of atmosphere, such as ‘Song for Rosie’ which has an underlying darkness that belies the laidback, aloof vocals and the moody ‘4000 Years Old’.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.

Sympathy Pain – Swan Dive

On the go in some shape or form since 2016, Sympathy Pain main man Skyler Hitchcox describes the sound of the band as “…what I felt was an honest representation of who I was and where I was in the world”. This entails epic sonic landscapes that double up as droney psych and industrial tinged post rock. ‘Swell’ is the perfect example of this duality which, depending on your mood, can be crushingly bleak or the sound of winter melting into spring.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.


Golden Oldies


Paranoid Visions – Escape from the Austerity Complex

Their third album since reforming in 2005 bears the roots of Crass, Subhumans, PiL and Killing Joke in their sound. PA’s riffs are punky and angular (no mean feat, I can tell you) while Sarah Bellum and Aoife Destruction’s vocals are confrontational and haunting and singer Decko asks, “what have they done to our future…The lies of the past, a long shadow is cast/In the land of the green and the greed.”

 

Crime and the City Solution – American Twilight

Their first record since 1990’s excellent ‘Paradise Discotheque’ could very well be the best thing that they’ve ever done. Tribal drumming and some southern rock gone post punk guitar licks make up opener ‘Goddess.’ But when it segways into ‘My Love Takes Me There’, you sit up and take notice due to a heavier guitar tone and the woozy, atmospheric number that sucks you in.

 

Aggressors BC – The Tone of the Times

Consisting of members from Runnin’ Riot and Pocket Billiards, this is a confident, well written and well produced LP. With the pedigree in the band, you weren’t going to get anything amateurish. ‘True Skin’ is about the futility of racism, alternating between ska and mid-tempo reggae with a very tasty wah pedal sound thrown in the mix. ‘What She Gets’ is a more light-hearted romp which has more than a hint of Hall & Oates in the chorus!
 


Autechre – L Event

Autechre are not easy listening. Don’t expect anything vaguely tangible to latch onto. Throwing in techno, hip hop, industrial, noise and ambient as well as a list of other elements, they create music that will batter your senses but have you coming back for more while you try to figure out where they’re coming from. ‘Osla For n’ is utterly impenetrable. This is techno that oozes tension and is utterly thrilling despite there being very little in the way of grandiose elements.


⏩ 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 36

Christopher Owens 🎵 with a round up of 2023 for his Predominance series.

With many concerns raised about the correlation between Spotify’s payment system for artists and the various costings which are choking touring acts, it seems that we have hit a critical consensus about how we want to consume music easily but we’re not willing to rock the boat because, after all, it’s easier to stream than play the physical copy.

Personal circumstances regulated my ability to head to many this year, but I still did pretty well. 10 seen for the first time (Black Flag, The Residents, Unsane, Ratos de Porao, Wolfbastard, Jesus Piece, Paranoid, Gel, Stiff Meds and Total Chaos) plus three Killing Joke gigs (meaning I've now seen them 29 times with the Albert Hall show more than likely being the final one) and two Swans shows (bringing the total to 13).

Everything was reviewed on here in 2023 and they are all records that have stuck with me, in some shape or form, throughout the year. That means I loved them. And so should you.

20. ExEverything – Slow Change Will Pull Us Apart

It’s a bold move using a lyric from a famous 80’s pop song as the title for an album and an even bolder one referencing the late, lamented Fight Amp for your band name, but this Bay Area group know what they’re doing. Playing music that retains the controlled chaos of math rock and noisecore without the jarring inaccessibility of either, this debut LP rewards the listener on each spin.




19. Pus – II

Hailing from Peru, Pus play a sick mix of hardcore, death rock and blackened thrash. This LP puts them in the same league as Devil Master. However, Pus’ sound is a lot thrashier and, due to the production, have a trebly and overwhelming guitar sound (exactly what is needed). It would be cool to hear more of the death rock influences come through but, regardless, a fantastic debut LP.



18. Machiavellian Art – Indoctrination Sounds

Described as a mix of Albert Ayler and Spacemen 3, this is a punishing listen. Mixing Stooges garage rock, the mid paced rhythms of sludge, the cacophonous saxophone of Sun Ra and the heaviness of both doom and shoegaze shouldn’t work but, in these hands, not only does but will overload the senses as well, making it proper psychedelia.



