PICTURE: WALSH PETER PICTURE: THE CRANBERRIES It, So Why Can't We?' songs still Birmingham NEC possess a modicum of small scale jangle-pop and a definite sense of IN THIS half-full aircraft hanger of aDolores pouring her heart out even if venue, no-one can hear you scream.she's no longer the woman of the Go for a crafty smoke during onesongs. Surprise, then, that although of the more soporific Cranberries 'Linger'sea- takes on anthemic qualities, shanty songs and Dolores O'Riordan'sthanks to her constant exhortations, dulcet tones ricochet around the it doesn't soar off into the ether. Kafka-esque corridors, just to make The second stage features songs sure you don't miss anything. Takethat a date from the current release wrong turn and lose your bearingsand so feature the 24-year-old in completely you have to chat merrilyimperious mode when she's not away to policemen. Slide into thefeeling bar reflective. Disturbingly, she and get mistakenly locked in for a has decided to exaggerate her Irish few minutes. accent until it teeters on parody. You It's all disorientation around thesecan reason that this is good if it parts and, yet. The Cranberries, by makes certain speakers of Queen's their singer's admission, want MORE:English very uncomfortable, but is larger stadia, monster stages, moredecidedly rank otherwise and punters, more caSh... And then again,'Dreaming My Dreams' gains from a the sad, melancholy words at the more restrainedsotto voce heart of their music give the illusiontreatment. of intimacy; of private thoughts sungAt the final stage you get glimpses to the world; of attempts at makinginto the future, the songs that will sense of the nonsense of love andassail you - whether you like it or not politics. - for months to come. What the What a paradox this is. When thecrystal ball reveals is that The scales finally drop from your eyes, Cranberries have expanded their during a spirited final encore trawlformula so as to cater for the through 'Dreams', you realise there'sexpected ginormous audiences. no turning back for Dolores and her The catchy song about finding long-suffering merry men. She has"soul salvation" has a touch of the completed the metamorphosis fromBonos about it, and the whimsical the shiest woman in rock to a song written for her late grandfather Tasmanian Devil with the confidence- who died four years ago aged 94 - of seven bull elephants and no-one'sis a 'lighters aloft' number of the first gonna stop her now. water. But really the one to watch The raised catwalk behind the out for, with great trepidation, is 'I brightly lit stage - spotlight reservedShot John Lennon'. for Dolores - plays host to a Ostensibly an indictment of the ex- keyboard and a few steps for the Beatles' murder, here's where singer to demonstrate her Dolores metaphorically gets on the athleticism. While you're buffetedpulpit by over a vaguely tasteless, the pounding, extremely full soundserrated, rock groove. You want to and idly wonder if there are extrarun screaming from the hall - and musicians hidden in the wings (therehence miss three costume changes, aren't), you can note the musical an imitation of Irish whistles by the changes The Cranberries have goneguitarist, and a distinct mid-set lull - through to arrive at the current but you choose to slip out for a 'wind-swept' hybrid that's got its faircigarette instead. share of Celtic mysticism... Which is where the strangeness There are three distinct stages begins. tonight. The 'Everybody Else Is Doing Dele Fadele MONKEY ISLAND class structure. be had here unless you count thepimply rads when the drummer, PINKIE MACCLURE/HOPPER London Camden Dublin Castle So what can a poor boy do? Just drummer's utterly bizarre acid-dreamsuddenly and manically, stamps all take it out on everything and everyonestories of being cast adrift on Mr over his kit at the end, not as a lameLondon Camden Monarch THE AIR is thick with a murderous around him, of course. Monkey Island,Blobby or something. But Monkey stunt but a logical conclusion to theCHEWING GUM (check), cheap shiny shirt boredom. The old-man-with-pint slotfor it is they, hang irritated in grey, Island's grinding, repetitive seething frustration that spits from this(natch), original Adidas plimmies (yep) and at London's premier indie cider-pit early-'80s,is insurance clerk chic and malevolence (best exemplified in band'sthe music. confrontational leer (what else?) - Rachel really no place for a street-fightingscratch an existential itch with wiry single, 'She's Wearing Thin') has to beWhether they're set to ramraid yourHopper is the identikit '90s pop kid. Mate. man, let alone three whey-faced,guitar strings, quite willing to cut embraced in all its hateful glory or living room or explode up their ownYou see, in