Why have The The got the second biggest badge? At least 4 of the acts on smaller badges are ones you'd assume would be more prominent. Do The The have some massive fanbase that I've never come across before?
Was going to ask the same question. Why are PiL apparently at the bottom of the bill, below Theatre of Hate, UK Decay and The Motors? Have they followed the example of the Sex Pistols and kicked out Lydon?
This would have been a fairly poor line-up even when these bands were at their height. Only about five of these acts would have been genuinely worth seeing.
Also wondering, apropos of nothing, why Martin Bramah and Marc Riley don't reform The Fall. Just for revenge on Smith. Do all the things that he banned them from doing (guitar solos etc.) when he ruled the band.
There is a band formed out of ex-Fall members currently treading the boards - House of All. Martin Bramah is in it, but not Marc Riley https://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2023/02/01/house-of-all-the-fall-mark-e-smith-family-statement/
Ah they actually put out an album too https://houseofall.bandcamp.com/album/house-of-all
The one that caught my eye was "Death Cult". Is this really a reformation of the transitional band that briefly existed in between Southern Death Cult and The Cult?
And right on cue, here’s a tweet from today of the Reading festival lineup in 1993. The The were higher on the bill / on a bigger stage than the Banshees, Buttholes, Dinosaur Jr, Radiohead and Blur.
The The have a very dedicated following in the UK. They won’t trouble the charts again but they have an active (keyword there) fanbase that probably far outstrips PIL - that buy every release, travel for gigs etc.
In terms of ‘history of rock’ legacy then no, they’re not on PiL’s level, but in terms of active followers - at least here in the UK - they’re way ahead.
I remember back in the day The The were always heavily promoted - full page adverts for their album releases etc. The same thing with Midnight Oil, who I suspect are also much bigger than rock lore would suggest. Similar kind of coffee table angst, as well.
I once wrote a review of The The's Infected. Make of this what you will:
There's a concept in video game analysis called ludonarrative dissonance. The term refers to the occasion where the mechanics of play conflict with the plot, themes or aesthetics of the story. So, for instance, Nathan Drake of the Uncharted series is portrayed storywise as a roguish, charismatic treasure hunter, but the game has the player directing Nathan Drake to murder literally hundreds of people. Although a few games use ludonarrative dissonance purposefully to discombobulate the player, most instances of ludonarrative dissonance are negative in effect, ripping the player out of their immersion as the discrepancy jars and the game stops making sense.
The title track which opens The The's Infected has a similar issue, a musicolyrical dissonance, if you will. Infected has the band pursuing a markedly different path to their earlier (better) output, going full slick 80s: Grand Canyon-echoed drums, synthy horn blarps a-gogo and production aiming for perfection by hacking out all tissue in any way associated with the human heart. Yet the opening line, "Infect me with your love", is a cackhanded reference to the AIDS epidemic. The incongruity is palpaple. Yuppie wine bar rock is surely not the aptest genre to handle such a devastation? You don't get the Wiggles writing numbers in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, or Slayer's odes to holding hands with their teenage sweetheart, do you?
So yeah, the album doesn't sit comfortably with itself. The record is intended to be an overtly political one, every word glossed with anti-Thatcherism, and the lyrics are suitably bitter and occasionally arresting. However, the music itself sounds wholly like aspirational fodder for the conspicuously consuming classes. After the opener, the division becomes less stark, but still the Phil Collinsity of the music cheapens the lyrical worth. This is not to say that the album fails per se, and I feel charitable enough towards it to say it just about deserves three stars, but it squeaked into that bracket. You can find quite a few bits deserving of your time, but often the medium negates the message.
I don't know why a parody of the Aerosmith logo is on the cover. Maybe they don't like Aerosmith
16 comments:
Why have The The got the second biggest badge? At least 4 of the acts on smaller badges are ones you'd assume would be more prominent. Do The The have some massive fanbase that I've never come across before?
Was going to ask the same question. Why are PiL apparently at the bottom of the bill, below Theatre of Hate, UK Decay and The Motors? Have they followed the example of the Sex Pistols and kicked out Lydon?
