Shake Summation

Rip It Up, Issue 116, 1 March 1987, Page 34

Shake Summation

Soul on Ice ‘Summer Love* (WEA 7” & 12”) The three live standouts from SOI, produced by Herbs’ Dilworth Karaka and Charlie Tumahai. ‘Summer Love’s story of initiation among sun and sand leans heav-

ily on the strong, aching vocals of Liz Diamond, with good poppy chorus, well mixed voices but rathefthin horns. Almost loses it in spoken section, but builds well by the end. Nagging. B-side ‘No one’s Taking the Place of You’ has excellent percussion opening, then ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’s hook from synth and backing vocals. Slower and reflective after the A-side, with understated use of horns. On the 12” ‘I Want Love’ still has great bounce to it, the trouble is I can never remember ‘Summer Love’ afterwards.

Mockers ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ (RCA 7”) Good to see the Mockers back in action, with Andrew in fine voice — and a lovely outfit. ‘Far...’ has a strong acoustic guitar opening, the organ is upfront throughout, the British Invasion melody’s still there but the words are a bit garbled and it lacks a strong hook. ‘So Cold in Here (Escaping)’ also opens well, with acoustic piano, then turns into Australian rock, leaning heavily on guitars and drums. There’re several songs in here, I prefer it to the A-side, it’s more humorous and carefree. Once fun amateurs, the Mockers now have an assured professionalism about them; smooth production from Peter Dawkins. Hello Sailor

‘Winning Ticket’ (Zulu 7”) The best song off Shipshape, ironically the only one not mixed in New York, it bounces along with a reggae feel. Brazier’s hamonica gives it a natural warmth, as do the chorus harmonies. Spirited and loose, with a memorable melody. ‘Shake Shake’ on the flip cruises confidently through the underworld, shuffling along, a standout live. The guitars work well against each other, it didn’t need the solo, and Ricky Ball using electronic drums makes me laugh. With excellent songs on both sides, this single makes good value. The uncredited cover shot is by Derek Henderson.

Pink Slips ‘Miracles’ (Chase 7”) Mike Caen, ex-Street Talk and Blind Date, gets his first local release with his Sydney band. Very

full production by Murray Burns, but there’s nothing to grab hold of and help you in. The vocalist and bassist sound rather bored, but things improve with the guitar solo. B-side ‘Steelworks’ is much more interesting, with its thick eerie bassline. A Booker T style instrumental for the 80s, like Isaac Hayes on Librium, or the backing tracks to a Robert Palmer song. (That’s a compliment.) Caen rocks out on guitar one minute too late. Moana

‘Kua Makena 7 (Maui 7”) The first five seconds are the most important, and the breathy vocal leaps out immediately, then settles back into an easy-going South Pacific cruise. I could have done with the synths being brought forward and the simple bass back. The B-side instrumental still has plenty of vocals, the chorus only, which gives it more space and makes this Maori language single more accessible. Patea Maori Club

‘Ka Huri’ (Maui 7”) The English spoken intro relates the arrival of the seven canoes, with the Tarananki people being descended from those on Aotea. Then it’s into a traditional stick

song, with choral chanting led by Hui Kahu, and an ominous synth tone throughout. B-side ‘E Pa To Hau’ is a brief and simple treated wooden flute melody (played by Hohepa Malcolm) to the sound of a rolling ocean beneath. As its concept is slowly unveiled, the release of the album and musical Raukura seems likely to be a major cultural event. Chris Bourke The Builders ‘Ginger Jar’ (South Indies 7”) ‘Ginger Jar’ is pure pop, Builders fun-style, hinged on Karl Holdorf’s trombone and Bill Direen's sweet vocal. Instantly hummable. On the other side is ‘What a Hoombah,’ pure nonsense, Builders-style, but they do it so we 11...

John Genet with the Vespas ‘Only Naked’ (Revolving 12”) “I am what I am, 1’m...” pretty awful pseudo Dylan, Christian message. John Genet — crypto fascist subversive? I’m starting to wonder

... And then at the same time as laughing at ‘Mr Major Moral Majority,’ they pour scorn on all our society’s supposed licentious behaviour! Blasting for the safety of the middle ground? I doubt it. Bi-

zarre. Reactionary bleating in an innocuous setting with a misleading cover to boot. Paul McKessar