Wednesday 8 September 2010

A Plug-In Called Nostalgia

London Fields # 82
First
published Inpress, Melbourne on 8 September 2010

NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here


One of the recurring conversation topics that seems to come up whenever we discuss music down the pub regards which bands we’d wished we had seen, but never did, and who we‘d like to reform. While there are various particular shows I regret missing, for me there’s really only one act in this category now - and that’s Joy Division. Lacking a time machine, this had led me down all sorts of strange paths. When they were filming the Ian Curtis biopic Control in Nottingham, I applied to be an extra for the gig scenes. The Gillian-free line-up of New Order reintroduced Joy Division as a regular part of their sets, and twice I saw them perform sets as Joy Division; firstly for John Peel, and then in Manchester for Andy Rourke’s inaugural Verses Cancer charity bash. Yet the closest I’ve felt to recapturing something gone forever came when Section 25, who had an early record produced by the Joy Division singer, included a blinding rendition of No Love Lost in their set.

Now Joy Division’s bass player Peter Hook has combined the current fad for playing albums in their entirety with nostalgia for what has passed. To commemorate the thirty years since singer Ian Curtis’s death, he’s formed a touring band to play Joy Division’s brilliant debut album
Unknown Pleasures live in its entirety - and they arrive in Australia later this month. One of the things I admired when I saw his new band Freebass was the lack of reliance on any material from their former famous bands. While Barney and Stephen Morris still feature Joy Division songs in the encores of Bad Lieutenant shows, but this is a new thing altogether. Peter Hook & The Light do get some things right; a real drum kit gives a much more authentic sound than an electronic one, and the guitarist retains the simplicity of the original playing. Hooky is the only member of the band to have played on the original recording, and the live show could be called Twobass as Hooky’s son plays many of the basslines, leaving the original bassist to concentrate on singing. This isn’t a slavish recreation of the original though. As a front man Hook does overplay the raised fist, but perhaps the most controversial decision is the inclusion of former Happy Mondays vocalist Rowetta to sing some of the songs. While I didn’t mind her take on Insight, some of the lyrics on that album are born of a very male despair, something at odds with the image of her busting out of a denim mini-dress and boots.

Yet should one expect something that was created in a studio to be played at home to work as a live performance? This is the flaw of the concept, no matter which band attempts it. The versions they play fall between the sheen of Martin Hannett’s production, and the rougher versions they played as a live act. Yet Joy Division only played
Candidate live on three occasions, so by the time Hooky reaches Australia he’ll have sung this song live more times than Ian Curtis ever did. Yet if the original act rarely included it (or I Remember Nothing) in live sets, should that be telling us something? While it was magical for me to hear these songs live just once, regardless of context or history, it seemed a great many people around me only really want to hear the singles. Thus the finale of Love Will Tear Us Apart sees the place erupt as the Vikings lead the way in a singalong which turns that melody into a football terrace anthem.

We seem surrounded by recreations of the recent past or shallow imitations of them.
Hurts seem to have stolen their image wholesale from the artwork of No Sense Of Sin by The Lotus Eaters. While the newcomers are drenched in press coverage, there was virtually none when the two core members of The Lotus Eaters took their emotionally open songs on the road in stripped bare acoustic arrangements - just two guitars and vocals. While it lacked the power of the full band show the previous year, some songs held on remarkable well, and it was very sad to see such a poor turn out. This need to go and revisit the past seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. It’s like trying to create a perfect memory, or to find something lost, or even to pretend to be part of something that you never were. Maybe it’s time to say - enough! The Joy Division song that always meant the most to me was the desperate cry of New Dawn Fades. Yet, as sung by Rowetta, these words written by Ian Curtis seem to take on a whole new meaning: “Me, seeing me this time, hoping for something else”.


© James McGalliard 2010