Kevin Shields' progeny

Had I had the time when I bought it, I would've written some thoughts on (the appallingly named!) Ringo Deathstarr's "Colour Trip" cd (Club AC30).  I would've mentioned that I saw them supporting Dean and Britta (February 2011 @ Stereo in Glasgow) when that duo were performing 'The Songs of Galaxie 500' and that J and I had quipped to each other that Ringo Deathstarr were obviously performing 'The Songs of My Bloody Valentine'.  I would've mentioned, too, how I had had the same Showaddywaddy (<--- only click this link if you are emotionally robust and have another catchy song to hand with which to flush out yr ears afterwards!) suspicions that I had had on first hearing The Manhattan Love Suicides i.e. that they were a mere facsimile of something that in its day was truly new and creative and hence dangerous.  I would've said, however, that, as with TMLS, I unequivocally enjoyed their music regardless of any doubts about about its borrowing from the past.

I mention all this now because I'm experiencing it yet again with No Joy's "Ghost Blonde" album (Mexican Summer).  No Joy purloin from the same artists (fill in the blanks!) as Ringo Deathstarr so won't satisfy those searching for the merest glimmer of originality in their music but, as with RD, they do make a very pretty noise.  A noise that when it hits high gear is more than a little exhilarating such as when the drummer bludgeons his kit to death about 1 minute and 26 seconds into "You Girls Smoke Cigarettes?" or during the rampaging first couple of minutes of "Hawaii".  I suspect that the 21 year old me would have haughtily dismissed both groups (and probably their labels, too) but I'm not 21 years old any more and I don't really need each new record I buy to be the saviour of music.  I guess, to some extent, that's due to my having a bit more disposable income and knowing that if I buy a stinker or even just a pleasantly average record, I won't have to sit and stare at it resentfully for ages before I can afford to buy another one.  Mind you, in retrospect, I did buy the entire recorded output of Secret Shine, so even as a 21 year old I wasn't averse to a bit of MBV plundering!  I guess what all this rambling is trying to say is that I like No Joy and Ringo Deathstarr while being fully cognisant of their historical debt*.

* - heh heh...just to illustrate that you can't trust anyone..I whipped the phrase 'historical debt' from this l.p.'s title