After all
the years since the release of the NME C86 cassette, there is still a massive
misunderstanding about its legacy. The lazy myth is that it was full of tracks
by ungainly, precious, lo-fi bands that were part of a “scene” that ultimately
lead to the birth of insufferably twee 90s bands such as Belle And Sebastian
and their ilk………………..the reality is that C86 was a snapshot of that year’s
burgeoning growth of independent labels inspired by Rough Trade, Factory,
Beggars Banquet, etc, etc, etc, etc and the D.I.Y ethics of the time, very much
like the earlier C81 cassette that carried tracks by the far more influential
Pere Ubu, Orange Juice, Specials, Cabaret Voltaire and The Raincoats amongst
other now legendary bands. Although there were a few delicate Indie Pop bands
on C86, the cassette’s track list also included slightly shambolic Psychedelia from
Primal Scream, Nuggets inspired Garage Rock from The Mighty Lemon Drops (still
the last great band to emerge from Wolves), The Wedding Present’s Punky guitar
pop, Half Man Half Biscuit’s Scouse sarcasm, angular Beefheart inspired
strangeness from Stump, the unspeakably shite Soup Dragons, Age Of Chance
mixing beats and guitars ahead of their time and of course ferocious Garage/Punk from the mighty
Wolfhounds, with the only thing linking them together was that they were all
“Indie” in the truest sense of the word, way before the label was stuck on any
band of white boys with guitars and issues. Although considered to be a “C86
band” more by association than because of any musical style, The Wolfhounds began
as a slightly askew Indie Pop/Rock band with a clutch of great singles on the
Pink label……..their absolutely brilliant second single Anti Midas Touch still
stands up today as a classic Garage/Punk influenced Indie Rock
record……..evolving into a harder edged guitar band with a much denser sound by
the end of the decade, they always stood out from the other bands on the
compilation. Splitting in early 1990 and splintering into bands as diverse
as the more experimental Moonshake and the Acid Jazz outfit Mother Earth, The
Wolfhounds seemed to be destined to be yet another Indie Rock footnote with
most of the other bands that were included on C86…………………….however…………………………..The
Wolfhounds are back and better than ever!!!! The band reformed properly in 2006 at the
request of St Etienne’s Bob Stanley to celebrate 20 years since the release of
C86, and inflicted a severe guitar noisefest on an unsuspecting Indie Pop crowd
at London’s ICA, and since 2012 they have been recording and releasing new
material. Still an abrasive guitar band with a Garage/Punk vibe they have continued
to develop their sound without losing the fury that made their songs so
memorable the first time round and after last year’s critically lauded recent
singles compilation, Middle Aged Freaks, along with the almost simultaneous
reissue of their 1986 debut Unseen Ripples From A Pebble, The Wolfhounds
release their first standalone LP since 1990’s Attitude.
Released on
the Welsh Indie Odd Box Records, the new album from The Wolfhounds, Untied Kingdom
(…..or How to Come To Terms With Your Culture), is a logical progression from
the previous recordings with raging guitars tempered with additional horns and
keys and David Callahan’s distinctive vocals augmented with an outstanding trio
of guest singers (Katherine M Whittaker (Evans the Death), Elin Grimstad (Je
Suis Animal) and Astrud Steehouder (Paper Dollhouse)) creating a sound that is
both squalling Punk Blues and something that is more spacious and modern in equal
measures. It conjours up demons of the fiercest Rock’n’Roll along with the
unfettered experimentation of singer Callahan’s previous band, Moonshake to
form an expansive whole which catches the ear on every spin on our Dancette.
Unlike many of The Wolfhounds C86 contemporaries/early 90s bands that are still
gigging today they are not a nostalgia act feeding off past glories but
continually pushing forward and still relevant…………Untied Kingdom is a modern as
any young band could hope to be, but as wise and disturbed as any alert adult
has to be. An apt comparison would be the recent output of Wire. This is the
band’s most varied release yet, from the opening, acapella, iPhone-manipulated
folk resurrection of ‘Apparition’ to the apocalyptic repetition of the electric
violin and detuned guitar driven ‘Across The River of Death’ Untied Kingdom
takes you on a 50 minute plus journey that takes in sample mangled dub (the
fantastic ‘Lucky Heather’), intense Garage Rock (‘Now I’m A Killer’) and
late-night unplugged lo-fi (‘Oppositeland’) along the way, going musically and
lyrically pretty much everywhere all other underground bands can’t or won’t go.
As someone smarter than us said “The
album summons sometimes dystopic, sometimes frighteningly dysfunctional
hallucinations of desperate working life and insecurity, while at the same time
being raw and hardcore and celebratory as danceable blues”. Forget the C86
tag, that was a long time ago……………..The Wolfhounds are a vibrant, modern Rock ‘n’
Roll band that deserve your attention.
Due for
release by Odd Box Records on 14th October on 2 x LP and as a
digital download, Untied Kingdom (…..or How to Come To Terms With Your Culture)
is available to pre-order from The Wolfhounds Bandcamp page here http://thewolfhounds.bandcamp.com/album/untied-kingdom-or-how-to-come-to-terms-with-your-culture.
There are a few other bands from the C86 tape we would like to see back again,
for starters it would be good to have Stump and The Mighty Lemon Drops doing a
few gigs……….but please God, never, ever let the Soup Dragons reform!!!!!
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