Elastica ( 1995 )

9

Line Up / Annie / Connection / Car Song / Smile / Hold Me Now / S.O.F.T. / Indian Song / Blue / All-Nighter / Waking Up / 2:1 / See That Animal / Stutter / Never Here / Vaseline

Released in 1995, when the 57th Britpop Movement was swaying the United States of Britannia with the releases of Blur’s The Great Escape, Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, the debut album of Supergrass and countless others, Elastica debuted with an album that may very well be my favorite of them all. Spikier and tougher than both Blur and Oasis and easily as energetic as Supergrass, Elastica is an album that combines the best of its influences into a convincing modern album. When you take a look at the cover, you’ll have to admit that it looks at least 15 years older than its actual age, right? The album does sound retro-ish, but the band makes up for it (if that would be necessary) with great songwriting. As for the influences, the pop hooks and coarse guitars of The Buzzcocks and Wire’s cold angularity are the most obvious, while the lyrics, vocal delivery and attitude of the band reflect the self-confidence and sexuality of Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry.

The album was spearheaded by a handful of excellent singles (“Stutter,” “Line Up,” “Connection,” “Waking Up”), but the album is crammed with first-class tracks, several of which could have been used as singles as well. One of the most riveting things about this album, apart from the great overall-package, is the interplay of the band, and especially between Justine Frischmann and Donna Matthews, both trading off hooky and jerky guitar riffs, while Annie Holland (bass) and Justin Welch (drums, man) keep things going as well. “Line Up” immediately introduces that terrific noisy guitar interplay, both guitar players complementing each other with their spiky slashes during the verses. Of note are also the song’s lyrics, that are – like a large part of the album – concerned with kinky sex, in this case a groupie’s adventures (“Drivel head knows all the stars, loves to suck their shining guitars, they’ve all been right up her stairs, do you care?”). “Stutter,” the album’s first single is even better, a fast song with great hooks and lyrics (dealing with impotence this time: “Well it isn’t a problem, nothing we can’t keep between the sheets, tell me you’re mine, love, and I will not wait for other bed-time treats”), and one of the best British singles of the past twenty years (yes, I’m serious). The third single, “Connection,” caused some commotion because it’s an almost exact copy of Wire’s “Three Girl Rhumba” (from Pink Flag), and led to a dispute that was eventually settled out of court. I really don’t care either way, because the band does turn it into a great song of its own. Granted, they could have acknowledged it in the liner notes. Several songs also feature some keyboards played by Dan Abnormal, which is, of course (you figured that one out for yourself, didn’t you?) an anagram of Damon Albarn, Frischmann’s partner at the time. The album’s fourth and last (?) single was “Waking Up,” perhaps the most retro-ish new wave-track on the album, one that takes you back to the heyday of bands such as Magazine and Echo & The Bunnymen.

Besides the four singles, the album contains some more damn good wave tracks such as “Car Song,” the most infectious song about car sex ever (with the possible exception of AC/DC’s “Girl’s Got Rhythm”), with horny outspokenness (“I hardly know you, but I think I’m going to, let’s go siesta in your Ford Fiesta”), and one of my favorite lines: “In every little Honda, there may lurk a Peter Fonda.” Also “S.O.F.T.” and “Never Here,” two lengthier tracks (only four out of 16 cross the 3-minute border), have some excitingly strutting guitar work, nice vocal harmonies and style galore. While “Stutter” may be the best punk song on the album, several others are worthy contenders: “Blue” and “All-Nighter” are more fun than the entire Blink-182-catalogue (those hooks, those exalted moans in the latter!), while the trio of “Annie,” “Smile” and “Vaseline” all clock in under 1:40 and will get your ass numb for the rest of the day.The album’s not an entire triumph, though. “Hold Me Now” isn’t very exciting, although it deals with intercourse, and the eastern-tinged “Indian Song,” with percussion very similar to that in The Beatles’ “Within You, Without You,” is as exciting as watching a game of cricket on a Sunday afternoon with a hangover. However, despite these details, Elastica is still an album that seems to rush by in 20 minutes, thanks to the excellent song sequencing (and 16 songs in 40 minutes isn’t bad either), loads of memorable hooks, melodies, lyrics and (gotta admit it) the irresistible sexiness of Justine Frischmann’s delivery and playing.

