Stop Stop Start Again - 'Serge' EP
BETTER DAYS~STOP STOP START AGAIN~SERGE~RECALL TO LIFE~LIZZIE BORDEN
SSSA, the Belfast post-punk glamsters, are set to release their debut CD on June 23rd. The plan was to release an album but the band have now decided to release 2 EP's instead.
So to drum up a bit of publicity for the forthcoming release - EP 1 - NI Punk's top reviewers Punky Joe and Mully (along with myself) were invited to have a wee listen to the 5 tracks that make up the CD and then provide a report.
So if you wanna know what the NI Punk scribes think of SSSA's debut release then read on ........
* Its seems there was a slight misunderstanding (on mine and Mully's part) as to what songs will actually be included on the 1st EP, please note - the Stage B songs are not on the EP - the other two tracks are Banging on your Back Door and Serge (daughter mix) - the naughty one! GT
So to drum up a bit of publicity for the forthcoming release - EP 1 - NI Punk's top reviewers Punky Joe and Mully (along with myself) were invited to have a wee listen to the 5 tracks that make up the CD and then provide a report.
So if you wanna know what the NI Punk scribes think of SSSA's debut release then read on ........
* Its seems there was a slight misunderstanding (on mine and Mully's part) as to what songs will actually be included on the 1st EP, please note - the Stage B songs are not on the EP - the other two tracks are Banging on your Back Door and Serge (daughter mix) - the naughty one! GT
Mully's verdict -
Rather than releasing a 'conventional' long player to debut their official recording debut, Stop! Stop! Start Again are releasing two limited edition E.P.s on the Time To Be Proud Records label - launching the first of these at the Bangor Punk Festival on the 23rd of June. The preview tracks for this first release, posted on the internet on the Reverbnation website, show the band wear their influences on their punk rock t-shirt sleeves, openly stealing from the past but looking to the future - "We are not the old wave, we are not the new wave, we are just here for your pleasure". 'Better Days' opens like Magazine's John McGeoch had formed a glam rock band (and thats no bad thing), featuring a guitar line slide (only missing the New York Doll "Booga-loo" to end) and a hint off Bolanesque vocal delivery. The track implies a decadent androgenous alliance, with a drug fuelled sado-masochistic leather and rubber clad sex party - all eye-liner, 'powdered' noses and powdered bodies - enacted to a Roxy Music soundtrack. It could be two people preparing for a night out in New York's Studio 54, Punks getting ready for a night at The Roxy or even New Romantics preening before heading down to The Blitz Club - it doesn't really matter because - we have never had better days (or nights for that matter) than these. Great opener that whets the appetite for more. The eponymous 'Stop Stop Start Again' plays out like the band's own musical manifesto. Whilst name-checking and acknowledging the musical heroes from the past (Ziggy, Strummer, Rotten, et al), it calls on this "dead generation" to tear up their history and reinvent it for themselves. Powerful Pistolian guitar drives this alternate take on Richard Hell's vision of a void(oid) generation but also providing a solution, the answer to the way forward - stop and start again. My favourite track on the CD - no fucking about, it does exactly what it says on the tin. 'Serge (Mother Mix)' is the radio friendly, cleaned up version, compared to the usual live motherfucker mix with it's tongue firmly stuck in cheek lyrics, - here love and eyes replacing fuck and legs - but in no way detracting from the lyrical content/context of the song. It depicts a lover comparing his romantic involvement, and all it's inherent complications, with that of the troubled relationship between Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. Lyrically intelligent in the verses and featuring the SSSA distinctive guitar sound - by giving this song the maternal treatment it has elevated it beyond the previously percieved sixteen year old schoolboy chorus. The last two tracks - 'Recall To Life' and 'Lizzie Borden' - are revisitations of old Stage B songs. Unfortunately these reworkings sound dated, locked in a 'Scream' period Siouxsie and the Banshees time warp and, to these ears, sit uncomfortably with the band's original material. Trying to breathe new life with hand claps and vocal echo does not save them from the fate of sounding like dated cover versions. These songs would be better left to their offshoot sister band The Vipers to perform in future. Overall this E.P. seems to fall between two stools but it is the new material that really stands out here - it's time to take your own advice guys, ditch the cover versions and Stop! Stop! Start Again. RATING: Forty whacks outta Fifty Mully 08/06/12 |
Punky Joe's verdict -
Jeez! Its hard to believe how much 'Stop! Stop! Start Again!' have changed since their darker early days as a 'Stage B' tribute band. Go back a year or so to when I first got an ear-full of their excellent glam reworking of 'Lizzy Borden', and I remember how amazed I was at just how good it sounded. So the clues were already there that something unexpected was on its way, well its arrived! And this is only number one of two planned ep releases . 'Better Days' & and their calling card 'Stop! Stop! Start Again!' are fine songs, but its the title track of the EP 'Serge Gainsbourg' that does it for me. This song was the first SSSA self penned tune and its been a fixture and highlight of their live set for quite a while now, and its a little gem of a song. I have to admit I prefer this more commercial radio friendly cleaned up 'Mother Mix' as its not very dignified for our elder statesmen to be corrupting their audience by singing those original extremely rude nudge nudge wink wink lyrics lol. Live onstage they parade their soundclash of influences like a badge of honour; TRex, Magazine , Psychedelic Furs , Sex Pistols , Velvet Underground, David Bowie and on disc, surprisingly, a bit of Judas Priest are all thrown into the flamboyant mix. So if you like your glamrock/postpunk with sexually ambiguous lyrics, and all wrapped up in handle bar moustaches, leopard print high heels, gay power tshirts and glittery pumps, then SSSA are the band for you. Try out the 'Serge' EP for size , I know you're going to like it. Joe Donnelly Belfast 06/06/12 My verdict -
I knew even before listening that I was gonna like this EP. Having seen SSSA grow over the past couple of years into a solid, tight knit unit, and having built up a strong set of original material on the way, I was confident that they would deliver the goods. There is a definite flamboyance about this band - the glam rock influences sparkling like glitter amongst the punk & post-punk guitar licks. SSSA have created a fairly unique sound with their punk / post-punk / glam rock mix and the first 3 (self-penned) tracks on the EP are what this band are all about. There is nothing I can really add to what Joe and Mully have already said - all 3 songs are exceptionally good with Stop Stop Stop Start Again just marginally pipping Serge Gainsbourg as my favourite track. Although I do like the Stage B covers (I am a big Stage B fan) I would have to agree with Mully that they don't sit easily beside the band's own compositions. I don't think they sound dated but again I agree with Mully's point that they would best be left to SSSA's side project the Vipers. Having said that Lizzie Borden is a cracker but one cover on the EP would have sufficed. All in all, an excellent debut offering from one of the more colourful, original, and exciting bands on the local scene. GT 10/06/12 |