Post-Punk Monk

Gary + Eddie today

[…continued from previous post]

“Because My Heart” began deceptively, with a series of descending, rather jazzy piano triplets before the surprising inclusion of a pedal steel guitar brought the melody to the table for this “after the affair” breakup song of quiet resigned anguish. The piano kept the rhythm throughout the song ending it exactly as it had begun it. This was the first track on the album to feature much of the classic China Crisis lineup, suggesting that it had been begun nearly 20 years ago. This must be fact because the drummer here was the first of several posthumously released Kevin Wilkinson mandolin/drum performances on this album. Long-time fans might remember that Wilkinson [League Of Gentlemen, China Crisis] had tragically committed suicide in 1999.

A passing of a decidedly different kind fueled the wistful and warmly affectionate elegy to a dying father in “Bernard.” The music here was gentle and muted; even moreso than the normally mild-mannered China Crisis sound. Gary Daly was dry and up front as he celebrated a life and its love in a clear-eyed and tender manner that I found rather stunning. It would be too easy to get bogged down in maudlin over emoting, but Daly had not time for that here. He offered instead a haiku-like series of warm observances and non-possessive love that almost managed to make me regret not having offspring to say such things on my deathbed.

“Phillipa misses you, she is sad
She is spending time, looking back
Nothing changes, nothing real
Nothing changes how we feel

Say goodbye
We are all here by your side
Surrender to the blinding light
One last time
We are all here by your side
Surrender to the blinding light” – “Bernard”

This one also featured Wilkinson on guitar/drums and one of the most wonderful things about this track were the airy, expression backing vocals of Nina Jones and Molly Daly [Gary’s daughter] which evoked the great Wendy Smith of Prefab Sprout as they gorgeously mirrored the piano and horn lines. Piano played, incidentally by one “Howie Jones,” Possibly better known as Howard Jones? Could very well be.

After such a beautiful elegy, the energy level amped up a tad for the gorgeous “Joy And The Spark,” the third consecutive song with Wilkinson drums. The rhythm here from Wilkinson was motorik, albeit at such a low bpm it barely registered as such. Daly’s synth got the sunny hook fluttering through this song concurrent with his piano. China Crisis exist to create warmly yearning songs like this one. Hearing a track like this only served to remind me how much I’m lacking when China Crisis are inactive.

Most of the classic band lineup all contributed to “Being In Love” and while most of the songs here were solitary Daly or Lundon tracks, this one doesn’t hurt for involving the whole band in writing. In fact, it sounded like a victory lap at successfully revisiting the “Flaunt The Imperfection” sound, albeit with even better writing. The mellifluous music here was coupled with a chorus packed with contrapuntal melodies via multiple backing harmonies and synths offsetting Stuart Nisbet’s richly sustained lead guitar solo.

Next: …More than words can say

Gary Daly + Eddie Lundon

[…continued from post before last]

It opened with China Crisis’s equivalent of an all-gunsblazing track. I will come right out and declare that I don’t think they have ever cut as fine a song as “Smile [What Kind of Love Is This].” It opened deceptively with the sound of a brass chamber ensemble from the 18th century before all of the other instruments rejoined the mix in a gentle, but slightly rollicking groove. As always, this band were so unassuming and diffident in their external appearance that it sometimes meant that their hard work and deep consideration managed to lie below the surface of their deceptively laid back songs.

“Smile and shake the hand of the good for nothing
Work the head of those best forgotten” – “Smile”

“Smile” opened with a rare archly wry lyric [above] while the arrangement managed to evoke past glories with near-Mariachi horns straight out of the B-side “Orange Mutt-Mutt Dance.” But the delicate balancing act of the arrangement here was the real feat. It was a busy arrangement, with synths, brass section, guitars, synth bass, and even bazouki! With a pennywhistle on top as the icing on the cake. This one track managed to distill the essence of China Crisis into a delicate soufflé of a song that was both robust and filled with delight. And it sounded as accomplished as the day was long. In lesser hands, it would have all collapsed, yet China Crisis made it sound like it was their stock-in-trade; because it was. If ever a single song could sum up the appeal of China Crisis, this was the one!

