The Messthetics series represents a labour of love by one North American, Chuck Warner, to collect obscure recordings by largely unknown bands, many of whom were not even legends for fifteen minutes out with very localised music scenes. The songs collected on this album were initially released as limited run 7 inches, cassette only releases or demos and come accompanied by lavish, in-depth biographical sleeve notes. Although a small smattering of the bands re-discovered in the Messthetics series have achieved a degree of posthumous attention, the majority remain unknown, barely footnotes in post-punk histories such as Simon Reynold’s exemplary Rip It Up And Start Again or in histories of regional and national scenes such as Brian Hogg’s wonderful book on Scottish pop and rock, All That Ever Mattered. The sleeve notes for Messthetics#105’s concentrated focus on the Scottish underground scene alone are a joy to behold as the genealogy of some of the bands highlights not only the often interlinked nature of the scene but shows the tentative first steps of a number of individuals who would go on to create interesting work out with the period. Equally, others would vanish after releasing a solitary great single, having possibly said all they wanted to and burned brightly, albeit for a brief moment. However, while all of this history and contextualisation is of great interest, what about the music?
Dundee’s Scrotum Poles open proceedings with the rather contagious ‘Helicopter Honeymoon’ which blasts in like a breath of fresh air, clocking in at just over 90 seconds, with a crisp sound that owes a little to the Television Personalities and Swell Maps, as it describes the coolest of beach parties, though its more Tentsmuir than Rockaway Beach. Fire Engines follow next with a 1979 demo version of ‘New Thing In Cartons’. While they didn’t make their live debut until the following year, all the main components of their distinctive sound are in place in this glorious, controlled yet ramshackle racket. 35MM Dreams ‘More Than This’ showcase a tense, rhythmical tautness in its stop-start structure and funky-punky sound along with a really laidback sense of urgency. The Exile have the honour of being one of the first Scottish punk bands to release a single back in the day. ‘Jubilee 77’ has a sharp sound, a neat riff and a snarly mannered vocal. It’s more evenly paced and inventive, particularly with its rhythmic breakdown, than the amphetamine rush of a lot of punk.
Commercials ‘Simon’ is great fun. Hailing from North Berwick they display a cool vocal interplay between the sardonic male and female front persons over an inventive post-punk soundscape. With lines like ‘Clever D.J. / Futile beats / It’s all handclaps / Martini smiles’ it takes on the ubiquitous nightclub scene and apparently takes a deserved swipe at the former king of smug, Radio One’s Simon ‘Master’ Bates. Fakes ‘Sylvia Clarke’ is pretty hyperactive as the singer and other instruments battle to keep up with the runaway bass and drums. It’s quite shambolic but sweet and urgent as the singer repeatedly asks ‘What’s it all about?’ ‘You’re A Rebel’ by Metropak has a very stark, disjointed sound, offset by the imaginative, disorientating drums and the guitars continual shift from melodic to dissonant. The lyrics seem more disparaging than complimentary, dripping with sarcasm as the vocalist takes aim at an unknown protagonist with the biting put down of ‘You just want to be seen / What a rebel you are’. Great stuff.
Tony Pilley’s ‘Waiting For The Man’ initially sounds like an odd addition to the proceedings with its acoustic guitar and Pilley’s plaintive, distinctive voice. With its eerie melodies and atmosphere it’s more Syd Barrett than punk but then again, the Television Personalities also knew where Syd Barrett lived. Intriguing and compelling. Visitors ‘Moth’ is all squiggly keyboards and staccato rhythms, perhaps betraying the influence of The Fall. ‘Moth’ has a great chorus and neat twists and turns, with an aggressive edge to it simmering away just below the surface.
Hamilton’s Article 58 sound like the great lost sound of young Scotland with their exuberant mix of 60s pop and punk. ‘Event To Come’ is a rather joyous and confident sounding song, even managing to chuck handclaps into the pop mixer and still come up smiling. Radio Ghosts ‘Falling Into Darkness’ has an equally confident sound, particularly given that it’s taken from a home-recorded demo. They mix elements of psychedelia with a raw, punk energy to great effect. Martin Cotter would go on to co-found Glasgow’s brilliant but vastly underrated Bachelor Pad. The next act up, Rapid Dance, also provided two members of the Bachelor Pad. ‘Hidden So Well’ is a rhythmic beast of a track, its heavy tribal drums combining beautifully with an understated, nagging guitar riff. It’s a fine song built up out of the rawest of source materials.