the mod(ern) blur of fashionable malnourished Mancunianuntermensch themselves and their audience tocompletely shut out of your head arses remains to be seen, but this wasmusic, a Brit pop is drinking deeply from a from the wrong side of the economicsribbons in the process. altogether. They finally convince youfine 'how d'you do'. revitalised cultural oasis. Which is fine, but class, not to mention the economic Superficially, there are few frills tothey're not just badge-collecting Johnny Cigarettes Hopper are showing signs of being a tad greedy. HIGHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCY___________ Still, the smart Bond Street bob, Dierdre Worcester Stage Barlow specs, the self-assurance of any Justine or Louise, the crafted cockney whine, IT'S NOT just the indie scene that's got its all makes a compelling vision as Hopper underachievers - for every Minxus or Rollerskate bounceSkinny, (ouch!) through a taught set spiked there's a Higher Intelligence Agency to match. Andwith just brittle riffs, spunky lyrics, and pure '80s as the aforementioned guitar slingers find themselvespunk pop attitude. Rachel"you jeers look moping round the country's toilet scene, there'sbetter a when you're wasted" from current generation of bands like HIA attempting to brightensingle a 'Wasted', sneers"shut yer mouf" Thursday night in Worcester with a bit of electro-sonic('Nice Set Up'), or calls some hapless muse an sunshine. "alien" in the same tone you might call the But things aren't looking too gloomy for probablyTories' wankers. And it's all very effective the hardest working outfit this side of indie guitardom:and strangely thrilling. while 60Ft Dolls are playing to 30 people up the road,Unlike Pinkie MacClure, though, it's not HIA's UV-bedecked gig is warmly populated. thrillingly strange. Thus we move from Togged out in brand new plaid baggies and skateBlondie to bonkers, from cool clobber to a shirts, the pair unceremoniously dump the ambientbewildering dub mix of candy stripes, combat of their 'Colourform' debut and head instead for atrousers and kiss-curls. Pinkie MacClure are brand new set of spiked-up, mid-pace techno thatBetty by Page bohemians on a film noir trip turns echoes The Black Dog's quirky rhythmania, minus the hop. Beguiling Eastern percussion the single Autechre's weighty beat metallica and Orbital's earsnakes for alongside moody synths, seductive s kyd iver milkman-captivating melodies. melodies plunge down octaves, cartwheel out now So where they once caressed, the Brummies nowacross go a few arpeggios and swallow-dive on the offensive, moving from head nodding to full-oninto your soul. And if Mr Theremin had body rocking, aided by a cranked up sound system moreheard the perfectly eerie "woooooaaaai" "Schtum took Like hell and sound like heaven suited to a room three times the size. They stand chant floating from Ms MacClure's painted during an earthquake" Melody Maker accused, to a certain extent, of deserting the ambientlips he would not have bothered to invent "...a shiny modern thing with arching melodies" NME bandwagon in favour of the trendier, bouncier territoryhis weird radiation piano which Portishead of new skool electro, but when it's executed this lovewell so much. it's hard to complain. It's a peculiar mood: part Parisian jazz "...Jump right off the face off it" The kids certainly don't - they dance, snog and cellar, part Diamanda Galas (without the whoop through the set. Proving there's life beyondaxe-wielding the psychosis); and as sophisticated COLUM BIA chill-out room and mileage in the Transit van approach,as vodka cocktails and Sobranie cigarettes. HIA are back and this time they want your eardrums.And with that much style who needs The big chill is over. fashion? Ben Willmott Sam Steele Page 34— New Musical Express 12 August 1995 THE TV MEN THE D Is RIC BLAXILL, Top Of The Pops boss who JO WHILEY, co-presenter of Radio Vs resurrected the fortunes of the UK's Evening Session, which won the NME Brats longest-running music programme. TOTP BLUR VS OASIS award screened Blur's 'Country House' on August 3 and Oasis' 'Roll With It' follow ed in a later edition, THE NEUTRALS ANDREW LOOC OLDHAM, '60s scam king, TONY WILSON, music industry legendary Rolling Stones manager and co­ svengati, boss of Factory, In The City founder and owner of Immediate Records director and professional Mancunian "Sometimes there's ■m m *******™ *™ * mm "I think it's nothing better than a ^ .... H great It's | m idea that the rivalry is like head-on clash. It conflict. Conflict, a The Beat!es anc* The Stones reminds all the ^ W / 9 t lillR l conft,ct/ conflict. minions at record ; I have split °as*s anci B*ur are companies that they Hfe.. loyalties because they're the only ones who have a job to do.