inside - Seren - Bangor University

music@seren.bangor.ac.uk MUSIC SEREN October 2001 11Talking MynciNat Rowson met Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci at Time10TH OCTOBER. Gorky’s ZygoticMynci are in Bangor to promotetheir new LP, How I Long To FeelThat Summer In My Heart, which hassold double their previous albumin its first week. Tonight they willplay a triumphant gig, spanning thewhole range of the Gorky’s backcatalogue, from whimsical rockoutsto reflective acoustic ballads.“We haven’t played Bangor sinceabout ‘94” says frontman EurosChilds apologetically. In 1995 theyrecorded a video at the Greek Tavernain which “John wore thickblack glasses and a beard andrubbed a glass against his nipple”,but Gorky’s have been deprivingNorth Wales of their genius eversince.It’s not as if they haven’t beenbusy though. Since first enteringthe studio at the age of fifteen in1991, Gorky’s have released fivealbums, two mini-albums and severalEPs. Their career has certainlyhad problems as well. In 1998 theywere dropped by their record labelafter their Gorky 5 album failedto sell. Gorky’s hardly seemedto notice however, releasing thesuperb Spanish Dance Troupe onMantra a year later. Indeed, Eurossees it as a positive. “Until thenwe never had much of an angle forthe press—my heroin addiction,my battle with booze or whatever.Now it centred around it’s a disgraceyou were dropped. Sad buttrue really.”Since then everything haschanged for Gorky’s. Foundermember and co-writer John Lawrenceleft during Spanish DanceTroupe and long-serving drummerEuros Rowlands followed shortlyafter. Despite causing obviousupsets in the band, this has helpedto keep them fresh even after tenyears. “At the moment everything’snew—could be a new band really. It“At the momenteverything’s new.Could be a newband, really.”Euros Childsdoesn’t feel like ‘oh here’s anothersong, another album’ cos it’s differentpeople.” Gorky’s survived fora year borrowing band membersfrom Teenage Fanclub and Derreroas well as Super Furries’ protégéTeflon Monkey, but now seem tohave finally found a settled line-up.“Pete’s been here a year (he waspreviously with Welsh indie heroesTopper), Rhodri (bass) for about twoand we’ve got Gwion (keyboards) onthis tour.”The personnel changes havealso pushed bassist/guitarist RichardJames to the front of the band.“He’s always written lovely songs.It’s just been a five year processof getting him to sing and recordhis own stuff ” says Euros proudly.Richard is responsible for severalof the standout tracks on the newalbum, including the single “StoodOn Gold.”OK, so they’ve survived beingdropped and losing half the band.Surely they must regret that name?“Nah. Names mutate into not meaninganything - you don’t think of anail when you say Jimmy Nail. Youthink shit. I like it. It’s memorablyimmemorable.”The band least likely to havea website have finally got roundto it and are enthusiastic aboutthe doors it opens. “We’re doinga tour diary. And we’re thinkingof putting live tracks on it, butwe’re in the state where it’s hardto get hold of our early stuff so wewant to do something with that.We’d like to put all our EPs on onedouble CD.”But their future doesn’t only liein reissuing past glories. “We’vegot new songs coming now. I don’tthink it’s going to be anythinglike this” says Euros, genuinelyexcited. Whatever it sounds like,you should have learnt that youcan depend upon Gorky’s by now.Cosmic Rough Riders, shown here whilst still on stageGIG REVIEWCosmicRough RidersTime, 26th September 2001in kevin Sampson’s excellentnovel Powder (about the rise andfall of a Verve-esque indie band),there is a line early on about agig at Bangor University which was“a fundraiser which no-one reallywanted to do.” With the numberof bands playing Bangor this yearalready, I had hoped this attitudewas a thing of the past, but CosmicRough Riders dashed this optimisminto little pieces.As did the record company forElectric Soft Parade, with the bandbeing forced to pull out of theirsupport slot merely hours beforeTime opened its doors. The bandhas promised to make their wayover here soon. Good.So to the Cosmics, then. As afan of their Teenage Fanclub-stylejanglings, I was hoping for somethingamazing. They were disappointing.Very disappointing. Theclassic melodies were present, aswere the gorgeous three-part harmonies,but something was missing.They gave a performance sodevoid of passion it was obviousthey didn’t want to be here. Thefact that most people defected tothe other room didn’t help, but youcan hardly blame them when theband were so up there own arses.After a pathetic 35 minutes, theCosmics stormed offstage. It latertranspired that there were technicalproblems, which weren’t theband’s fault, but why punish us forit? Because we’re only Bangor Unithat’s why, and we’re not importantenough to care about. Nicetunes, shame about the attitude.Daniel HartleyMetal mickey-takersDaniel Hartley considers the dubious credentials of Nu-MetalShould not be famous: Alien Ant FarmIs there really any differencebetween Linkin Park and N’ Sync?Above the obvious factor of whatthey sound like, there seems to benone whatsoever. Both have stupidnames, both are tools of a mercilesscapitalist marketing machine, bothmake lowest common denominatoraural shite and both are hugelysuccessful. Is there really any differencebetween Alien Ant Farm covering“Smooth Criminal” and Stepscovering “Chain Reaction”? Theredoesn’t seem to be, yet fans of thenew wave of metal seem to thinkthey’re into something deeper andmore meaningful than pop music.Nu-metal is a strange thing. Theartists and the audience believethat they are taking part in traditionalrock rebellion, that theyare non-conformists kicking againstsociety and the straight-laced culturalhegemony of their peers. Theyassert this independence by dressingexactly the same as all of theirfriends, and listening to identikittuneless dirges shouted by mencalled Corey. Those the mosherstry to distance themselves from(be they called scallies, towniesor jocks, depending on where youcome from) all dress the same astheir friends and listen to identikitsaccharine blandness intoned bymen called H. People delude themselvesinto thinking they are different,when in fact they’re doingexactly the same thing to a loudersoundtrack.There is good music coming outof both genres (this writer is afan of At The Drive-In and Destiny’sChild), but for each good bandthey are a hundred Limp Bizkitsor Hear’Says, peddling bland, soullessrubbish. And at least pop fansseem to be having a good time;Papa Roach’s fanbase seems to bemade up entirely of miserable bastards.I’m not saying pop music isgood; I’m just saying that nu-metalis no better. It’s as devoid of imagination,originality, importance anddecent tunes as all chart botheringmusic. And if I hear Alien AntFarm’s cover of “Smooth Criminal”one more time I’m going to scream.No, really…