Sigue Sigue Sputnik

Ju Ju Babies, Mechanical Cabaret, Greenhaus and Sigue Sigue Sputnik @ The Underworld 06/09/03

From the looks of things it would mean increased attendance at the venues. This has to be the biggest turn out I've seen at an electro Goth gig all year, which has to be good, right? Also most of these were pretty much non-scene people which means that there might be some crossover appeal going on here. I know that I'm always complaining about the poor turn out at these gigs, but there did seem to be a slightly disruptive element about shouting abusive coments at the stage, so lets hope this disappears in the future.

First band, the Ju Ju Babies are the usual 'name on a flyer' band that I continuellykeep on missing live, so it was good to see them live. To be honest they weren't quite what I was expecting considering the Siouxsie connection to their name. There's a whole heap of people onstage, three of which are playing instruments (A keyboard player with a big hat, a drummer dressed as Tommy Cooper and a bloke in a skeleton mask fiddling with knobs at the back- ooer!). The rest of the band are all ladies, except for one who looks decidedly male! Of the other two ladies one is a busty uber-goth dominatrix whilst the other is a blonde bombshell clad entirely in bin liners with the words TRASH emblazoned across them who's handling vocal duties. This may sound like a disaster, but it all sounds far better than it looks. The inspiration here is obviously early 'out-there' eighties electro in the vein of Trio or Devo, but fortunately not taken so seriously as certain other performers. The band look like they're having one big party onstage and you can't help but want to join them.

Those at Sigue Sigue Sputnik's pre-Christmas gig might be getting feelings of deja vu next as Mechanical Cabaret are once again supporting the Sputnik boys and girl. As we reported last time, there were a few 'technical problems' at the last gig, which given the superior PA at the Underworld aren't apparent this time around. Gary Glitter, idol of thuggish glam rock fans turned despised kiddie fiddler, greets us on the view screen to cries of 'Come on, come on, come on'. Fair enough, it's not the most shocking image Mech Cab have ever shown us, but it's sort of shocking in the way that the infamous portrait of Myra Hindley composed of kids' hand prints was. The boys make good use of the Underworld's strangely triangular stage, all facing to the left, with the view screen to the right. And this time we get not only static slides on the screen, but also proper moving images! The Cab's look isn't quite so far out as has been at past gigs. Even Bruce has gone all Bono on us with a pair of head hugging shades and a Julian Cope style flight jacket (where are your frocks man?).

Still, we like their new EBM fuelled direction and are grateful for the inclusion of our favourite album tracks, which include a particularly sleazy 'Meat Closet' and their rather splendid rendition of Fad Gadget's 'How did I Discover Love?'.

On one hand Mech Cab's music appears decidedly ugly; endless lyrics about vice, lust and prostitution, yet there's a weird kind of romance about all of their songs. A vibe of 'we may be in the gutter, but at least we're in the gutter together - we may be freaks, but God, we're beautiful freaks’. "You all look so beautiful tonight", notes Roi of his audience, "Except for a few dodgy ones here" he says, as he points to a few punters in adidas caps. No sign of throbbing techno floor filler 'Violate', but hey, they've got to keep something back for next time!

Grenhaus play next again, getting in on the act due to one of their number running the company that promotes these gigs. They still sound like Orbital, but they've improved a fair bit since we first saw them 3 or so years ago, but still lack the focus that would be provided with a singer/front person. Mech Cab's Roi provides some guest vocals for one song, perhaps hinting at the direction that this act needs to go in.

And so finally to Sigue Sigue Sputnik. After the overture from 'A Clockwork Orange' out stroll Neal X (The Cult's Billy Duffy meets Eddie Izzard), an orange dreadlocked Tony J and Jenny the dub lady. But where's Martin Degville? Neal bursts into the vocal for 'Everybody Wants What Sputnik Wants', and we're left wondering if Martin's locked himself in the toilet or has stuck himself to the dressing room wall with his hairspray. After the song, an explanation and an apology. Martin left the band when they started their latest tour, so Neal will be providing all the vocals. Neal asks us to bear with him as he gets used to the songs. So essentially what we have tonight is a three-piece Sputnik with Neal X reading the lyrics from a clipboard affixed to a column by the stage.

