Post-Punk Monk

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DEMO LISTEN

The disc of demos that came with the deluxe edition this time, was not apart of an all-inclusive SDLX box like the last three albums have had. This time we got a complete and then some demo version of the album for only a small premium of price. That was appreciated, and as we’ll see, there was more here to foster our admiration.

1. Bauhaus Staircase 2.7 Demo. Andy 30th Aug 2020 3:36
2. Anthropocene Demo (A Haven For Lost Souls 1.1 Paul’s Track April 2020) 4:07
3. Look At You Now Demo (Zimmer Frame For Andy) Paul 28th Feb 2021 1:36
4. G.E.M. Demo (Culture War. Andy 6th March 2021) 2:45
5. Where We Started Demo (Stadium 6.0) Andy 26th May 2020 3:15
6. Veruschka 2 Demo 2nd December 2020 3:47
7. Slow Train Demo 1.3 Dec 2020 3:12
8. Don’t Go Demo 14th Nov 2018 2:36
9. Kleptocracy Demo (When I Was Young) Andy 14th March 2021 2:52
10. Aphrodite’s Favourite Child Demo (B Side Choir) Fotonovela 2011 1:54
11. Evolution Of Species 2.5 Ruff 4:43
12. Healing Demo (Water April 9th 2020) 4:32
13. Bauhaus Staircase Demo Andy 20th July 2020 2:56

The demo of the title track was looser in feel than the tightly wound album track. The tempo was slower and the vibe was less insistent. The soundstage was more spacious, and Andy was more immediate in his vocal styling. The music bed was looser and clankier. And there were some interesting lyrics that got discarded along the way. The song’s last two [excellent] verses weren’t there yet but what was made for a telling snapshot.

I had to admit that I really preferred the sound of the demo to the final album. The looser, more organic quality to the arrangement and vocal made it easier for the song to connect to me. And the production might not have been quantized to within a micro-millisecond for a less regimented feel.

Not all of the tracks had vocals at the point these snapshots were taken. “Anthropocene” sounded less like a track from “Electric Café” but was otherwise instrumental. Other tracks, like “Look At You Now” was a mere snip of 1:36 in length. But with “G.E.M.” we got another winner with Andy singing without so many vocal effects gumming up his performance. And the synth loops that the song was built upon was not so rigid in its definition so the jaunty number could have some swing. The verse of excised lyrics were also provocative, with the subtitle gaining some connection to the song.

“Where We Started” lost the wailing lead synth that Andy’s been favoring since “Kissing The Machine” [original version] ca. 1993! But his vocal still had a tremolo effect applied to it that the final album version spared us from. The demo of “Veruschka” gained points for having a superior vocal from Andy; doubling only on the chorus, instead of throughout the song. His phrasing was more emotive here as well, making the song gain some points with me to the point where the song has been on the Mental Walkman® all day today. Hmm!

No such redemption was in store for “Slow Train,” which was still crass and meretricious in its demo form. In fact, it sounded even more foolish and ill-starred here, thanks to the phrasing decisions that McCluskey made which made the tune even more obnoxious. Though it mercifully was a full minute shorter, it may have been even more troubling than the album recording. Having heard Andy sing like this, I will make the point that it cannot be un-heard.

The demo of “Don’t Go” was still winsome and cheerful, but the music bed was richer and less harsh to the ear, thought that could be down to the mastering on the album version. Andy still doubled his vocals on certain verses and once more, the lyric was the real weak point on the track.

“Kleptocracy” was conspicuously missing the sampled vocal hook that gave it its striking urgency, but the bass guitar in our faces up front was still highly compelling. The topline melody was familiar but the lyrics were a completely dissimilar concept. The parenthetical title of “When I Was Young” made it a different song completely, though the opening lyrical couplet was the middle eight here, and the last lap of the song was instrumental save for that thick, zesty bass guitar we don’t get enough of in modern OMD. That said, the album version is still by far the go-to song from this album.

“Aphrodite’s Favourite Child,” the song co-written with Grecian Synthpoppers Fotonovela in 2011 [judging by the full title], was rounder and richer here in the instrumental version that sounded better than ever, but still had me pining for McCluskey’s excellent lyric and performance. “Evolution Of Species [Demo]” was a full 90 seconds longer than the album version, with additional sound bites being added to the mix. Virtually creating a 12″ mix of the song on disc two. The addition of animal like rhythmic trills on synth brought it closer to its concept, making the version here more successful to my ear.