Strutz, in contrast to the bulk of the bands here, have a very polished, produced studio sound. ‘Breaking Point’ mixes garage-punk and psychedelia to good effect in this atmospheric, brooding song with its insane tempo changes and reverb soaked vocals. At points ‘Breaking Point’ sounds like it’s going to collapse in on itself but somehow manages not to, at least until the climax. Metropak’s second contribution, ‘Looking’ is very inventive and angular and sounds more like a lost New York / No Wave band than a straightforward punk or post-punk band with its tribal rhythms, staccato riffs and stark vocal. Vertical Smiles ‘New Clash Single’ is pretty lo-fi or possibly even no-fi. Built around a looping discordant guitar and primitive percussion, Vertical Smiles take The Fall’s maxim of ‘repetition, repetition, repetition’ to its logical extreme while lambasting punk conformists and scenesters. Ette, Scotland’s ‘first all girl punk band’ sound a lot like the Slits on ‘A Conversation’ which is, in my book, a very good thing indeed. The clattering percussion, moody bass, swampy sound and Anne Paulette’s distinctive voice combine to produce a raw, cool song.
Restricted Code’s ‘New Messiah’ is another pretty frantic sounding song. It’s very unhinged as well, as the clipped guitar and manic vocal drive the snappy tune on. Radio Ghosts ‘My Room’ is another very accomplished demo track. It’s a melancholy, downbeat song, alienated and lost, with bursts of frazzled lead guitar all combining to draw you into its dark but beguiling world. Brills ‘Gang Of One’ is a quirky, melodic new wave pop song made by a Glaswegian and an American. It marries a neat tune to some great Big Star style guitar breaks and xylophone. In contrast, Rhythm Method sound rough as hell. ‘Insight’ was recorded straight to cassette in the drummers’ bedroom. One has to feel some degree of sympathy for the neighbours as the thundering drums and yelped vocals dominate with the guitars struggling to compete. I’m sure they still have nightmares…Dirty Reds ‘Bad Sex’ is only just a little more polished. Opening with a scratchy guitar and an outbreak of coughing, it’s quite off the wall, particularly the unpolished, unhinged, half-sung, half-spoken vocals of the actor Tam Dean Burn. With lines like ‘Ah fuck, ahm goin’ for a piss’ it’s a strange marriage between The Fall and Arab Strap, ably backed by various future Fire Engines.
He’s Dead Jim’s ‘Towel On The Radiator / Lampshade’ is the manic (depressive) sound of young Aberdeen 1981. It includes the innovative use of bottles as percussion, a few nods to The Fall and a reference to Keith Chegwin. ‘Towel On The Radiator’ is an inventive dirge in the vein of the Prefect’s ‘Going Through The Motions’ or The Fall’s ‘Repetition’. ‘Lampshade’ moves the tempo up a few notches and rattles through like a very brief, very northern ‘Container Drivers’. Jazzateers are an entirely different prospect. Throughout their various incarnations (including a period with Paul Quinn as Bourgie Bourgie) they were courted by a series of record labels including Postcard but remain barely represented on record. ‘Blue Moon Over Hawaii’ is a sweet jazz influenced song with bossanova beats. Alison Gourlay’s lovely untutored voice adds beauty and gravitas to a lovely song without ever becoming cloying or slick. Paul Reekie closes Messthetics#105 with an odd, charming semi-sung/spoken song with rudimentary percussion interspersed with little piano motifs and a chanted chorus of ‘Joy, joy, loves rebellious joy’ which really, for me, sums up this album.
Throughout it there is a sense of rebellious joy and love. A love of making beautiful, awkward and provocative art out of minimal resources for the sheer hell of it, often without thoughts of fame, fortune or even longevity. There are heaps of gems on this album pointing at a number of mainly untold or unheard stories of the trajectories taken by Scottish musicians in the punk and post-punk periods, which, using this album as a starting point could be further explored. This might go some way to ending the myth that nothing much happened in Scotland before or after Postcard, a myth recently espoused on television recently with the Postcard programme.
There are a number of extras contained on this enhanced disc including 9 bonus mp3’s including songs by Scrotum Poles, Restricted Code and Article 58.
The other sound of young Scotland? Don’t take my word for it; just check this wonderful artefact out without delay.
www.hyped2death.com