17. Kelela – Raven

Long awaited, Kelela has created the American equivalent of Burial’s ‘Untrue’. Deeply atmospheric and haunting music that sounds just at home in the clubs as it does through a pair of earbuds on a wet Tuesday afternoon while sitting on the bus. Vocally, she articulates a desire for a rebirth (both personally and politically) while retaining a balance between sultry and aloof. Amazing.



16. Pound Land – Violence

Returning with a sixth album of sludgy, psychedelic industrial punk, as well as featuring Steve Watson of Iron Monkey, Pound Land continue to let us know the state of the nation in a way that Sleaford Mods would kill to. Heavy without resorting to metal cliches and with electronics that sound dirty, ‘Violence’ is their best record to date as well as their most challenging.



15. Blood Moon Wedding – An American Nightmare

A collaboration between Zounds songwriter Steve Lake and Antler Family driving force Mia Dean, this is an astonishing record that flirts with neo-cabaret, gothic rock and alt-country. Billing itself as a road trip of horrors through an alternate reality in the sprawling deserts of America, this is the sort of record that Nick Cave should be making. ‘Wanted’ is one of many highlights due to its combination of Alien Sex Fiend and Bonnie and Clyde storytelling.



14. Disciplinary – Porkwind

Described in the press release as a “Dual bass and drums hardcore noise-punk riff assault from North East England…” who have put together “A raging debut that rips hard”, I cannot help but agree with this assessment. Running in at under 25 minutes, it’s like Sete Star Sept knocked the grindcore on the head and started playing noisy hardcore instead. ‘Less Fun’ is the key song on here.



13. Swans – The Beggar

The 16th record from Michael Gira and his long-suffering band of merrymen, this album carries on the more melodic flourishes of 2019’s ‘Leaving Meaning’ but the experimental edge is much more pronounced this time around, such as in ‘The Beggar Lover (Three)’ which is the longest single track the band have recorded. Elsewhere, Gira demonstrates that his creative fire will never desert him.



12. Khanate – To Be Cruel

For their first record since 2009, the notorious Khanate pick up where they left off, which means feedback laden doom stretched out over 20 minutes a track with Alan Durbin’s despair laden shrieking about how “things all around/they hide and are still/the faces are blank/stifled their shrill stab of the voice.” Powerful material for the brave and thumbs up to the Swans referencing title.





11. Marthe – Further in Evil

Described in the press notes as a solo bedroom project for broken souls who can’t find piece, this is the debut record from Italian goth/crust musician Marzia under the Marthe banner. Operating in that murky swamp between crust punk and black metal but certainly leaning more towards the latter, songs like ‘Dead to You’ and ‘To Ruined Alters’ take the primitive, cavern sound of epic crust and the shrill, atonal vocals and guitar tone of black metal to create a moody headbanger of an LP.





10. Godflesh – Purge

Six years on from ‘Post Self’, Godflesh return to the fray with a record that combines the succinct attack of ‘Post Self’ with the post punk leanings of ‘A World Lit Only by Fire’. Songs like ‘Mythology of Self’ still bulldoze the listener into oblivion, but it’s the astonishing closer ‘You Are The Judge…’ which lingers longest in due to its hymn like passages that are both ethereal and disturbing.





9. Dave Lombardo – Rites of Percussion

Amazing, this is the legendary drummer’s debut solo record. Anyone expecting a variation on Reign in Blood will be disappointed as Rites… allows him to indulge his esoteric tastes. More a soundtrack to an imaginary film, tracks like ‘Interfearium’ manage to reference old horror soundtracks while still being eerie and ‘Warpath’ features an intense, metallic groove that would make Test Dept jealous. Not what you might expect, but Lombardo was much more eclectic than the average metalhead.





8. SQURL – Silver Haze

The fourth album from noted film director Jim Jarmusch’s avant-rock outfit, this is a succinct and deeply invigorating mix of Earth style post-rock and Galaxie 500 style dream pop, with tunes that are both beautiful in all their griminess and with a sinister undertone, as if waiting for something awful to happen. Guest spots from Charlotte Gainsbourg and Marc Ribot add light and shade to the mix.





7. Bruxa Maria – Build Yourself a Shrine and Pray

There’s no fucking around on this, the third full length from these London dwelling noise merchants. Going for more of a Melvins feel (plenty of hi-hat work, sludgy riffing, slower tempos, off kilter vocals) as well as incorporating plenty of hardcore/noise rock fury marks it out as an exciting, bludgeoning listen, with ‘Blind Side’ being the standout due to the (dare I say) soulful singing.





