It's late night. I'm dissatisfied. Can't put my finger on it. A gradual comedown, meltdown.
Maybe the oppressive nature of Brisbane is finally getting to me. It's not enough to stare at greenery, greenery shaped to suit people's expectations. I'd like to burn neon. I'd like to stumble drunk across the forecourt of Grand Central, hurl abuse into hillsides. I want to step, free-step. I don't want to talk. I never want to talk. I don't want to share. I never want to share. I never want to share. There's an atonality to the first Flipper album that pleases me more now than it ever did back then (when I may have considered it a little too obvious, I don't know). It makes me think of Dunedin. It makes me think of useless imagination. It makes me rebel, even against my own rebellious nature. It reminds me of my past, as a dissatisfied youth.
I wrote a song a couple of weeks ago while pumping the car stereo LOUD while listening to the first Flipper album, specifically 'Shed No Tears' - which sounds as nihilistic as I've ever felt. I wrote the song a couple of weeks back while listening to 'Shed No Tears' and driving the wrong way down a (busy) one-way street in Brisbane centre, on the way to a recording session in someone's flat. The song is called 'Listening To Flipper On The Car Stereo' and - in an odd, roundabout way - it sounds like Dan Treacy back when he was deliberately detuning his guitar and playing every song at half-speed.
As Krist Novoselic rightly writes in the sleeve-notes to the reissue, Generic Flipper is "a monument to the riff" - the next step up from Sabbath's fourth and Zeppelin's fourth. Well, I can't vouch for the latter two comparisons - digging the heaviosity of 'War Pigs' was about the furthest I ever got in that direction - but I can definitely empathise with his description of himself as a 'maladjusted 18-year-old'. Most days I still feel that way. And I can vouch for the fact this album sounds even more brutal, even more vital in 2009.
It's late night. But I wish it wasn't.
We should do it again, I've got a brand new setup, we can do something that will sound even better.
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ReplyDeleteEverett True
i missed Flipper live. Did I miss anything?
Chris Pugmire at 9:06pm June 16
YES. the 'secret' show in melbourne was incredible. i felt like i was in a place near what it would've been like to see the screamers live. punishing humor, punishing volume. best 'old' band since seeing the slits and touring with mecca normal. never thought flipper were so vital. still blown away...
Jack Sargeant at 9:07pm June 16
it was great. having never seen them before I have to say they were a lot of fun, in Sydney they started with great noise moved to sludge damage then the drummer and singer had an argument on stage which meant that Bruce walked off and one of the Menstruation Sisters took vocal duties for the last number. It was exactly like you thought it was if you saw them at the Deaf Club in 78, you know.
Andy Barding at 9:07pm June 16
Dreadfully dull, I thought, when I saw them. That would have been around '91, I think.
Justin Edwards at 9:19pm June 16
I got what I expected at the Brisbane show. This week's Rave review sums it up pretty well.
Everett True at 9:25pm June 16
is that online, Justin? I kinda wish i'd gone now. it's just that i'm well against reunions, still. damn. as good as slits and mecca normal, huh?
Chris Pugmire at 9:41pm June 16
yup. as 'i don't give a fuck/i totally give a fuck/don't fuck with me' as slits or MN. only the wasted bay area version.
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ReplyDeleteBrooke Shepherd at 2:28am June 17
saw them in san francisco. twas terrible. truly. and i even liked terrible music back then!
Lou Barlow at 1:48pm June 17
they were an epic mess.. huge sounding ( i saw em in a half empty grange hall ) .... like PIL unleashed..
zep drums.. incredible.. showing up 3 hours late in a broken down van..1984
[...] I’m reminded of Monks, Moondog, 4 Gods, Flipper. [...]
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