Category: Indelicates

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#037– The Indelicates– ‘We Hate The Kids’ (Sad Gnome Records ’06)

Hello dear friends,

what would the world of music be without all those fine famous duets consisting of a male and a female part? You know what I mean, clear, strong, beautiful voices, which, in the combination of themselves – plus a little bit of seduction, if I may say so -, enrich a song to a degree where shivers are being sent down your spine each and every time you hear it. There have been quite a few of those duets over the years: Nancy & Frank Sinatra, John Travolta & Olivia Newton John, Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes, Sonny & Cher, Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson, Simon & Julia Indelicate … sorry, what do you say? Oh, the latter are not known to you? Well, let’s revise this then straightaway – because quite clearly they are the fucking best of the whole lot, no question about this!!

Simon and Julia Indelicate, or Simon Clayton and Julia Clark-Lowes, to give them their real names, founded The Indelicates in Brighton in 2005. Simon was a poet, active in cabaret things, so most probably that’s why he didn’t appear on our radar before. Julia though was active in The Pipettes for two years, and perhaps this name rings a bell – it certainly should, they were a great little combo!

The Indelicates gained some attention with the online-only release of a tune called “Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die” in 2005. Doherty, he of The Libertines fame, but back then in  Babyshambles, still was quite big in the press at the time, mainly for what he put in (drugs + drinks) than for what he put out (good music), I think it’s fair to say, so the song soon became the source of a lot of misunderstanding and controversial mentions in the press.

I won’t go into detail here, but if you listen to the tune and its lyrics, you will very quickly find out that it wasn’t about wishing Doherty to die, but instead about the media profiting of the death of musicians in general (before I forget: by coincidence I saw an up-to-date picture of good ole’ Pete a few weeks ago, opening some art exhibition here in Germany. You have to google him, you won’t believe your eyes if you, like me, last saw him some 15 years or so ago).

But I digress, as I so often do. Today’s song has nothing to do with any of the above apart from the fact how important lyrics can be: it is The Indelicates’ first proper single from one year later, 2006, in fact. The band found a record company, Sad Gnome Records, the single being the label’s first release, and although I tried to follow them a bit for a few years, they never did anything quite as fantastic as this afterwards, I would say:

mp3: The Indelicates – We Hate The Kids

Obviously this is one of those songs that lives from its lyrics, and boy – that’s what I call lyrics! A perfect mixture of cynicism, disaffection and cleverness, well-packed in a lo-fi tune that make you want to jump along with it. What more could you possibly ask for, I wonder? One year later the band released an EP called ‘The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll’.

Well, as far as I’m concerned, ‘We Hate The Kids’ actually has already been the last significant statement to be made in rock’n’roll. By a mile …

Enjoy,

Dirk

It really doesn’t seem right that The Indelicates have only ever appeared once on TVV prior to today, and it was courtesy of a wonderfully compiled ICA, courtesy of Rol back in November 2017.

As Rol said in his intro, they are a duo whose records are rarely played on the radio, nor are they given much space in the mainstream or specialist music media.  They emerged at a time (2005) when many folk were beginning to acknowledge that the way music was going to be discovered, listened to and ‘consumed’ was totally different to what had gone before. It maybe didn’t quite turn out quite as envisaged at the time in that streaming was a concept/idea rather than a reality (and the re-birth of vinyl was just a glint in a few eyes), but the bio from the official website offers a biting summary:-

“The Indelicates consumer lifestyle brand is the family business of Simon and Julia Indelicate, a Mom and Pop enterprise based in Lewes, a small town in Western Europe.

“The band first performed at the peak of the landfill indie craze that nobody remembers fondly in 2005 and released their debut album, American Demo, on some record label or other in 2008.

“Luckily, the music industry promptly collapsed completely and they managed to rescue their minor back catalogue from the wreckage. Unwilling to be deterred by mere financial calamity they immediately started work on Songs For Swinging Lovers, their easy second album.

“Since then, the list of things they have invented includes: Crowdfunding, Virtual Reality Music Videos, Living Room concerts, Gamergate, Being against Romantic Nationalism, Bandcamp, Super Special Editions, Footnoted lyric books, The New DIY and a range of puppets. Having done all of these things first, it has fallen to other people to be successful with them. And that’s absolutely fine.”

All of which should indicate that The Indelicates are far from your average run-of-the-mill musical combo.  I’ll hand back to Rol, who is such an exceptionally talented writer, to offer his take on why they never became better known.

Of course, I realise The Indelicates won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. They’re a difficult band to pin down. One minute they’re indie pop, the next they’re cabaret. One minute Jacques Brel, the next Carter USM. At times Kate Bush, occasionally Victoria Wood. They also have a very distinct lyrical voice, and they’re uncompromising in that voice. Just like Jim Bob, Morrissey, or Joe Strummer: they say what they have to say and don’t care one hoot if you don’t like it… they’re certainly not bothered about upsetting the BBC with their lyrics and not getting airplay… but then again, why should they be? Not even 6Music will touch them with a bargepole. (I never understood why Lammo wasn’t all over them. Maybe Peel would have loved them. Whether they’d have loved him back is another question entirely…)

Villain Towers is home to six artefacts courtesy of The Indelicates; the first two albums on CD, three 7″ singles (all from the debut album) and one EP, again on CD. It’s the EP that I’d like to draw to your attention today.

Having initially issued all their music in digital form as free downloads from a website, the duo released a 7″ single, We Hate The Kids, in April 2006 (while also making it, along with the b-side and some remixes, available via the website).