“Healing” was also almost a minute longer than the album version. It hewed closely to the footprint of the album version; being based on the same dripping water rhythm loop and being largely composed of gentle string leads and pads. There were no vocals or lyrics on this version and the busier rhythms from the album version were absent. Here, the water was everything. There was another demo of “Bauhaus Staircase” manifested as the final track. It was instrumental and without the strong lyrics, it was much less arresting than either vocal version had been.

Next: …Updating The Graph

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“Where We Started” was a stately OMD mid-tempo ballad with Mellotron sample choral patches and striking the sine wave lead synth patch that has been very popular with the band of late. The McCluskey penned tune was one of two here where he wrote without co-writers. It featured a familiar vibe; similar to the great Thompson Twins deep cut “If You Were Here,” which served it well enough, and at 2:27, it certainly left one wanting more!

I couldn’t say that about the following “Veruschka.” It was another mid-tempo ballad built upon sustained string patches and harp glissandos. The biggest problem that I had with it was that it explicitly recalled the wealth of forgettable material from my least favorite OMD album, “Liberator.” The layering of vocal effects on McCluskey’s performance didn’t endear it any further with me. To its credit, there was no dreaded shuffle beat that would have thoroughly shackled it to the otherwise exact same vibe as a song from “Liberator” like “King Of Stone.” With the famous 60s model as its title, I had expected a lot of vivacity from this song and it thoroughly let me down.

I had similar issues with the very different track that followed. “Slow Train” sounded like a track that would have been kind of expected from 2010’s “History Of Modern” album. It hit like a perfect mashup of OMD’s own “Sailing On The Seven Seas Of Love” with Goldfrapp’s “Ooh La La” hit from 2005. Hearing it in 2023, one was struck with how dated and derivative it was. OMD had stood for so much more than this of late. The co-write between McCluskey and backing vocalist Katrina Kanepe suggested an old Genie Queen tune that was kicking around in Andy’s notebooks and used now to its detriment.

The inane, singsong nursery rhyme melody was only marginally better than the one of “Sailing On The Seven Seas” and if McCluskey was burying any subtle intelligence in the lyric, let me say that it was buried deep to the point of inscrutability. I like the Goldfrapp song. It revisited T-Rextacy with a bracing electro drag. “Slow Train” was late to the station in comparison… about 20 years too late.

The new recording of “Don’t Go” stands as the only one I’ve heard since I never got any copy of “Souvenir” back in 2019. The poise and crisp attack of the backing track suggested Kraftwerk at their cheeriest, while the juxtaposition of the anguished, if clichéd, lyric was strongly redolent of the band’s “break America” phase of the mid 80s. These are definitely not the lyrics I want to hear in OMD material; leaving the re-recording of “Don’t Go” looking like filler here.

The single fist-pumping, actually thrilling, OMD song to be found on “Bauhaus Staircase,” was the other McCluskey-penned song; “Kleptocracy.” It began with the most urgent intro imaginable, as a man’s voice shouted “Go!” with a pre-echo giving it a doppler shift dynamism that was unbelievable. It hit the ground running a full speed as McCluskey trained his cynical eye directly on the political hellscape of the now with unerring accuracy. I do think that this song might be the lyrical successor to Jarvis Cocker’s “…Running The World” for the song that best summed up our political predicament.

It also helped that it sported a classic OMD melody that was directly at odds with the tenor of the lyric, for loads of that cognitive dissonance that worked to their advantage on classics like “Enola Gay.” And like the very best OMD songs, there was a real bass guitar in McCluskey’s hands when this gem was recorded. The mixing on this one from David Watts [he also mixed “Slow Train”] showed that these songs were made or broken at the writing stage. On this song, Andy was on fire. This song was so irresistible, that even the electronically slurred vocals couldn’t put me off. When it stopped on a dime at a letter perfect 3:00 it could have lasted for twice as long for my tastes. I pray that this one will be a future single so that we’ll have an OMD extended version to listen to with all of the other lyrics that McCluskey trimmed to deliver this potent molotov cocktail of an OMD song.

