Purple Days

Rip It Up, Issue 115, 1 February 1987, Page 12

Purple Days

Look Blue Go Purple. Do what? No, no, the question is “who?” — though few people should have to ask. Two EPs and several national tours have introduced most people with an ear for new noises to the special sounds of LBGP.

James Brown Gravity (Epic 12”) The godfather still deep in the groove and doing .it to death! on this modern dance slam. This ■ sounds better than the album ver- % sion, but check that out for some of the king of soul’s best work for V. years. Oran “Juice” Jones The Rain (CBS 12”) Mr Jones don’t fool around, instead of “doing a Rambo” on his cheating girlfriend who’s out there in the rain with another man, he just stops the credit.cards and takes back the mink coat and Gucci accessories. A classic tale of infidelity with a witty rap and fine melody line. There’s going to be nothing stopping this one. Gregory Abbott Shake You Down (CBS 7”) This year’s sexual healing with just the right balance between devil and angel in his voice. There’s . more than a touch of Al Green in that pure falsetto and the sincere talking bit is cool. A seductive slice of soul indeed. Jessie Johnson Crazay (A&M 12”) Tight rhythm workout from former Prince sideman that doesn't quite come alive. Except when Sly Stone takes over the vocal chant and . brings, back the groove of 'I Want to Take You Higher.’ It’s so good to hear him back again. ZZ Top Velcro Fly (Warner Bros 12”) High tack boogie , homage to quick and painless sex and that sticky stuff that holds the seams on your jeans. Re-mixed by Jellybean and the drums sound real neat, but the guitars too clean. Can’t wait to see the Texan trio live, and it better be real loud! 7‘ Georgia Satellites Keep .Your Hands to Yourself /Can’t Stand the Pain (Elektra 7”) This is more like it, more guitars than there are bubbles in your beer. Great walls of noise that re- . establish traditions long since lost, taken from an album that really scorches.” • Psychedelic Furs Heartbreak Beat (CBS 12”) It says New ..York mix, but it might as well be called “like everybody else mix” designed for people who buy CDs to listen to the silence between tracks. Kerry Buchanan

There are two experiences common to all five members of LBGP that undeniably affect the method, melody and madness. The first is that they all live in Dunedin, the second that they are all women. Dunedin is the sort of town in which a band as unique as LBGP can be fostered to the point where they develop the confidence and ability to produce the masterful and exuberant music immortalised on their first EP Bewitched and their latest, LBGP EP2. “It’s quite a close-knit place — that’s what’s good about it,” says Kathy Webster, bassist. “The bands get encouraged and gain confidence because your friends are in the audience, and you know a lot of people in other bands and learn from the experiences they’ve had. When people talk about “the Dunedin sound” — well it doesn’t really exist, but because we all play with each other, learn off each other and grow together, there are similarities.” This Dunedin band were in Auckland as part of their national tour with compatriots Straitjacket Fits. (See live review elsewhere in this issue). “We deliberately set out to be an all-women band,” says Kathy. “It was deliberate but not from any radical feministic standpoint. It’s still feminist though, in that we all wanted to play with other women.” Most members of LBGP have

played in mixed groups, and they say there is definitely something different about playing with women, but it is largely, "intangible.” Says guitarist Denise Roughan: “It’s more difficult to get decisions made because nobody says, ‘This is the way it should be.’ I like that really. We’re ultra democratic. We’ve always got to make sure everyone’s happy. “Women certainly don’t approach their music in the same way. We write about fairly serious things but our songs aren’t really political. We tend to treat serious subjects in a light-hearted way, with a touch of cynicism. Sometimes it’s more how the words sound and how they’re sung than what they’re saying. Obviously we write from a woman’s point of view, but primarily it’s entertainment.” Purple Heart "There’s a real equality thing on stage too," says Kathy. “No lead gui-

