Whether FUC51 likes Delphic or not is a moot point.
Their music is of little consequence in the problem of Manchester. They're a group trying to get ahead in the pit-of-sharks that is The Music Industry. They've got noticed and good for them.
So where is the problem? Well, it's everyone that surrounds them, clearly. It's the hacks who write about them. Even Delphic themselves have acknowledged the problem they - and the whole of Manchester as a city - face.
In an interview with the BBC:
How much does Manchester influence your music?
"We're very proud of Manchester but we were inspired by what we didn't like in Manchester, and that was Manchester refusing to move on. We felt it was in danger of drowning under its heritage. We wanted to help it look forward and were sick of the Madchester stereotypes."
It seems that, really, Delphic are a bunch of kids wishing they were in Kraftwerk. Yet, they're faced with the unrelenting barrage of Madchesterisms. People with clipboards from focus groups and pointless hacks with digital dictaphones saying "Go on... say Joy Division! Say stuff about the Hacienda! Give us something we understand!"
You see, it just wouldn't do for a Mancunian band to be influenced by any band outside the Manc ring-road. If Delphic said 'we like Krautrock, Tropicalia and Andalusian folk music and nothing else', it wouldn't stop saps piling on the corpses of Madchester on their bony little shoulders.
Whilst it is understandable that the management and PRs of the band would want to use whatever underhand trick they have at their disposal to get their proteges noticed, you'd hope that they'd at least share their band's wish to avoid such monumental laziness and short-sightedness?
Amen to that.
ReplyDeletedunno, it doesn't seem to be an accident that they have the established new order trick of the one word enigmatic song title. all seems very contrived, esp when you hear about them admitting to being in a dogshit indie band then deciding "hang on lets make a dance band" - the cynicism of this goes hand in hand with "ok lets rip off manchester's favourite sons". anyway the main problem with delphic is that they're FUCKING BORING. a trio of grumpy little kids with jackshit to say other than bang on about how much they're not influenced by anything manchester when a cursory look over their artwork/song titles/sounds shows their massive lack of imagination. check their press photos too, stood down a dank manchester alley like oooh a billion other photos of past manchester bands. if they really wanted to be different they could be, it seems they're happy to give lip service to being progressive while reaping the tainted rewards of being little better than the clone roses
ReplyDeleteI bet you drink in bay horse?
ReplyDeleteYou should have seen some of the crowd at their gig in Salford on Friday- too many thirty-somethings (most likely drugged up) acting like they were witnessing the start of something big again i.e. a new New Order
ReplyDeleteAny other city would be proud to produce a band that is getting so much praise and gathering such a passionate following around the country/world...
ReplyDelete...and the thing is, they don't really sound like New Order anyway.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Delphic are the bad guys here as the blog post states. And having fans in the mid 30s, or indeed, all ages, isn't a a valid criticism. I was at the Salford gig and apart from the one pisshead, and tons of young Nathan Barely's with beards, wannabe Primrose Hill airheads from the Northern Quarter, I can't recall anyone being drugged up and there were perhaps about no more than twenty or so in the 30s. So what? This whole blog and debate isn't about fans. Would you rather the older fans go and watch Bez gurning at Fac? Can't have it both ways. The whole point is that fans of music are able to move forward as well. Delphic have more in common with Kid A than Technique. Let's have some perspective please.
ReplyDelete