OK, so this probably sounds like a complete train wreck, but surprisingly, of the three times I've seen them, this is possibly the best Sputnik gig I’ve been to. Whilst usually Neal and Tony seem to be happy to let Martin carry the show, tonight they have to perform, and by golly, they really deliver the goods. Neal has demonstrated his vocal prowess before, but tonight he proves he's a perfectly able showman too. Tony does a lot more than just pose with his bass tonight (his bass, by the way, is more like a ray gun than a guitar) providing backing vocals as well. Jenny even gets in on the act providing the backing for 'Amazing Lover', for which shades of Suicide's 'Cheree' abound (Note that homage, it has more relevance later on). Sputnik are now past the initial stage of their comeback where they were trading mainly on nostalgia, but unlike certain other bands who made a comeback at the same time they've now built up an impressive catalogue of new material. 'Slavetrade' and 'Everybody Loves You' fill out the contributions from 'Pirate Space' whilst we get to hear the first post-Degville track 'Mr Pervert' about the evil man who's king of e-mail spam. New material from the 'Ultrareal' album such as 'The King of Rock and Roll' harks back to the 'Flaunt It' era, hence Chuck Berry guitars meet repetitive drums topped by panoramic synth bass, which really utilises the great PA at the Underworld. Truth be told, there's not too much in the way of old material. '21st Century Boy' rears its head as does (of course) 'Love Missile F1-11' but sadly no sign of 'Rocket Miss USA'. A well-aimed first set out of the way, our titanic trio returns with 'Atari Baby' followed by a guitar-fuelled cover of Suicide's 'Ghost Rider'. Judging by the uncertain but enthusiastic response of the crowd, this isn't a song they're acquainted with, but it looks like quite a few people have discovered something new tonight and discovered that electronic music didn't only begin with Kraftwerk (Remember folks, you can now buy double pack re-issues of Suicide's first two albums from Mute records, which are a bargain at any price - if only they'd re-issue 'Way of Life' and 'Y B Blue' as well!).

"We were close to calling it a day when Martin left, but the response we've received on this tour has convinced us to go on," notes Neal. A good decision sir. I commend the band for going head with this tour despite of everything that's obviously been going on behind the scenes and in the process not letting their performance standards slip in any way. It says a lot that a band like the Stones (rock’s legendary heroes) will cancel an Arena date for the slightest reason, whilst the often demonised Sputnik will still give their fans what they want, regardless of circumstance.

Tonight was one of those nights where the signs for each band looked none to good at the beginning of each of their sets, but by the end they'd more than consolidated any worries that I might've had. On the whole, it's good to see that this strange little scene of ours is really on the up. See you all at Black Celebration next month!

First up tonight are Conspiracy. A fairly young band, they’re made up of the usual two-keyboards-and-a-singer line up that frequents these Flag events, plus have the regulation issue fetish suits for decoration. They don’t offer anything we haven’t heard before, but then aren’t exactly causing us any discomfort either. Their singer chimes in with the odd spot of guitar feed back, and his vocal style is pretty similar to Placebo’s main man, Brian Molko. Too bad that the synths pretty much drown out his guitar parts. Definitely a band to check out again in the future.

Next up are our favourite ‘electro clatter clowns’ (TM) Mechanical Cabaret. I said last time we reviewed them that I had yet to see a bad show by them and couldn’t work out why they received such bad press elsewhere. Well, after two stunning shows earlier this year Mech Cab, as a comedian would no doubt put it, collectively die on their arses tonight. Not long after they’ve stepped on stage, the backing track to ‘You’re Nothing Special’ continually keeps dropping out, putting the band hopelessly out of sync.

