SOUTH PACIFIC

Rip It Up, Issue 52, 1 November 1981, Page 10

SOUTH PACIFIC

Roy Colbert

jo Jo Zep & the Falcons It would be nigh on four years ago that the Joe Camilleri-Jeff. Burstin-Tony Faeshe partnership forged their first song 'So Young, So Young' on the album Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons. It was their only song on that 1978 album. Elvis Costello, impressed with the band during his Australasian jaunt, incorporated the song into his repertoire. It seemed that Melbourne's finest six piece were on their, way. They deserved to be. 'So Young' was a classic, it had feel, melody and punch. The 1979 album Screaming Targets followed that lead. The first single, 'Hit and Run', skipped • and stung; -'Katschara' was a minor epic of building tension; 'Trials and Tribulations' and .'Close To The Bone' were the ballads, gritty and soulful; 'Only The Lonely Heart-, ed' was for tearing the . house down and 'The Shape I'm In'; another reggae/soul winner. An album of depth and real instinct for the scope of rock 'n' roll. 1980 and Zep embarked on a world tour that won over the crowds but the critics often took the arrogant seen-it-all-before attitude. The tour ended in Auckland with Camilleri's opening taunt of Good evening Christchurch'. Their album of last year, Hats Off Step Lively, was an extension of the reggae based liveliness of 'Hit and Run' and 'Shape I'm In'. It was a dance album with a bunch of great songs and a

deceptive amount of emotional feeling. This year - at the beginning a Sweetwater's spot that was compact and direct, but since then things have been unsettled. A double live 7-inch and a new single Sweet', both turkeyed and they weren't drawing the crowds. So mid-way through the year Wilbur Wilde (sax and keyboards), John Power (bass) and Gary Young (drums) were replaced by Simon Gyllies (bass) and Fred Strauks (drums). A 10-inch mini-album, Dexterity, was released in Australia in August and will be available here on import early in the new year. With nine songs and twenty-five minutes playing time, the 10-inch is a novel showcase for more neat Zep style R&B ('Sweet', 'Johnny Kain' and 'Fool Enough ), soul ('Fallen Heroes'), Hats Off flavoured reggae ('Tighten Up') and traditional ska ('Rub Up, Push Up'). Tighten Up' and an easy skanking ‘Nosey Parker' are featured on a Mushroom sampler, South Pacific. The latter first appeared on Zep's own label, Mighty Records, as Joey Vincent. Dexterity is another must. In September they supported ÜB4O in Australia and are currently touring Australia. Hopefully they year's problems are behind them and the crowds start packin' in cos their music is too genuine to be ignored. George Kay

Models Sean Kelly, singer/guitarist with Melbourne band Models, gets our phone interview off to an awkward start. "The only thing I've ever seen of your magazine was probably the worst, the most crushing review of an album I've ever read. It was our first album. Mind you, I agreed with it one hundred per cent." We laugh. NME weren't too kind towards that first album either, allotting it just two sentences-, during which they managed to confuse Models with a totally different band. But album one was a while ago now. Since then there has been a six-track 10-inch Cut Lunch, a new drummer (our very own Buster Stiggs), a trip to England courtesy of A&M to record the second album Local And/Or General, and, another new drummer ("His name is Graham Scott, and he's never been to New Zealand"). Kelly seems as mystified as I as to why Buster is out. "We don't really understand why he isn't in the band either, but it's a fact, and we're naturally

hard at it evolving the band as it is now." Where has Buster gone then? "I don't know. Hang on a second ... " (consults band member). ... he's joined Kiss. No, he hasn't joined Kiss. But Buster isn't the sort of person who'll be sitting around doing nothing." Rupert Hine engineer, Steven Taylor, produced the new album with the band, and he's produced it exceedingly well. Stiggs, especially, must have been exultant. And Kelly? "Yeah, I'm really happy with it, though we've been getting some strange reactions. Like, I have been reading this magazine called RAM and this guy has written-off tracks which to me are unquestionably substantial." Like ... "Like Drive & Reflex', which has a very strong rhythm played very loudly on drums, which is man's nature, and the words are about motivation, a concept that is neither good nor bad, but it's just there, like man's desire to make music. But I guess journalists are going to overlook things like that for as long as music is recorded." Singles haven't featured largely in the Models' career so far

(the Eddie Raynor-produced track on Cut Lunch is described as a lost single') but there will definitely be one off the new album the title track. The album is already out in Australia. When have A&M scheduled it for England? "Probably around February, though if it dies here and in New Zealand, they might not go with it. Hopefully we'll be going to England early next year to promote it." Models gigged a little on the last trip, with Doll By Doll, Squeeze, Alternative TV and a few unknowns, but Kelly says the shows were incidental to the recording of the album. "I think in England, airplay is more important," he says. Gig reviews were certainly hard to find in the English press, but the band hardly went unnoticed. Buster was mugged and pocket-picked at a West Indian carnival, Mark Ferrie was hit by a car in Picadilly Circus, Andrew Duffield got into a fight at a Cramps' concert, and Kelly himself spent two days in jail. What, um, for? "I was in jail for ... (pauses) ... a driving offence. All of those things happened to a major or minor degree, but they were sen-

sationalised." Talk drifts back 1 to the album. What- is 'Telstar' doing in the middle of. Side One? "We just recorded it because we had lots of time, but it's there possibly more as an exercise in production. We have been playing it live for over two years, and people seem to like the way we do it." • x The rough and the smooth seem to hit Kelly with an approximately equal force. He says he wasn't surprised at all that A&M decided to pick up the band for England and Europe after what could hardly be called a strong debut album. , The fact / that Models have got to do some starting over , once again with Buster's exit also doesn't seem to worry him. But the fellow from RAM has definitely made his mark ... "We were all confident and enthusiastic about the new album. It's only been out a week, and you see, I've just been reading this RAM and, well, I won't go on about it...', who knows, I'll probably be in better spirits in two weeks time." He laughs again, thanks us for our interest, and says goodbye.