6. JAAW - Supercluster

Made up of members of Therapy?, Sex Swing, Petbrick and Squarepusher, JAAW deliver a record that is akin to Am Rep era Helios Creed jamming with Converge. The vocals are buried in the mix, making the listener notice just how pulverising the bass is and how the sparse electronics, coupled with certain guitar lines, embody an atmosphere of despair without ever being bleak. Life affirming.





5. Torso – A Crash Course in Terror

With Graham Bywater of the late Possessor in the driving seat, you know you’re in for something special. Torso specialise in pulverising rock that straddles the line between metal and noise rock, somewhere between ‘Meantime’ era Helmet and ‘Crack the Skye’ era Mastodon. A record for beer drinkers and hell raisers with their thinking caps on, and ‘Sinking Spell’ is utterly immense.





4. Teeth of the Sea – Hive

With a cover referencing ‘Blue Monday’ and Frank Herbert, London based Teeth of the Sea deliver their first club friendly record. Opener ‘Artemis’ is a hypnotic nod to Vangelis while ‘Get With the Program’ is an up tempo thumper with vocals with questioning, almost hectoring, vocals. ‘Butterfly House’ gives up an uplifting and pretty arpeggio line. A much more commercial proposition but it suits TOTS, plus there’s still plenty of menace in numbers like ‘Megafragma’. Two thumbs up.





3. Venera – s/t

An unusual collaboration between Korn guitarist James Shaffer and filmmaker/producer Chris Hunt, this LP blends the ethereal, the dissonant, the heavy and the rhythmic. Mainly instrumental, tracks like ‘Ochre’ (with vocals from HEALTH legend Jacob Duzsik) and ‘Swarm’ provide a haunting and moody soundtrack for the coming autumn. What’s refreshing here is that both Shaffer and Hunt never allow one particular mood to dominate, shifting between introspection and discordant.





2. False Fed – Let Them Eat Fake

Picking up where Amebix left off, guitarist Chris ‘Stig’ Miller and drummer Roy Mayorga are joined by Discharge/Broken Bones vocalist JJ Janick for a dark, epic and apocalyptic record. ‘The Tyrant Dies’ begins with a nod to Killing Joke before turning into an all-encompassing atmospheric monster of rage and anger. ‘The Big Sleep’ sounds like it could have been an outtake from Amebix’s ‘Sonic Mass’ and ‘The One Thing…’ is an uplifting, pastoral number offering hope. Amazing stuff.





1. All Out War – Celestial Rot

My album of the year since February. For a band who have been going for over twenty-five years, the brutality and speed on display here is astonishing, with d-beats, divebombs and crunchy, metal riffing that is utterly invigorating. This is the record that the likes of Hatebreed should be making today. 25 minutes of ferocity from veterans who know what metalcore should sound like.



⏩ 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 🥁 Top 20 of 2023

Christopher Owens 🎵 is in strumming form.


With a successful UK tour under their belt (their first in over a decade), Hard Fi are back in the public eye and attention is being given to them as a band who offered up an authentic voice of working-class life in the mid 00’s. One preoccupied with being shipped off to Iraq to be killed, a lack of opportunities, living under constant surveillance and partying at the weekend as a way of offloading your frustrations.

However, while 2005’s ‘Stars of CCTV’ is a record that still sounds bold and exciting nearly 20 years on, it is the follow up album that is much more interesting for a variety of reasons.

Released in 2007, ‘Once Upon a Time…’ hit number 1 in the UK charts and received mixed to positive reviews. However, a combination of factors (bad timing, falling out of the top 20 after a few weeks, backlash/mockery over the cover, the lack of a ubiquitous single, the changing climate) means that the album is often overlooked in favour of the debut.


🎵🎵🎵

Beginning with the magnificently widescreen ‘Suburban Knights’, a bubbling electronic pulse gives way to backing vocals that match the epic feel of the song and sound good when sung along with a big crowd. Going small for the verses, frontman Richard Archer reminds us that while the world is at war, the bills keep piling up. For the big release in the chorus, he boldly states that “We're the ones that you've forgotten/But we will not be denied/Coming out of the shadows/Yeah, we rock the satellites”. As an album opener, it states its intentions loud and clear: we’re going for the arenas.

