|  Public
Image Ltd. were the first band to spin past punk: ready to lead the
rest of the pack into the '80s. Taking strands of Beefheart, Can and
experimental music freaks, they tied them together in an amazing sonic
blast of sound - and 'Death Disco' still stands as one of Top Of The
Pops' finest moments. Naturally, the sheer energy and resourcefulness
required for such godlike scraping had to burn out eventually. The original
line-up faded many moons ago, leaving Lydon to play the pantomime villain
that we all boo and hiss and then forget about till next Christmas.
Keith Levene, former guitar
sparring partner of Jah Wobble, has now skipped his Brit homeland and
relocated alongside several other late 70's spunky rock faces in LA.
After spending the last few years struggling to get his act together,
Levene has finally cut an LP with his new group, Violent Opposition.
Based around a bunch of covers, 'Violent Opposition' retreads old allotments
with a new sound. And the coolest retreads are a tremendous mugging
of Hendrix's 'If Six Was Nine' and a searing knife slash at Lennon's
'Cold Turkey'. You can almost hear Levene rub his eyes as the transatlantic
call hauls him from mid-morning rock'n'roll slumber. "I've spent
the last couple of years trying to get this record together. 'Cold Turkey'
was done because a lot of people have trouble with that sort of scene
and as a song it really rocks."
The album also includes a
couple of reggae grooves, which isn't surprising as that was the sort
of music that Levene grew up with in the early 70's. "I grew up
listening to a lot of reggae - I used to be a skinhead. I like to get
those influences onto a record and there are a lot of different aspects
to music that I've used on this album. "There's a couple of good
things going on at the moment, but I don't hear much music - maybe I'm
an old fart. "I went to see the Stones recently when they played
in LA (*) and the whole thing was like a fascist rally - the crowd were
so far away, they weren't allowed to touch the band or dance. "It's
all packaging now - typical of the 80s. Packaging CDs like they were
McDonald's. It's a fascist regime of communication, there's nothing
exciting about a record now."
So why did he leave our cold
damp isle for sunny Californian climes just as the party finally got
re-started over here? "I only just left London a couple of months
ago. While I was there I was in the studio with Adrian (Sherwood) a
lot, I saw a bit of Wobble and had a laugh. "The most happening
thing in London at the moment is Sherwood and his On-U Sound System
- I really enjoyed working on the Clail album. "I'd like to do
something like that on a more grandiose scale. It's getting the dosh
to do it. I'd like to combine the live thing with the sound system thing."
Harking back to the PIL days,
Levene believes that the rock gig has become a dull conveyor-belt system
of entertainment. "With PIL, if there had been a riot then something
got smashed, or if there was a lot of people on stage, fuckin' great.
It was all about getting that response from the audience - the opposite
of thinking about what the audience wanted. The name of the band, Violent
Opposition, is like hoping to get a response. We have no expectations
- we just want a high velocity response."
So what does Levene think
of his former partner John Lydon? "PIL is a travesty, a disgrace.
I've got far more of a right to that name than the man with the current
responsibility. There's like a list of things not to do and he seems
to have done most of them. "When we played in PIL, people used
to talk about the gigs. The music really sucks now - I'd rather listen
to U2, and that's really saying something. "I've only spoken to
Lydon twice on the phone since the split and he's constantly lied about
me and slagged me off in the press. I don't think that the man is hungry
enough these days - he's too tied up with the lawyer."
Bitter words they may be,
but then it was Levene's sonic axe slicing on the 'Metal Box' marvel
that virtually reinvented the six-string as a creative tool and not
as a cod-piece extra. It's been a sad collapse for Lydon, but his former
guitarist and bassist are still committed to cutting edge action. And
with major label interest in his current scribbling's, Levene may even
get the chance to cash in on his music. Public interest, it seems, is
unlimited. |
Jah
Wobble, the ex-PIL bass plugger, the man with the fattest, loopiest
four-string at his fingertips, has been struggling along his own valiant
path for the best part of the decade. Splitting from PIL just before
it collapsed into pathetic parody, Wobble hasn't played any Yank sports
stadiums but he has retained a dignity for his work by following his
instinct and not some senile old punk dictate. The man had a somewhat
wild reputation but, having given up the booze, has calmed down into
the amiable nutter that wobbles about on the cutting edge of r'n'r.
He's a charming and vital eccentric tapping away at the edges of rock.
Wobble's current album - 'Without Judgement' - is a live beast, recorded
in one of the eternal partyland Dutch venues, featuring a superb pick-up
band that includes the relentless drum spiel of Urban Dance Squad's
Michael Schoots. And the 'Unspoken Word' single is a full frontal dance
attack - a collision of Eastern drone and dancefloor muscle that explodes
when cranked full through the stereo. Other signs of a muso health kick
include Wobble's recent collaboration on the monumental Gary Clail album
and Fuse's 'World Dance Music'.