The dreamy “Down Here On Earth” was another Gary Daly-led slice of jazzpop sophistication that played like a long-lost top track off of “What Price Paradise,” or “Diary Of A Hollow Horse.” It’s joyous to hear this band [on this track with Brian McNeil on keys] reveling in their sound yet the effect transcends self-pastiche. In every way, the band sound laid-back [China Crisis could never be otherwise] yet the quiet professionalism of the group eschew any showboating even as they are clearly a more mature unit in every sense of the word. The song superficially recalls something from “Flaunt The imperfection,” yet that work seems rightly callow next to this. Daly’s lyrics sum up the band’s appeal with references to “joyful pain and sorrow” that hint at underlying melancholy while delivering joy with the fantastic melodies.

The title track took a new tact for the band; back to the late 70s with a sound heavy with Fender Rhodes electric piano and wah-wah effects. Mellow, yet downbeat with a jazz chaser. It sounded very much like something that CTI might have had their name on. This one was beguiling and the 12 musicians on it hardly came close to upsetting the apple cart. This was simply accomplished, songwriting given the full benefit of a seemingly unlimited number of sympathetic musicians. That was clearly one of the most delightful things about this album thus far. It was far from being Gary and Eddie with a harmonica rack and acoustic guitar. In fact, this was some of the most complex and ornate music they’d ever crafted thus far. Yet there was no threat of it bloating on the seashore like a beached whale. This was too musically captivating. In a world where less is more, the bands that can successfully pull off this conceit are few.

Conversely, their other strength was that they achieved this with music that superficially sounded easy. I think this came down to the clear vision for the songwriting that kept things simple and direct, thematically, while the music was building in complexity underneath it all. The emotional tenor of this album was straightforward and even simple, while the music was full of careful filigree and tightly balanced arrangements that supported the direct and easy emotional tone of the album with melodic and rhythmic invention that sounded easier than it really was. Not every band can achieve this.

Next: …The Finest Elegy

PledgeMusic | UK | CD | 2015

China Crisis: Autumn In The Neighbourhood UK CD [2015]

1. Smile [What Kind Of Love Is This]
2. Down Here On Earth
3. Autumn In The Neighbourhood
4. Because My Heart
5. Bernard
6. Joy + The Spark
7. Being In Love
8. Fool
9. My Sweet Delight
10. Tell tale Signs
11. Wonderful New World

When we last checked, China Crisis had begun a Pledge Music campaign for their first album since 1994 back in 2013. Between Moogfest ticket$ for the Spring of 2014, and a longer than two week vacation encompassing California [and all three Amoeba stores] later that year, and another planned two week vacation in 2015, I was in squirrel-like saving mode. I cut my music purchases down severely in that period to store up funds. I imagined, that once the new album was out, China Crisis would sell the rights to it to small boutique labels far and sundry. After all, their excellent 1995 live album “Acoustically Yours” can be bought in a brain-melting array of different titles and packages the world over. That’s what I thought, any way.

2014 came and went with no China Crisis album delivered yet, so I could have pledged… had I not been saving for another, atypically long vacation in the Fall of 2015! I had pledged for the CD as a birthday gift to a friend in December of 2013 and I had to give her a mea culpa since the pledge delivery target was missed by the band that entire year. I was busy saving through 2015 for that vacation when all of a sudden in the Summer of 2015, China Crisis shipped the CD out to the pledgers! And then that was it. The campaign was closed, and I was unable to get a CD from Pledge Music after that time. Not to worry, I thought. They have a master now, so they’ll probably license it to those aforementioned, small, boutique labels. Except that never happened. If one didn’t pledge during the 18 month period between the start of the campaign and the delivery, one was simply out of luck.

It was not even possible to buy the album at the band’s own merch tables! A friend of mine who attended the Retro Futura tour got to see China Crisis sing five songs and hand out at the merch table with fans, but there was not a single copy of “Autumn In the Neighbourhood” to be found for sale. Eventually, scant copies filtered onto the gray market at the $40-$50 price point. Ouch! I put it on my Discogs want list and hoped that when one surfaced that I could scare up the funds in time. But that never happened. I stewed in my juices for two years until a chance came my way on the New Wave Outpost message board.

Of course, that’s the kind of place where I would frequent, but in a thread about the new China Crisis DLX RMs, I managed to grouse about the extreme scarcity of this album. One fellow who had multiple copies came to my aid, and a week later it’s in my hands. And wouldn’t you know it? we’re out of time to move further than the “convoluted backstory” portion of the review today. Join us tomorrow for a closer look at this album.

Next: …Smile