More choral patches heralded the exquisite “Aphrodite’s Favourite Child” which took the prize here for the best of the five mid-tempo ballads. Its steady synth pulse and hi-hat gently driving the first verse until the drums and string patches converged in a dreamlike whorl while McCluskey delivered devastating lyrics like “can you hold me, closely, like a mother holds her dying only child.” The tasteful use of vocal effects only on his backing vocal ensured that Andy was front and center to make an emotional connection with the listener on this powerful number. The heartbreaking coda where McCluskey cedes the space to the Mellotron chorale was OMD at their melancholy, poignant best.

“Evolution of Species” had the band indulging in another of their science geek extravaganzas, complete with multi-lingual, Kraftwerkian synthetic vocals carrying the message forward. The band had revisited this trope from “Dazzle Ships” on the “English Electric” album of 2013 where it was a significant piece of the album’s foundation. It continued with a pair on the “Punishment Of Luxury” album, and in the here and now, it gave a sense slight desperation. It was notable for another Eastern European melody but when it ended after three minutes with the Voice Of Authority portentously intoning “extinction… extinction… extinction” you’d hopefully forgive me for noting its perfunctory air.

Dripping water foley effects added some interest to the intro of the somber ballad “Healing” that capped the album. The song began with string patches and piano but became progressively more electronic sounding as it progressed to its climax where McCluskey had the final word on what has been mooted as the last OMD album. The band had used a similar gambit on the preceding “Punishment Of Luxury” where “The View From Here” had a similar vibe while being a more memorable song. There was a sense of going to the well one time too many on “Healing.”

Next: …Bonus Disc

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Five and a half years ago, we wrapped up an epic 75 post thread on the complete album oeuvre of OMD examined in Monastic detail. OMD are a prime Core Collection band for me with many ups and downs in their storied career of 44 years. Ever since their Reformation in 2006, the band have recorded three new albums that have delighted these ears and have been on an upward artistic trajectory with impressive tours of the major markets, and a series of albums that have debuted higher, and higher in the UK charts with every outing. With the appearance of their newest release, “Bauhaus Staircase,” the time is ripe to revisit this thread and to update the famous PPM Rock G.P.A. graph. Have the band managed to keep with their modern standards with the latest work; suggested that it’s their swan song by the band prior to its appearance? Let’s find out.

ROCK G.P.A.

OMD

Bauhaus Staircase 2023

3

We immediately bought the DL of the title track single on the day of release last August. On the single, OMD managed to craft a reasonably commercial tune that nonetheless managed to combine fine art and high culture references as well as politics into the heady swirl of the lyric that was the type of effort that only OMD would have made. That they managed to give the best possible shout out to the still astonishing debut album by Pere Ubu, never mind turning that into the prime vocal hook on the single, was immediately endearing to me. Even if in terms of modern OMD lead singles, it was possibly middling OMD goods; Far better than the execrable “If You Want It” yet less striking than “Metroland” or Isotype” had been.

It’s hard to imagine, but OMD have played science geek second fiddles to Nick Cave, who beat them to a song entitled “Anthro[p]ocene” by six years; though that’s just a blip on the epoch scale of things. Naturally, OMD took the science to the extreme, with synthetic voices [a trope common to all of their last three albums] discussing the concept and enumerating the number of humans across a huge scale of time. All set to a Cossack-friendly melody with a 4/4 beat. Andy cnn be said to have shared the song with their synthetic voices as a duet where he sounded like he played second fiddle to them. In keeping with that thought, the Voice Of Authority got the last word here with the punchline to the song’s ultimately bitter cosmic joke.

“Look At You Now” was a bit soppy. The treacly melody was not what I really wanted to hear from OMD and the song managed to highlight for the first time, an issue that would keep me a bit distant from this album. Namely, the swamping of McCluskey’s vocals in effects that ultimately muddied up his singing and had a distancing effect on my relation to it. I dislike straining to hear a human vocal performance through a haze of synthetic fog.

The rhythm to “G.E.M.” was calculated to make listeners want to skip for the first time in ages. Once more McCluskey had effects ladled heavily over his vocals, which were further doubled for impact. The effects [including vocoder] were twice as heavy as with the preceding song. Where this song managed to get away with that conceit was down to the actually fascinating lyrics and unusual rhythmic structure of the song. The jaunty vibe of the music was completely at odds with the cryptic darkness of the lyric.

Next: …Middling