Mixing Justin Timberlake rhythms and Joe Strummer chords, ‘I Shall Overcome’ is a self-explanatory number about not letting the bastards grind you down. The use of soulful backing vocals for the chorus is a nice surprise and the strings add a greater sense of urgency to the proceedings, resulting in the pay off line sounding oddly downbeat, as if Archer realises that he has been in this situation a million times and must plough on.

‘Tonight’ begins as a plaintive piano ballad before the drums up the tempo and the hint of morse code (perhaps indicating danger) give way to a pleading chorus, strings and gang style backing vocals that culminate in a Wall of Sound. The end result has a kind of ‘wall of sound’ feel that complement the urgent need to escape the suburbs.

Built around a five note orchestral riff that oozes drama, ‘Watch Me Fall Apart’ is a self-pitying song where Archer invites the listener to “Stick around and watch me fall apart/Watch me lose the game that I made up/Stick around whilst I default the loan/Watch me reap the pain that I have sown”. Frustratingly, it’s less than three minutes long and one has the sense this could be much longer as Archer explores the character’s action while the orchestra would soundtrack the emotional drama. Nonetheless, it acts as a segue way from the big anthems into terrain a little less obvious.

With a thick bassline reminiscent of The Fall, a one note piano riff and the introduction of a brass section, ‘I Close My Eyes’ describes the daily grind needed to make a living, with the love of a good partner the only salvation guaranteed. Not particularly deep or insightful but the addition of added musical elements widen the album’s sonic palate and reflect the joy and despair of the lyrics.


One song that should have been a festival favourite, ‘Television’ melds together a jokingly cynical and upbeat chorus with verses that are more downbeat and a little despondent in places: listen to how Archer delivers the lines “You know we always want something/But somehow we end up with nothing”.

‘Help Me Please’ is a nakedly autobiographical song where Archer contemplates life without his parents. Musically, it is the most restrained number on the LP. And yet, with little touches of guitar feedback and melodica, it manages to sound both intimate and arena sized. That’s quite an achievement.

‘Can’t Get Along (Without You) is a dumb pop song, and that’s meant as a compliment. A cross between indie rock and Motown soul, it’s designed to be a mass, joyous singalong with bells (quite literally). This should have been a top 10 hit.

Easily the weakest song on the record, ‘We Need Love’ mines a particular type of electro music and mixes it with ska. Probably intended as a mass singalong designed to promote racial harmony (no bad thing of course), it feels like an underdeveloped demo that only made its way onto the album because it had the potential to be a live favourite (which it never became).

‘Little Angel’ is another soul influenced number that really should have been a single. Upbeat brass, mixed with dirty (for Hard Fi) guitars lead to a dumb but soaring chorus that is utterly joyous and in the moment.

Closing with ‘The King’, Archer laments how much his world has changed since he has grown older (“In this town, I used to be the king here/Now I don't mean a thing here, Where did it all go wrong/I look around, and no one knows my face here/I feel so out of place here, Where did it all go wrong?”), tying it with an old relationship that ended a while ago. Delivered in a voice that hints at bewilderment, affection, resentment and acceptance, and soundtracked by an orchestra and a simple set of guitar chords that build to something grandiose, ‘The King’ is The standout song on here.


🎵🎵🎵

The widely derided cover was well intentioned but poorly executed (clearly designed as a commentary on how the iPod age had decreased the significance of the album cover as a concept), with one NME reader summing up the inherent contradiction: “Aren’t the slogans on the cover a form of artwork? If Hard-Fi actually wanted to have no artwork, then the logical solution would have been to have no artwork.”

In 2010, Drowned in Sound would list it as one of the worst album covers of the last decade, describing it in visceral terminology: “Mustard yellow, aggressive white and black font. It's not appealing, and it's not even an original concept…It is idiocy masquerading as profundity. Every time I stare at it, I feel like the void is staring back at me; I feel the futility of my existence; I can feel the sands passing through the egg timer of my life. And I sigh.”

Archer would defend the cover, stating that “We got a lot of stick over the artwork and the main reason for that was that Peter Saville – the best graphic designer in the country – said it was good and that put a lot of peoples noses out of joint.” (Saville said that "This is a ‘White Album’ for the digital culture. Within a culture of soundbites and visual icons, I think the rejection of a visual icon is a bold and very intelligent gesture.")

