Storm Bugs were formed by Philip Sanderson and Steven Ball in 1978 and have been described as "the spiritual forefathers to Oval", grandaddies of the "Glitch". That's pushing it a bit, but what they were good at is sounding like a shortwave broadcast from some aliens from an ignored planet's extra-terrestrial insane asylum. The broadcast is, of course, very badly tuned in on your pre-digital receiver.
The cover of this single looks like a propaganda poster asking for contributions for a revamped nazi party, which explains why 'Tin' sounds rather like a fine example of Forced Labour Disco; a genre that is inexplicably absent from the racks of all those closed down record shops out there.
'Car Situations' , with its 'Take a child on Holiday' refrain, sadly suggests a mentally malfunctioning male with a Pete Townsend style 'curiosity'; although I doubt that is what the composition is about. You have to be carefull about these things these days. No such bother in 1980, where it was perfectly acceptable to make such dodgy references. Listen to several John Peel shows and you can hear the venerable old sod, making many references to school girls, and openly bragging about having sex with under age girlfriends in the sixties. This is statutory rape, is it not? This is a fine example why Hippie culture was the twentieth centuries western version of the Taliban.
All this has nothing to do with the great Storm Bugs however, and I apologise for digressing, but I can't stand those Hippie-crites. Long haired smelly sex abusers.For evidence check out hippie DIY'ers/cult Father Yod and Ya Ho Wha 13 earlier in this blog.
Track Listing:
1 - Tin
2 - Car Situations
DOWNLOAD Metamorphose 7" HERE!
http://www.stormbugs.co.uk/
Monday, 23 January 2012
Storm Bugs - " Metamorphose " (L'Invitation au Suicide INV 0100) 1981
Posted by Jonny Zchivago at 22:00
Labels: 1981, Philip Sanderson, Snatch Tapes, Storm Bugs, UK
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10 comments:
To clarify, the cover of the single (yes it is a Hitler youth member), was imposed on it by the label. We were utterly disgusted with it when it arrived and discarded as many as we could, replacing with them with a plain sleeve. As the sound of Tin might suggest (it is also a melodic rockabilly inflected pop song, with acoustic guitar), we were trying to make something a world away from the tired death camp imagery and fascist flirtations that proliferated at that time, promulgated by many of the contemporary post-punkers (TG being the worst offenders), so we were doubly disappointed to be unwillingly thrown back into the fray. Unfortunately the image seems to have resurfaced in the internet age. "Take a child on holiday" is a reference to Nabokov's 'Lolita' to be taken as literary, rather than literally. Most of the lyric was written using a cut-up technique, from various sources.
Hi Steven, just what I suspected.(lol)
Many thanks for clarifying the situation.
Great music anyway.
I don't think TG were celebrating the death camp though but rather drawing attention to how it was in a sense a part of western culture - a process like say information technology or advertising. Which is not to in any way diminish the horror of the murder of 6 million people but to say that the death camp wasn't part of some isolated Nazi loopiness but ingrained in the fabric of modern life.
Eric
Nice one Eric, putting Nazi Atrocities in the realm of Faddishness is also a crime. There is a real danger of Holocaust Fatigue
so its a fine line we are treading here. Another pet/awkward subject of TG was Pedophilia, something I unfairly touched upon in my review of the Storm Bugs above. Both are a tad controversial but must not be marginalised because of the 'we've heard it all before' syndrome.
Not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with what I said Nick (not that you have to do either) anyway thanks for all this Snatch and Storm Bugs material. The Bugs single is an odd one so bouncy on one side and yet creepy on the other. I think you kind of had it right with "forced labour disco".
Eric
Whatever TG's intentions were, one result was the increased circulation of such imagery for a short time in a significantly influential sub-culture, which lead to a certain amount of fetishization, something that we really didn't want to be part of. Would "forced labour disco" spring to mind as a phrase quite so readily if there were pastoral or woodland images on the sleeve (something that we would have preferred - see the small image of Philip and me on the inner sleeve as being closer to our actual intentions) and if the music weren't so unfortunately associated with images of Hitler youth on the front, worse still Jewish people apparently on the way to labour camps on the reverse and a tacky Triumph of the Will influenced collage on the inside? The sleeve was forced upon the record without the consent of the artists by L'invitation au Suicide (that name itself betraying another unfortunate tacky adolescent 'transgressive' flirtation) as was the puzzling title 'Metamorphose' and were utterly rejected and condemned by them.
Take your point Steven I guess "forced labour disco" wouldn't come to mind so quickly if there were sheep on the cover having said that the beat is pretty pounding and industrial and the lyrics have something to do with 'military training' and "our needs are so common" which kinda sounds Nietzschian? Still great track.
Eric
well a lot's to do with context isn't it, there's also "grey march wood...", it's a pity we didn't get to record more of our rural psychobilly songs ;) S
I was agreeing with you Eric, in my own confused way. And i'm pleased as punch that the word 'Nietzschian' was used in such a casual context.
Although I sympathize with Steven's situation. Having your creation hijacked by a dodgy record label has been a problem since there were record labels....which is one reason why Snatch Tapes existed.
We want more rural psychobilly pls!
Could be the start of a much needed response to this goddam awful 'Urban' music that is forced upon our children......or is that another nazi reference...if so iam sorry.
I like both kinds of music: country and urban ;)
...on one hand it's all rather ancient history, but on the other the internet has allowed a lot of this stuff to be disseminated in another way, and at first it was very strange to find that anybody was in the slightest bit interested in an obscure little record that one had made over thirty years ago, but now these days the past regularly comes back to haunt you!
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