Hell's Belles

Vintage sounds, dusty grooves, and 21st-century freaks.

It’s not the first time a young woman has covered Neil Young’s “Old Man” (hello, Wilson-Phillips??) but I’d definitely say it’s the most beautiful.  Becky’s giving this track away on her Souncloud page now:

Old Man (Neil Young Cover) by Saint Saviour

Her debut album is now completed, thanks in part to a record-breaking Pledge campaign (target reached in less than 24 hours), and she’s doing rather well in the MTV Brand New Unsigned competition, so if you like this, give her a vote here.

I adore the geeky vocals on this cover of “Wild One”, courtesy of Crickets drummer Jerry Ivan Allison, with, I believe, Buddy Holly on guitar.  The original is by Aussie Johnny O’Keefe and has been covered tons, most famously by Iggy Pop, and most disturbingly by Alvin and The Chipmunks, as well as Lou Reed, Brian Setzer, Billy Idol and Jerry Lee Lewis.  I dig the dork the most, though:

Ivan – Real Wild Child by hells-belles

*That dork thing was semi-intentional.

I love that Saint Saviour never listened to Kate Bush until people kept telling her she sounded like Kate Bush.  So she listened to loads of Kate Bush, and then covered her.

Musically I’d say she has more in common with Goldfrapp or Zola Jesus, but what do I know?

This is from the wonderful Suukei EP, out on October 3rd from the usual outlets, or get a lovely handmade one from her directly at www.saintsaviour.co.uk.

Saint Saviour – Army Dreamers (Kate Bush cover) by hells-belles

I probably shouldn’t really be reviewing this, so let’s just call it a report. Tonight is just a practice run for an audience of 40-odd friends and other nefarious associates, organised purely because the Indo, a tiny bohemian pub in East London, is far preferable to “the spore-pit” London studio that Robyn Hitchcock and The Imaginary Band have been rehearsing in ahead of their Captain Beefheart tribute shows that will kick off next week.

The set list for tonight is Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band’s seventh album, Clear Spot, the “party album” which Robyn and co are playing from start to finish, with the odd pause in between to re-tune.  This is the first time they are playing this set for an audience. Having been barely out of kindergarten when Captain Beefheart played his last live show, I am giddy as hell at the prospect of witnessing one of my favourite artists of all time playing songs by another of my favourite artists of all time.

Covering the Captain is always going to be a daunting prospect. When I mentioned these gigs to a music PR friend of mine, he pulled a face and said that the idea was amazing but he questioned whether anyone but Don Van Vliet could be Captain.  Fair enough – a search for “Big Eyed Beans From Venus” on Youtube will bring up a wealth of excreble cover versions. However, Robyn’s surreal language in his own songs and stage banter echoes Captain Beefheart’s warped lyricism, and the early Soft Boys recordings were heavily influenced by Trout Mask Replica. Having witnessed him do an incredible turn on another sacred cow (David Bowie’s Hunky Dory) last autumn, I’m convinced that if anyone can do the Captain justice, it’s Robyn.

Robyn’s a little nervous – or at least he says he is, I think it’s just modesty – they haven’t played these songs live yet, there’s only a vocal PA (“Buddy Holly and the Beatles never miked their amps”), there’s no reverb, and a third guitarist to accompany him and Terry Edwards would be nice, but they’ve got Jenny on the cello so it’ll probably be fine…

“Low Yo Yo Stuff” gets the Indo crowd straight into a groove, and any doubts about Robyn’s ability to match Beefheart’s louche snarl explode before the first bar ends. “Too Much Time” is a little ropey on the tuning and needs a second take, but as this is merely a rehearsal with an audience, it feels like a privilege to witness these mistakes, if you can call them mistakes. Robyn whips out the harmonica for “Circumstances” and this is where we start to wonder if he is actually possessed.  Cellist Jenny freaks out on the cowbell for “Sun Zoom Spark” and bemused passers-by are peering through the pub windows. There’s no stage, just the band crammed into the alcove next to the entrance, so anyone trying to sneak in from their fag break risks being impaled by Terry’s guitar.

Thus concludes side one (tonight we’re playing on vinyl) when everyone breaks for a beer and a “gasper”. The Imaginary Band returns, retuned and refreshed, kicks off side 2 and gets the tiny packed-out room grooving to the title track – another of the set’s many highlights.  The clear winner of the night, however, is “Big Eyed Beans From Venus”, and highlights how astonishingly talented these players are – Paul Noble is on bass, fingers racing up and down the fretboard like some jacked-up spider, somehow making it look as easy as tying one’s shoes (“The time signatures really aren’t that weird, you just get into a groove”), Stephen Irvine barely breaking a sweat on drums, and Terry Edwards’ freakout guitars doing Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo proud.  Everyone sings along, except for the two trendy girls who have finally decided they’ve had enough and make a hasty exit.   I suppose in most circumstances the sight of a tall silver-fringed man dressed in polka dots, yelling “YEEEEEEAHHHAAHAH you’re suffering the weeeeeeerstest of currrrsesssss!” would result in a warily polite request to leave at best, and an ASBO at worst. Here, it’s hypnotizing. The guy next to me might just pass out, such is his hysterical athleticism in gasping out the lyrics.

“Golden Birdies” (marimba bits done on cello and guitar) ends side two with the low rumble of the closing lines rendered as a collective roar of “WEBCORE WEBCORE”, a gleeful foil to the original’s growl that quickly descends into shouts of “more more more“.  We get one gem of an encore, in the form of “Electricity” (end of side 1, Safe As Milk), with the theremin line played on cello, bringing to a close what is undoubtedly the fastest and most bulbous show Whitechapel’s ever seen.

Robyn Hitchcock gigs starting next week:

June 1 – Komedia – Brighton, (Solo Acoustic) tickets
June 2 – Fire Station – Windsor, UK (Solo Acoustic) tickets
June 3 – The Garage – London (Captain Beefheart’s ‘Clear Spot’) tickets
June 4 – Wychwood Festival – Cheltenham, (Captain Beefheart’s ‘Clear Spot’) tickets
June 5 – Spiegeltent, Bath Fringe Festival (Solo acoustic followed by the Clear Spot show with the Imaginary Band) tickets
June 26 – Glastonbury / Spirit of ’71 Tent (Clear Spot followed by Underwater Moonlight)
August 19 – Green Man Festival, South Wales (Robyn and band play psyche melange) tickets

EDIT: Whoa. 119 likes. Where are all you guys coming from? Anyway, for those of us who missed the party first time around:

I mentioned Robyn’s fondness for tributes some paragraphs up.  The Beefheart show wasn’t recorded, but in a very tenuous link to this post – because I like to post at least a little something by the artist to listen to – I’ve included a recording of 2009′s Medicin Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) benefit, where Robyn and The Heavy Friends played Abbey Road from start to finish.  I’ve included Robyn’s intro to side 2 of Abbey Road – if you’ve never seen him live, the between-songs banter is a show in itself. It takes a moment to get going, so please be patient. It’s live and kicking, y’know! Have a listen and please consider donating to this very deserving cause.

Buy Robyn Hitchcock stuff from his website, because it’s more interesting than iTunes.