Melody Maker, June 2, 1979

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Melody Maker

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Yachts on the crest of a wave


Penny Kiley

Was it worth getting seasick to see Elvis Costello? The question was unavoidable as 400 assorted liggers, Beautiful People and fans boarded the Royal Iris at Liverpool's Pier Head in less than seasonal weather. The surprise guest appearance of Radar's big star apart, this promised to be quite an event — if not the gig of the year, then the cruise of the year. Was that distant groan the ghost of Merseybeat moving over at last for the new generation, or just another seasick passenger?

It seemed quite poetic to be putting a band called the Yachts on a boat. The return of local talent, denying the claim that Liverpool is still a musical backwater (no pun intended). One ex-Liverpudlian, one ex-member of Liverpool's most loved band of the Seventies, and one fully-fledged Liverpool group.

The Bob Dylan of the new wave stole no-one's limelight, appearing early in the evening as the sun began to set over the Mersey. He played one old song (a Merseybeats number, I believe), five of his greatest hits, and disappeared. He seemed more relaxed than usual, and restored faith in himself as a human being, talking to the audience between numbers, making bad jokes about drowning, and even smiling.

Clive Langer thanked the support band and played a short, sharp set of six numbers including the two best from the new E.P., "Lovely Evening" and "The Whole World" (aided by backing vocals from various friends, well-wishers and ex-Deaf School members). Both were very strong songs, as immediately familiar as if Deaf School had once played them. His band comprised John Grant (drums), James Eller (bass), and more local talent in the person of Ian Broudie (of Liverpool's most posthumously-favoured group, Big In Japan) on guitar. A different line-up than that of the EP, playing in public together for the first time. It didn't show.

Yachts compensated for the economy of the first two sets with all the enthusiasm of a return from exile (America) and played what sounded like everything from their new LP (awaiting imminent release). I like the Yachts, but I like them three minutes at a time. More than hour is more than enough.

At their best (the singles) they create that sense of joy which makes a good pop song. At their worst, there's the suspicion of a lack of substance. Slight variations of structure and pace are insufficient to make up for the predictable tunes, and the constant repetition of the elements which gave them their original appeal (keyboards and vocal harmonies) becomes slightly tedious.

But I look out of the window and there are the band reflected in the glass, surrounded by an eager audience, and below them can be seen the lights of the famous Merseyside skyline, and even Liverpool looks romantic in the dark. I think poetic thoughts like "It's not just another gig." Yachts are a good-time band, and it's an occasion to have a good time. At the back, people with good sea-legs are dancing. The boat is still rocking. And the band played on...


Tags: Royal Iris FerryLiverpoolYachtsThe AttractionsClive Langer & The BoxesI Stand AccusedOliver's Army(I Don't Want To Go To) ChelseaAccidents Will HappenWatching The DetectivesPump It UpRadar RecordsBob DylanThe MerseybeatsJames EllerMerseysideNick LoweLabour Of LustRockpileDave EdmundsBilly BremnerTerry WilliamsBob AndrewsHuey LewisJesus Of Cool

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Melody Maker, June 2, 1979


Penny Kiley reviews the Yachts and opening acts Elvis Costello & The Attractions and Clive Langer & The Boxes, Tuesday, May 22, 1979, Royal Iris Ferry, Liverpool, England.


Chris Bohn reviews Nick Lowe's Labour Of Lust.

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1979-06-02 Melody Maker page 09 clipping.jpg
Clipping.



Puréed pop for the new people


Chris Bohn

Nick Lowe
Labour Of Lust

1979-06-02 Melody Maker page 17 clipping 01.jpg

It's graduation day at Basher Street School: the time's come for the kids to move on, find a new career in a new town. But the leap from the funnies page to the glossies isn't that awesome — both are equally as shallow, serving similar purposes for different age groups. And that is to entertain in the least offensive way as possible.

Basher and the boys, however, are very loathe to grow up; incorrigible as they are, their comic-strip humour of yore (Little Hitler, doggy dinner tales), as yellowed and curled at the edges as it might be, pervades their new pages, making Labour Of Lust the aural equivalent of Oui magazine — very soft, shiny and slick porn juggled with easily-assimilated AOR rock.

Expertly packaged, this particular product makes no bones about what's contained herein. The title itself continues the Bowie joke through to the boy's Iggy Pop period. On the inside sleeve, Lowe smiles goofily at the camera, full of Lust for Life. And the very name Nick Lowe is now synonymous with clear, diamond-hard perfection in the production department.

Inside, the music is meticulously performed by Nick and Rockpile mates Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner (guitars) and Terry Williams (drums), with a little help from friends Bob Andrews and Huey Lewis. The songs are invested with a muckle-mouthed charm by Nick's curled-lip, country-tinged delivery.

The form's fine. What about the content? Gone are the quirky oddities of the Jesus of Cool. Instead you get a few playboy cartoons, the odd romance, cocky Cagney snippets and an endless road fable. The musical accompaniments become a running Spot The Sources quiz: a touch of Shirley Ellis's "Clapping Song" in "Big Kick, Plain Scrap!" and country references dominate the early part of side two. But why spoil the fun? Spot the others yourself — except to say one of the album's best tunes sounds very similar to "Green Green Grass of Home," when the yearning emotions of the Tom Jones hit lends itself nicely to the trucker's lament, "Endless Grey Ribbon." Another country-rocker, "Without Love," is almost as good, featuring some neat guitar from Edmunds and Bremner.

Mostly, Labour Of Lust is marred by the nagging familiarity of the music and its insistence on little games and wordplays. Some are amusing — "A moment to treasure / Is just a matter of time" — others, with their sniggeringly ambiguous delivery, are just plain offputting — i.e. "Dose Of You."

Lowe's ability to achieve perfection incites a deal of admiration, if not outright enjoyment. And because of his conceit in concentrating on form over content — except where the two gell perfectly, as in the excellent single "Cracking Up" — Labour Of Lust has the attractive aura of a dumb blonde: good to look at, but not much beneath the skin, unless you're prepared to ogle the technical skill of the make-up.

It's perfect coffee-table music, despite Lowe's insistence (on "Born Fighter") that "In between the pages of a glossy magazine / Is a coffee-table world I would never fit in."


Cover.
1979-06-02 Melody Maker cover.jpg

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