SHAKE SUMMATION

Rip It Up, Issue 124, 1 November 1987, Page 37

SHAKE SUMMATION

Goblin Mix ‘Birth & Death 0f...’ (Flying Nun 12”) Goblin Mix take something oddly Gaelic (reflected in guitar, violin and lyrics) and mix it with a bottle of port and sometimes melodic, sometimes brashly discordant, aggressive pop.

Chris Sheehan’s production makes it all about as heavy as it will possibly go (a much worthier effort than the lightweight job on the Bird Nest Roy’s Whack It All Down), and hey presto... messy as it is, you’ll love it. Doesn’t matter that David Mitchell can’t really sing, doesn’t matter that they ain’t around anymore: ‘The Drinking Man’s Curse’ and ‘Fruit of the Womb’ will be among the best things on NZ vinyl this year. A period piece. Sticky Filth ‘At Least Rock & Roll Doesn’t Give You Aids’ (Imahitt 7”) This comes wrapped in some “erotic literature” of dubious taste, but inside are three good tracks recorded live at the White Hart Hotel. Sticky Filth are the hottest thing in New Plymouth, and the mutant blues hjmmer 'Lobotomy Baby’ shows why; an understated amalgam of Chuck Berry with a hardcore attitude, spoilt only by a rotten live mix. Wild Poppies ‘Stare at the Sun’ (Skank7”) Side one, ‘Stare at the Sun,’ works well: tight and warm, recorded at Wellinton’s Frontier Studio. Side two’s ‘Where is Wellington’ suffers some odd production choices though. If they had shorter, maybe a little tighter, arrangements, they’d be Chills songs: the talent must definitely be there. All Fall Down ‘My Brand New Wallpaper Coat’ (Flying Nun 12”) Christchurch’s All Fall Down appeared on the Weird Culture, Weird Custom compilation last year, contributing the rather sprightly ‘Holding Tide.’ Since those days, they’ve added Steve Macintyre (once of Ballon D’essai), who contributes half the songs on this record. The clean but quiet recording from the Audio Access eight-track means that the quieter songs among the six sound best; with the Go-Betweensy ‘Black Gratten’ wrapping everything around an acoustic framework. ‘Eastern, that Eastern song’ is where the violin takes off; elsewhere it cuts through the mix a bit harshly. Very listenable though, and lots of fun. Paul McKessar