mmmmm......Punk Rock........that's a funny one.
Don't wanna get on my High Horse,but, one has opinions,and i'm gonna air them.
Am I wrong,or was 'Punk Rock' about rejecting the old order,and to strive for creative and personal freedom?
This 'personal freedom' may include having a Travis Bickle
haircut, wearing expensive leather trousers,biker
jackets with 'UK Subs' painted on
the back,and generally to be in
Discharge; but,this,to me, seems like an intellectual dead end.
Alternatively,one
could try to sound and look as little like the Sex Pistols as possible.
This route represents an honest attempt to follow the original concept
of
the movement,and that is, not to follow movements, turn at right angles to the flow, do the opposite of expectations.
"Action,Time,Vision.";
...good '77 style punk rocker anthem right? What do normal celebrity
seeking pop groups do?....Yes,"Action,Time,Vision,part deux",then trois
etc.....then you're a star.
If You wanna be a rock'n'roll star,
endlessly repeating yourself,almost guarantees stardom. This despicable
route is well trodden,and has most effectively een used by the
uber-despicable U fucking desperately awful 2.
We could have all been wearing ATV
t-shirts by now,but no,they decided not to do what 99% of punk rockers tried to do,and go in a totally non-rock direction.
De-constructed versions of ATV classics sit side by side with free-form versions of the already free-form tunes on "Vibing Up The senile Man" .
Beef
this up with the odd improvisation,as the band swapped instruments to
keep the technique rudimentary, to avoid being accused of the terrible
sin of 'Musicianship'.
Coupled with a sartorial dress sense that made the
Subway
Sect look like Spandau Ballet, and you've got yourself a genuine
forward looking 'Punk' group; although in the true sense of it all, no
'Punk' group would ever call themselves a 'Punk' group!
This
recording represents an artist at the very peak of its near-misanthropic
capabilities of alienation; which exposed the psychotic,needy, nature
of 'Fans', who seem to think that the artist owes them something; and
should only deliver the 'popular' tunes; which is as unhealthy in pop
music as it is in
politics.
"Fire From Heaven" is an obvious reference to Mark Perry's interest at the time in the free jazz of the sixties,like
Archie Shepp, who's album
"Fire Music" explains
how these 60's New wave Jazzers attempted to channel music from a
higher place, by intuition rather than intellect.This concept is
definately achieved effortlessly by Mark Perry's post-punk era
collective; fire from Heaven indeed!
Among the many sonic highlights
on the god-like disc,we are treated to a shambolic version of the Pop
Group classic,"Thief of Fire", with the one and only Mark Stewart
guesting on vocals.
As
headlining act on this tour (the Animal Instincts Tour 1979),The Pop
Group were very used to disembowelling their own work; so to do it with
the very unpopular support act, wins them the highest possible Die or
DIY inspiration award.
Tracklist:
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Another Coke / The Body
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The Force Is Blind
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Thief Of Fire
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The Radio Story / Strange Looks
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Fire From Heaven
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Release The Natives
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Fellow Sufferer In Dub
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Bugger The Cat
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Download Fire From Heaven Here!
