— Mark Frith
We'll be getting to the relative merits of shoegaze before long so let's spend some time here ripping into it a little. Actually, it's not even shoegaze itself that I find problematic, more the perception of it as being more serious than other subgenres of UK indie from the early nineties. I'm all for musicians not smiling in their videos and on stage and in photos but appearing to be bored and/or acting as though this pop business is a total imposition does not a great back catalog make. With all due respect to the likes of Lush and Ride, I'll take the people who are seemingly having a laugh making records and playing shows and doing some press.
(At any rate, who says looking at the floor, head titled slightly is the only way to make it look like you're above it all? Why not pout with the air of superiority instead? It will make you appear more like an aspirational pop star and you might even become an unexpected sex symbol along the way — no small feat considering people like Kingmaker's Loz Hardy and Cud's Carl Puttnam looked like the long-haired, good-for-nothing cousins of XTC's Andy Partridge)
Mark Frith's enthusiasm for a group like Kingmaker is refreshing since they didn't really get their due at the time and they have become largely forgotten ever since. Rightly or wrongly, they got lumped in with the likes of The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine and Ned's Atomic Dustbin, bands which enjoyed a brief period of success but didn't have the longevity. Also, they weren't exactly darlings of the critics (as opposed to, say, those pesky, allegedly more serious shoegazers). Yet, their discography is respectable even as the spirit of youth began to evaporate.
The new singles review section of Smash Hits altered more than just the layout. Scores out of five are now included but out is information of record companies. Of course, most readers wouldn't have given a toss about who happened to be signed to WEA or Jive or FFRR but Frith could have avoided a tiny error had it been included. Previous single "Really Scrape the Sky" (in actual fact another E.P. released as Idiots at the Wheel; "Really Scrape the Sky" did have a video made) had been reviewed by Sian Pattenden at the start of the year. It is listed as a Chrysalis product; The Celebrated Working Man, however, was released by the tiny Sacred Heart Records. (It was in fact a re-release, having initially hit the shops a year earlier prior to Kingmaker signing with a major) But Frith seems unaware of this, commenting that this extended play is a "step beyond their recent chart hit, more tuneful and hard-hitting". It's not exactly progress if your debut record sounds like an improvement on your more recent work.
Chrysalis was no doubt a step up from an obscure indie label but their track record of getting promising bands into a higher level hadn't been great. Both The Waterboys and offshoot band World Party had received critical acclaim but neither managed to be as big as many felt they deserved. A glut of record companies back in the late twentieth century meant that there was plenty of money being thrown around but that didn't mean that acts got sufficient attention. That's not to say they were ignored since label interference harmed Kingmaker. They would eventually complain that CD single formatting was gouging their modest fanbase while also bleeding the band dry of material but it's likely that being on a major hurt them almost from the off.
I like The Wonder Stuff. I am well aware that they typically lacked subtlety but I think their energy, drive, anger and humour more than compensate. Yet, one Miles Hunt was more than enough. Guitarist/singer Hardy had his own talents as a frontman without having to mimic the charismatic leader of one of Britain's top groups. On the four tracks that comprise The Celebrated Working Man, Loz has a chewy vocal sound that must have been his natural way of singing; by the time of major-backed E.P.'s like Idiots at the Wheel, he could be a Hunt impersonator appearing at a variety of Stourbridge pubs. (A notorious review in the Melody Maker of a concert the band played later in the year with an up-and-coming opening act called Suede leaned heavily on them being supposed Wonder Stuff copy cats) I don't think it's crazy to suggest that record company pressure led to them trying to have a "Size of a Cow" of their own.
A lack of individuality was something a lot of "alternative" groups had to work around in the nineties. The members of Kingmaker had a strong inter-band dynamic but it wasn't as if they were doing anything new. Nevertheless, when it comes to the kind of "greasy rock anthems" that Frith is evidently so fond of, they could be among the best in the business. Nowhere is this better displayed than on their maiden E.P. release and before major labels and bullying critics got in their heads. If only indie could have remained independent.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Shanice: "I Love Your Smile"
My indie period dominated the first half of 1992 but that doesn't mean I was immune to the charms of catchy pop. If you were to create a mix or playlist of songs it's impossible to dislike then "I Love Your Smile" ought to be in there. It came out at a time when I was beginning to turn my back on black male vocalists over-emoting to their very unrhythmic, unblusey brand of R&B; luckily, a whole new generation of African-American female vocalists was emerging led by Shanice and Ce Ce Peniston with back-to-basics dance pop and real R&B. Although I don't care for rambling on about how different songs have aged over the years, I'm happy to discover that I still love this song since it means that I'm aging well.
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