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11 August 2011

Vic Godard & Subway Sect - The Williamson Tunnels - Liverpool - Saturday 10th Septembe

  The Ladykillers
Beatnik Hurricanes
 

Mashemon
DJ Joe McKechine


The Williamson Tunnels, Liverpool
Saturday 10th September @ 8pm
£8 - Tickets: Probe Records (School Lane, Bluecoat Building) / Seetickets.com / Ticketline.co.uk


Vic Godard has forged his own unique trajectory since emerging from the 100 Club punk scene of 76 where Subway Sect debuted alongside contemporaries The Clash and Sex Pistols. Their garage sound and sense of melody set them apart from the usual run of the mill punk acts that joined the conveyor belt that year. Indeed, by the time their debut album ‘What’s The Matter Boy?’ was released, Godard and the Sect had tempered their sound to a more pop based (but nevertheless still edgy) mix.

The 1980s saw Vic Godard experiment with swing and Motown. However, it is his association with Orange Juice and Fire Engines (of the Scottish label Postcard) which defined the Subway Sect as purveyors of abrasive, catchy melodic punk pop. Indeed, the great Edwyn Collins has long championed the musical genius of Godard, producing three albums for him Long term Side Effects and In Trouble again in 1998 and End of the Surrey People in 1993) and inviting him on board to provide backing vocals on the classic Collins hit ‘Girl Like You’ in 1994.

The successful release of ‘1978 Now’ in 2007, the second on Overground Records (the first in 1996 was We Oppose all Rock and Roll), saw Godard and Subway Sect return to their initial punk sound deconstructing the earliest songs to their initial primitive roots.’

Vic is currently playing the best music of his career with a superb line of musicians and his last album We Come as Aliens was released last year.

“The songs from the album have been evolving since the mid 1990’s, with the exception of Francoise Hardy’s ‘Et Meme’, which I have wanted to record since ’77. Some of the tracks have been included in live sets over the years with the various Sects, the oldest being Ne’er which I used to do when Bitter Springs were masquerading as Subway Sect. Takeover, Best Album, Et Meme and That Train have been part of the live set for a while now.”

“A couple of years ago I recorded a demo of Et Meme and That Train with the Wet Dog Sect, nothing came of it because the line up changed a couple of times but once I had Mark, Kev and Gary on board I knew I had the group to record 2009- we agreed a vinyl deal and started recording at One Cat Studios. Disaster struck 5 tracks in when Gary’s back went but then a stroke of luck- Paul Cook was available and willing to finish the album with us, for which I am very grateful. We haven’t listed which tracks Gary and Paul play on as their styles are so distinctive, which is part of what gives this album its unique sound” says Goddard.

About the music-
Our sound on this album is based around the beats of Gary Ainge , who loves Northern Soul and 70s music and Paul Cook, the inimitable West London drummer, whose instantly recognisable style defines the tracks he plays on.. Mark Braby, our multi talented bass and acoustic guitar player brings a wide range of musical influences and talents to the mix- he is currently our live drummer. You can hear that Kevin Younger, who plays guitar, organ and piano, is mad on garage music especially of the sixties variety, (he is also adept at playing obscure theme tunes when least expected). Simon Rivers adds another dimension to the tracks he appears on with his distinctive vocal sound., he also conjured up a superb guitar solo on Back in the Community. Since’ 76 the Sect has been committed to set discords and melodies to beats, so I am sure it has been a lot of work for all those concerned. We would not have the ‘Best Album’ that we set out to make were it not for Jon Clayton of One Cat Studios, who not only recorded, mixed and helped produce We Come as Aliens but also played percussion and keyboard on a few tracks. The songs are a cross section of material we have been working on at Survival Studios over the last two years, in between rehearsing for gigs. Musical influences come thick and fast- Rotten and Thunders, Chuck and Bo, Ray Charles and Mose Allison, while lyrically this must be the best Subway Sect collection yet.

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