tar breaks, no drum solos — everything’s even. We don’t have drums and bass back there or guitars up there and vocals wherever— it’s an equal blend of instruments. And we like short songs — all our songs are really short. "I don’t like long songs — it gets boring playing the same bass line for two minutes, and I don’t like this lead-break bizzo. I don’t like songs that drag out and have really long middle bits. I think a middle bit should be two bars long, not eight or 16.” With all those dislikes, what’s left? The short, varied songs and casual charm of LBGP. “The sort of music we produce is different from most other New Zealand bands, including other women’s bands. We don’t have that reggae feel that a lot of women’s bands have. The Freudian Slips and the Thunderbirds have that sort of beat. I enjoyed the Freudian Slips and I haven’t seen Dead Famous People yet [an all-women Auckland

band that includes two ex-Slips].but I’ve heard their recording which is really good. Their singer has an amazing voice.” LBGP are very happy with their own last recording, the recently released LBGPEP2. The five tracks on the EP were originally recorded in March last year, after their Orientation tour. Later in the year the band flew back to Auckland to do some additional recording and remix the EP. Denise: "The songs aren’t as sparse [as those on Bewitched] and our ideas of what we can do and what we can use have broadened. It sounds fuller and it’s a new batch of songs. We’re not as scared of the studio this time either.” Kathy: "We’re confident enough to say ‘what’s this for? What does it do? Can it do this?' We got to understand a lot more about how the studio runs, which I find really fascinating.” The video for LBGP EP2 is of ‘Cactus Cat,’ a warm song full of jangling guitar and melodic vocals. “Flying Nun flew Pat O’Neill over and he did videos for Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, the Bats and us,” says Denise. "Roger Gillespie, who lives downstairs from Pat in Sydney, did animation sequences over the top of our video.” It sounds amazing, so watch for it on RWP. “If it gets into the Top 20 you might see it on RTR, but I doubt it will because it’s not charting in Auckland,” says Kathy. “Flying Nun and independant label records get sold from the second hand record shops up here and they don’t get chart returns to fill out.” Both of LBGP’s EPs have been released together on a cassette and there is talk of combining them for release as an LP for overseas (“The European market doesn’t eat EPs very well, it can’t digest them,” says Kathy), but both EPs have been imported into the UK and US and received good reviews. - End of the Purple Reign When I asked about future recording plans I was hit with a bomb shell. Kathy: “We plan on do-

ing a 7” in Dunedin before Lesley leaves." What? "Lesley is going to England. Until she gets back, this will be the last time you see LBGP for a very long time — if we ever get back together again.” Oh, woe! "Lesley’s a great drummer,” continues Kathy. “I’m not just saying that because she’s in LBGP, I think she’s one of the best drummers in New Zealand. She just comes up with the most amazing things, like the drumming in ‘IOO Times.’ She could have gone for something really ordinary, but she didn’t, she never does. She doesn’t even start off with something ordinary.” Well, Aucklanders that didn’t make it to any of their three Auckland shows have missed out. With the exception of the Friday night show, which was dramatically interrupted by the northern North Island blackout, LBGP’s performances are consistently enjoyable. Kathy and Denise have already described the musical equality of their live performance but adroitly avoided any description of their “style.” Descriptions of LBGP music have ranged from “folksy and tribal” to “paisley” and "moodish.” They are all of the above, and more. “About it ending,” says Kathy. “We’ve had a great four years. We never have been on the road to fame and certainly never expected the acclaim we got for either EP We never expected to go on tour, we never expected any of it and certainly didn’t go looking for it. We wouldn’t. It’s always come to us and gone, ‘come on, come on, up the road, come and play in Auckland, do a tour’. ” We’ve made lots and lots of wonderful friends in the past four years. It’s been fun and a great learning experience. We've gone as far as we want to go. We’ve definitely come to the end of the LBGP road.” Denise wants to go and see the world and so do Lesley and Kath Webster; Kathy wants to fix her house, do the garden and play music for fun. So that’s “Goodbye World"? “Yep. Goodbye from Look Blue Go Purple."

Debbi Gibbs