It took until February 2007 before the next physical release, in the shape of The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock & Roll EP, a CD release to tie-in with a tour of Germany.

mp3: The Indelicates – The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock & Roll
mp3: The Indelicates – Sixteen
mp3: The Indelicates – Heroin
mp3: The Indelicates – Unity Mitford (acoustic)
mp3: The Indelicates – Stars (live)
mp3: The Indelicates – The Last Significant Remix

All five of the songs on the EP would later be re-recorded and included on the debut album, American Demo, which was released in April 2009. I recently gave the album a listen again in its entirety…..and it’s an absolute belter, well worth tracking down if you don’t have a copy.

JC

A GUEST POSTING by ROL

(My Top Ten blog)

I’ve wanted to do an ICA for The Indelicates for a while. I could have just written them a Top Ten over at my own blog, but I wanted a bigger audience to sing this band’s praises to, because I honestly believe they’re one of the best bands of the 21st Century, even though I’ve never heard their records played on the radio or seen them reviewed in the music press.

It’s shocking really, but after ten years, the only place you’ll see The Indelicates championed is on the internet and in the blogosphere. Well, I want to add my voice to those accolades (again) because The Indelicates have just released their 6th studio album… and it may well be their best yet. (Or at least their best since their exceptional debut, 2008’s American Demo.)

Of course, I realise The Indelicates won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. They’re a difficult band to pin down. One minute they’re indie pop, the next they’re cabaret. One minute Jacques Brel, the next Carter USM. At times Kate Bush, occasionally Victoria Wood. They also have a very distinct lyrical voice, and they’re uncompromising in that voice. Just like Jim Bob, Morrissey, or Joe Strummer: they say what they have to say and don’t care one hoot if you don’t like it… they’re certainly not bothered about upsetting the BBC with their lyrics and not getting airplay… but then again, why should they be? Not even 6Music will touch them with a bargepole. (I never understood why Lammo wasn’t all over them. Maybe Peel would have loved them. Whether they’d have loved him back is another question entirely…) Enough pre-amble. Here’s ten of their best. I hope you like them as much as I do. If you do, give them some money for them.

SIDE A

1. Plaza Ballroom (Introduction)

2. The Plaza Ballroom, Manchester, Christmas Eve, 1956

Let’s start with a couple from their brand new record, Juniverbrecher. If you’re not affected by these two tracks then I’d go see a doctor. This is an album that fearlessly tackles what’s gone wrong in my country in recent years, tracing it all back to one man: Jimmy Saville. The rot spreads from him, and we’re all to blame. I used to work in radio, and though I never met the man, I certainly heard stories. And if I heard them, so far removed, those closer to the epicentre must have been in the know. On the album, these two tracks are followed by the glam rock stomper of a “single” Top of the Pops, with its choral chant of “There’s something wrong at the B-B-C!”. The theme continues across the disc, including a savage indictment of phony nostalgia and “the Ray Davies summer” of Waterloo Sunset on “Everything English Is The Enemy”. And if that doesn’t whet your appetite, once again I suggest a medical consultation.

3. America

Like a lot of angry British songwriters, the Indelicates have a love/hate relationship with the U.S.A. Here, from their debut album – with lashings of Manics’ guitars – is a reverse of I’m So Bored Of The USA by The Clash…

When they pin me to the wall I’ll say:

I’m with America
With godless America, I’ll stand and I’ll fall
Though it cuts me to my soul that
It must be America
It must be America
Or nothing at all!

4. McVeigh

The American obsession led the Indelicates to create their 2011 album, a musical!

David Koresh: Superstar tackled the infamous Waco siege and its repercussions. Here’s Jim Bob from Carter on guest vocals, playing the part of Timothy McVeigh, the man who responded to Waco by bombing Oklahoma in 1995.

5. The Recession Song

Firmly back in the UK for this one, the bands reaction to the noughties’ recession (and its effects on the music industry in particular), playfully referencing the Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs, among others. Fuck the recession!

SIDE B

6. We Hate The Kids

I’ll start side two with what I still believe to be the best single released in the 21st Century. Beyond that, I’ll let the song speak for itself.

And nobody ever comes alive
And the journalists clamour round glamour like flies
And boys who should know better grin and get high
With fat men who once met the MC5
And no one discusses what they don’t understand
And no one does anything to harm the brand
And this gift is an illusion, this isn’t hard
Absolutely anyone can play the fucking guitar!

7. Be Afraid Of Your Parents

And now for the cabaret. Channelling Brel, Music Hall and even a little Victoria Wood… it turns out it’s not just the kids Simon & Julia can’t stand… but their parents too.

8. Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die

An early b-side that sticks a pin into pop celebrity as only the Indelicates can. Perhaps their own lack of success keeps them grounded?

9. Pubes

And here’s a song about people who insist on taking their clothes off on the internet, from Diseases Of England (2012). What else do you need to know?

10. The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll

I had to finish with this one, again from their debut. Imagine starting your career by admitting it was all over before you began…

The fanzine writers write for broadsheets
The poor men found their daughters wealthy
Rebellion shores up the market
Rebellion keeps the nation healthy
This thing I loved, this thing I worshipped
This cruel, deceptive, vicious thing
I shall leave you to die where you lie
I shall forget my dying king
This is the last significant statement
To be made in rock and roll
Farewell to Gods and to Lords and to Ladies
Religions and the soul
This is the last significant statement
To be made in rock and roll
Everything that follows is a footnote
That we can turn to when we are… old.

And if that doesn’t persuade you to give this band your ears, I don’t know what the hell will!

ROL

JC adds….This is a band that I really enjoyed when they first appeared and have their first two albums and a number of early singles in the collection; I also caught them live in Glasgow a few years back and they were outstanding. Had no idea though, that they were still on the go, so huge thanks to Rol for this.

If you think that some of the female vocal contributions sound familiar then that’s perhaps down to Julia Indelicate being a past member of The Pipettes, who themselves had a guest ICA courtesy of Strangeways back in November 2016.