This would have been a fairly poor line-up even when these bands were at their height. Only about five of these acts would have been genuinely worth seeing.
Also wondering, apropos of nothing, why Martin Bramah and Marc Riley don't reform The Fall. Just for revenge on Smith. Do all the things that he banned them from doing (guitar solos etc.) when he ruled the band.
"We always felt Mark was holding us back."
There is a band formed out of ex-Fall members currently treading the boards - House of All. Martin Bramah is in it, but not Marc Riley
https://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2023/02/01/house-of-all-the-fall-mark-e-smith-family-statement/
Ah they actually put out an album too https://houseofall.bandcamp.com/album/house-of-all
I think The The were quite big - had a bunch of hits. Never meant much to me.
Johnny Marr says he is as proud of his work with Matt Johnson as is he of his work with Morrissey
The one that caught my eye was "Death Cult". Is this really a reformation of the transitional band that briefly existed in between Southern Death Cult and The Cult?
But you are attending for the Mondays I assume?
Yeah it's none too enticing. The Motels. Peter Murphy. The Damned doing a specific latterday album.
And then there are the couple of badges that are barely legible but seem to be total no-marks
They performed as The Cult in Australia only a few days ago. And Death Cult didn’t even have enough songs for a full LP. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And right on cue, here’s a tweet from today of the Reading festival lineup in 1993. The The were higher on the bill / on a bigger stage than the Banshees, Buttholes, Dinosaur Jr, Radiohead and Blur.
https://x.com/newwaveandpunk/status/1863679946087960775?s=46&t=B99yOMpNjtYkl7CXK4W2JA
…not to mention the Flaming Lips, Breeders, Stone Temple Pilots, Bad Brains, Pastels, Shampoo and Big Star!
The The have a very dedicated following in the UK. They won’t trouble the charts again but they have an active (keyword there) fanbase that probably far outstrips PIL - that buy every release, travel for gigs etc.
In terms of ‘history of rock’ legacy then no, they’re not on PiL’s level, but in terms of active followers - at least here in the UK - they’re way ahead.
I remember back in the day The The were always heavily promoted - full page adverts for their album releases etc. The same thing with Midnight Oil, who I suspect are also much bigger than rock lore would suggest. Similar kind of coffee table angst, as well.
"Mature themes",
I once wrote a review of The The's Infected. Make of this what you will:
There's a concept in video game analysis called ludonarrative dissonance. The term refers to the occasion where the mechanics of play conflict with the plot, themes or aesthetics of the story. So, for instance, Nathan Drake of the Uncharted series is portrayed storywise as a roguish, charismatic treasure hunter, but the game has the player directing Nathan Drake to murder literally hundreds of people. Although a few games use ludonarrative dissonance purposefully to discombobulate the player, most instances of ludonarrative dissonance are negative in effect, ripping the player out of their immersion as the discrepancy jars and the game stops making sense.
The title track which opens The The's Infected has a similar issue, a musicolyrical dissonance, if you will. Infected has the band pursuing a markedly different path to their earlier (better) output, going full slick 80s: Grand Canyon-echoed drums, synthy horn blarps a-gogo and production aiming for perfection by hacking out all tissue in any way associated with the human heart. Yet the opening line, "Infect me with your love", is a cackhanded reference to the AIDS epidemic. The incongruity is palpaple. Yuppie wine bar rock is surely not the aptest genre to handle such a devastation? You don't get the Wiggles writing numbers in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, or Slayer's odes to holding hands with their teenage sweetheart, do you?
So yeah, the album doesn't sit comfortably with itself. The record is intended to be an overtly political one, every word glossed with anti-Thatcherism, and the lyrics are suitably bitter and occasionally arresting. However, the music itself sounds wholly like aspirational fodder for the conspicuously consuming classes. After the opener, the division becomes less stark, but still the Phil Collinsity of the music cheapens the lyrical worth. This is not to say that the album fails per se, and I feel charitable enough towards it to say it just about deserves three stars, but it squeaked into that bracket. You can find quite a few bits deserving of your time, but often the medium negates the message.
I don't know why a parody of the Aerosmith logo is on the cover. Maybe they don't like Aerosmith
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