The Guardian. They're a real bunch of idiots sometimes. More than any other newspaper, they're happy to keep parping on about half a dozen bands from Manchester because, clearly, when dealing with a new artist from/living in the city, the easiest thing to do in the world is to toss a coin and say They Sound Like Joy Division/They Sound Like The Stone Roses.With new act LoneLady, who has made a really rather brilliant debut LP called 'Nerve Up', they are at it again. Now, to anyone with ears, one listen to 'Nerve Up' and you walk away thinking "what a great pop album!" It's direct and has massive choruses. There's no getting away from it. It's definitely a pop album.
Granted, LoneLady makes the kind of racket that sounds like Siouxsie Sioux has teamed up with Tina Weymouth and XTC under the remit of trying to make a proper pop album, and brilliantly, succeeding against all the odds.
However, the Guardian's profile [here] has gone straight to the filing cabinet marked 'Manchestoh' and stated giddily "...She comes from Manchester, only the Manchester of Ian Curtis not Ian Brown, the dark, dour, post-punk Manchester of shadowplay and doubts-even-here, not the bright, Day-Glo Madchester version of the city. She's signed to Warp, a great label, but she would have fitted in quite nicely – nervously – on Factory, and she's got the darkly lit artily monochrome press shots to prove it," before adding "Martin Hannett would have done wonders with her itchy, scratchy guitar pop".
Okay. We get it. WE GET IT. Here's to hoping for a time when people look at an act from Manchester and finally cast their glances around an entire world of influences that the people of Manchester actually listen to. I wonder if people who have never stepped a foot in Manchester think that all our record shops are filled with only releases from Madchester bands and Factory-approved outfits?
You could be forgiven if you thought that every single fucking time you read about a new act in the city.
[With thanks to James who brought this to FUC51's attention]
they're keep to keep parping on about half a dozen ??? Que?
ReplyDeleteHopefully moving away, from basing opinion, on what the papers say
ReplyDeletei agree that there is a lot more to Manchester.
LoneLady sounds good to me
i am estranged, walking away
No left shoe and no right
No right to say
jez
Sadly in this case - Lonelady plays FAC251 on Feb 6th... oh and her top influences on myspace include Joy Division.
ReplyDeletelonelady isn't very good. it's that scratchy crappy post-punk sound that has no place in the city right now. in a real sense she's as bad as the hookmeister in the way she's miserably regurgitating the past. oh and lets not forget that she got joy division apologist extraordinaire paul morley to do her press release. another one for the manc uncle tom's list.
ReplyDeleteDated and boring.
ReplyDeleteLoneLady is ace. It's the people who can only talk about her in terms of other M/cr bands who can frig off. And Paul Morley. He used to be funny once.
ReplyDeleteStill, as long as it's only the media that keep enforcing these ridiculous pigeon holes to hammer every Manc act into......
ReplyDeleteIt's not like the bands themselves fall into using such methodology! Unless you count Liam 'where's my new direction?' Fray with his 'we're the new Smiths, Stone Roses, Oasis, Elbow, Joy Divison, Northside, Northern Uproar, Cardinals, Starsailor, Brubaker & Performance' claims. Oh are you then, great! Still for all his crimes against music (humanity and culture) at least they're not The 'self proclaimed saviors of Manchester music - featuring the bald one out of Oasis of whom by the way, we're more like than The Courteeners' Vortex! Repton and co. go ahead, save Manchester music by splitting up and take Fray, Johnny Brownlove et al out with you in the ensuing blast.