With the resurgence in physical media over the last ten years, this debate is a relic of a bygone era. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that the cover is clunky and lacks the simplicity and immediacy of ‘Stars of CCTV’.

🎵🎵🎵

Describing it as a disappointment, NME’s Mark Beaumount felt that “…much of this album is comfortably interchangeable with ‘Stars Of CCTV’’s less inspired tracks, which makes it either a misguided attempt at the assertion of ‘realness’, or a worrying pointer to a dearth of new ideas. What’s clear, however, is that next time round, Hard-Fi are going to have to find something new to talk about – and to talk about it in more depth – or they’ll be shuffling back down that red brick road as quickly as they stormed out of it.”

Not necessarily true as there are numbers that deal with:

🎺escaping your surroundings (Tonight)

🎺 depression (Watch Me Fall Apart)

🎺 the death of a parent (Help Me Please)

🎺 the realisation that age catches up with us all (The King)

Mixed in with the songs about love, resilience and everyday worries, it can be argued that these four songs help accentuate the drama on the album beyond kitchen sink and into something more (dare I say) existential. Akin to a kid leaving school at the age of 16 and not really sure what direction he wants his life to go in.

Bad reviews are one thing but it’s also worth noting that, musically, the landscape in the UK charts had changed quite a bit since 2005. ‘Umbrella’ by Rhianna had topped the singles chart for 10 weeks. Robyn’s ‘With Every Heartbeat’ quite rightly won over indie scenesters as well as the pop kids and X-Factor winner Leona Lewis had the biggest selling single of the year with the monstrously awful ‘Bleeding Love’.

Sure, the likes of Editors and Bloc Party also had number one hits around this time as well. But there was definitely a sense in the air that guitar bands were no longer guaranteed a fair listen. Shiny, American dance-pop was back in, and indie was dismissed as sexless, jeans 'n' t-shirt, blokey music. Something that would become evident as 2007 gave way to 2008 as the first six months were dominated by Basshunter, Duffy, Estelle, Madonna, The Ting Tings and Rihanna.


More proof was the coinage of a particular phrase which has haunted retrospective views of this era: landfill indie.

Coined by journalist Andrew Harrison, he would tell the Independent in 2008 that “Indie has become a meaningless term. It just covers guitar bands…It was never meant to be about a type of music, it was a spirit and an attitude. When I glance around the bands that are supposedly ‘indie’ today, I don’t see any attitude. I don’t see any content in their records, any political interest in the band members. They’re a terrible generation, unfortunately, but they’re becoming famous overnight and selling a lot of records. I’ve heard them called ‘mortgage indie’. It’s a career path – a way of making a lot of money very quickly. The Kooks did so well so quickly. Scouting For Girls, from a standing start, have become a really big band. The Fratellis have become massive in a remarkably short time.”

While Hard Fi’s initial success pre-dated this term, they would find themselves being lumped in fairly quickly, which is odd considering the obvious soul and electro influences evident in the music.

However, Archer didn’t quite see it like that, blaming the muted reception solely on the press:

You don't know how to make a second album until you do it. You almost feel like you should be doing certain things and doing things a certain way. You should just be enjoying making music. The second album, despite all that, I really love it and I think it's great but it was hard. We'd just come off really busy touring, lots of personal things had happened and you go straight into making that record - it comes out and it feels a bit like it's open season. You know, lets give Hard-Fi a kicking.

Of course it’s impossible to see the bigger picture when in the eye of the storm and bands but, when the context is considered, it seems Once Upon a Time…didn’t stand much of a chance. Perhaps, if the album had come out at the start of 2007, it would have had much more staying power, followed by a jaunt round the festival circuit where a song like ‘Television’ would have gone down a storm.

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Ultimately, what ‘Once Upon a Time…’ represents is Hard Fi widening their outlook and sound. No longer focused on soundtracking life within the suburbs, they seek to escape them for a variety of reasons. Sonically, the addition of strings gives the songs a more cinematic feel and extenuates the feeling of escape and the use of brass on certain songs demonstrates the influence of soul music. At a time when most of their peers were trying a little too hard to sound like U2 at times, these differences mattered.

Although it didn’t push them into the big league, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ is still a fascinating record that wrestles with grandiose emotions while trying to remain grounded.
 

⏩ 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.

From The Vaults 🎵 Hard Fi ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’

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