Post a comment! - Back to top

The Radio One Sessions (2001)

8

Annie / Spastica / Line Up / Vaseline / Brighton Rock / In the City / Waking Up / Four Wheeling / Hold Me Now / Ba Ba Ba / All for Gloria / I Wanna Be a King of Orient Aah / Rock ‘n’ Roll / 2:1 / I Want You / Only Human / A Love Like Ours / KB / Da Da Da / Generator / Your Arse My Place

Elastica broke up by the end of 2001, leaving only two albums and a string of singles behind, and even though I’ve never found a copy of that second album (after a five-year silence, no one seemed to be interested in giving it a decent distribution), I will admit right way that they’re one of my favorite British bands of the nineties. They didn’t invent anything new, but very few bands were able to use their influences to such great affect as Elastica. They pulled off what many other bands tried, but failed to do: they were tough but accessible, detached but sexy, and they used great guitar parts in edgy post-punk that avoided the classic traps. During the course of this compilation, which gathers material from seven sessions recorded between 1993 (way before the release of their debut album) and 1999 (when they were preparing their sophomore release), it once again becomes clear what a dedicated band they were: even the weakest tracks are delivered with enough hooks, cool melodies and attitude to make them sound irresistible after all. The band tears through seven songs from their first album: both “Annie” and “Vaseline,” lethal tunes armed with hairpins and spiked dog collars, are over in less than eighty seconds, “Line Up” gets a less tight intro than its studio counterpart, but is equally catchy, and the naughty “Car Song” (here still called “Four Wheeling”) and “Hold Me Now” constitute a magnificent duo.

Apart from the essential “Stutter,” most of the early key tracks are included: “Waking Up” and “2:1” are among the best songs any band released in the mid-‘90’s, tracks that delved into music history and came up with glorious modifications of sounds and styles that never became defunct. Several of the songs here, like the Buzzcocks-influenced “Spastica” and the Blur-esque (yes, I at least had to make one reference) “Brighton Rock” - nice harmonizing there! – are better rarities than many album tracks, while the ultra-short “In the City” was already used in Gregg Araki’s Nowhere, a movie that at least shares the velocity with its soundtrack. Not all of the sessions were equally successful, but apart from one – it’s no surprise “All for Gloria” and “I Wanna Be a King of Orient Aah” never appeared on any other release – there always was something excellent to be found. During Donna Matthews’ last session with the band (tracks 15-17), when keyboardist Dave Bush had already joined, they finally found an agreeable balance between the earlier punk-inspired stuff and less spunky wave that obviously used early ‘80’s post-punk as an inspiration. It’s surprising they didn’t put “I Want You” on their second album, since it’s a successful combination of their spiky guitar grind and elements from a more danceable kind of wave. The highlight here, however, is the cool trance of “Only Human.” If you were wondering where that theme came from: it was copped from Wire’s classic “Lowdown,” but Matthews added random vocals in a careless way that fits the frozen atmosphere of the music well. The last session stresses the new, electronic element in their evolution even more. During the last year of its existence, the band was a sextet, with two people handling keyboards. By consequence, “KB,” “Da Da Da” (a cover of German ‘80’s-horror Trio) and “Generator” burst with synth sounds and fancy noises. The ridiculous “Your Arse My Place” closes with appropriately definitive lyrics: “Bonjour, adieu, can’t win with you, you’re hard, I’m not, you’re shit, shit hard.” The Radio One Sessions show that Elastica’s sound or determinacy to come up with first-quality stuff didn’t deteriorate enough to warrant The Menace’s bad distribution. The later tracks don’t offer the same instant gratification as earlier post-punk bliss such as “Annie,” “Stutter” or “Waking Up,” but they’re good enough to prove the band could’ve had a future ahead of them. I have no idea what these people are doing for the moment, but even if they’ve decided there’s a life without music, the relevance of their striking legacy had been guaranteed by a few releases you can’t you wrong with.

Post a comment! - Back to top

Read album reviews of similar or related artists: Blur

Back to album review index