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swell maps

  • cult figuresDeritend – Cult Figures (Gare Du Nord Records)

    If pressed to name a heartland for rocking hard pop you don’t normally nominate Birmingham. Call it the loudmouthed opinion of an Aussie who blew in once to drink some warm pints, but its Industrial Revolution décor and shitty weather makes it more of a Black Sabbath kinda place.

    Of course the West Midlands of England has pumped out its share of pop (Duran Duran, anyone?) but, musically speaking,  if you’d heard of Cult Figures you wouldn’t put them be among that crew.  (Fun Fact: Roger Taylor drummed for them for one show.)

  • jesus loves my heroin 2Here’s the two-part hypothesis: (1.) No schtick in rock and roll works as well as premature death and; (2.) the Japanese have a particularly deep interest in musicians who have checked out early – especially those terminally doomed through their own vices. 

    The latter probably has a lot to do with the strict Japanese drug laws and the populace's deeply rooted respect for authority. Remember the Macca bust? Did you hear the one about the Australian band that wouldn't tour there because the singer liked his pot so much and was worried he wouldn't find a connection? I digress. 

    The laws of science say that any hypothesis should be disprovable. While you’re trying, I’m spinning this album.

    "Jesus Loves My Heroin II" is  a Japanese tribute to Nikki Sudden and Kevin Junior Now, I have familiarity with some of the works of the late Mr Sudden; I’m less up-to-speed with the output of the late Mr Junior.