"Does my bum look big in this?" Mechanical Cabaret's Bruce.

Singer Roi collapses to the floor in desperation, singing "At this moment I hate every song I’ve ever wrote". The problems continue as multi pierced keyboard-prodder Tobi dislodges the lead from his instrument and there's a nasty crackling sound over the speakers as a roadie desperately attempts to reattach it, hardly helped by the appallingly low volume. Even fan favourite slides man Bruce (Tonight looking stunning in pink negligee) looks a bit perplexed, as he stands motionless behind his keyboard. Bruce also steps to the front of the stage for a while, and strums on a guitar, it’s just too bad we can’t hear any guitar sounds coming out of the PA! The set is sadly very short and we only get a hand full of tracks from the band’s new LP 'We Have An Agenda'. The set for the most part consists of what is either new material or possibly older tracks that I’ve not heard before. Whichever is the case, these track aren’t quite up to the standard of absent LP cuts such as ‘Violate’ or ‘Meat Closet’, although the obligatory Fad Gadget cover crops up. On the plus side, Tobi’s had a haircut and has lost the pony tail (If only somebody could tell David Seamen to do the same!), and Roi is experimenting with a transsexual biker look. He strips down to his bare chest and leather braces at one point, and looked, depending on your point of view, either like an illustration by Tom of Finland given flesh or a Cyber Goth version of Bobby Ball. Roi’s also taken to strutting about the stage with a set of crutches of late, perhaps in homage to the zimmer frame once wielded by Sheep On Drugs’ King Duncan. We’ve also got some more sicko images on the slide projector, my favourite new one being a picture of some fanny lips smoking a cigarette! It’s a shame that things didn’t work out better for Mechanical Cabaret tonight, as this gig probably exposed them to some folks who aren’t regulars to Flag’s roster of artists, and are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Better luck next time lads.

'Join In The Chant!' It's Goteki!

Goteki are essentially a techno band. No frills, no gimmicks, just two keyboardists and a frighteningly Aryan singer who would put Luke Goss to shame, camping it up to the max. Despite the length of their songs (Most clocking in at about ten minutes!) they’re pretty inoffensive, with quite colourful lyrics, but if anything, that’s the problem, as this band could really do with dirtying up their all too clean sound.

Still, all the cyber Goth kids seemed to love them, so what does your cynical 27 year old reviewer know about such things?

If sci fi puppet master Gerry Anderson ever dreamed up a band, they’d probably look and sound something like Sigue Sigue Sputnik. This band was the next big thing of 1986 and achieved a number 3 hit, before becoming victims of that great scourge known as apathy. Now they’re building up the kind of cult following they never had the chance to construct first time around, which is helped by the fact that Sputnik's space age bass player Tony James has been in every band from Generation X to The Sisters Of Mercy, and the kind of glam punk futurism that the band touted 16 years ago has become the height of retro cool. Please note the music press's current obssesion with Ladytron and electro clash. We’ve seen Sputnik before in these pages, but that time was 2 years ago, at a poorly attended pub gig in Putney where the audience could be counted on two hands. Hence, it’s quite reassuring to see a packed Garage surge towards the stage as the Sputniks arrive to the overture from ‘A Clockwork Orange’. We also noted at their last gig how the electro bass and guitar tracks of old faired far better than the more complex arrangements of the band’s newer, more industrial sounds. Obviously the Sputniks themselves agree that they got it right first time around, as not only is ‘Piratespace’ material absent for the most part, but new offerings are a return to the dub and sample template of old. Stand out new track is the amazingly titled ‘Mickey Mouse is Going To Hell’ which has a refrain of "You, and you and you" which for some reason recalls the theme tune to Jim’ll Fix It!

The facial fishnets of old are long gone, replaced by dapper suits (Hey, isn’t ‘The Facial Fishnets’ a cool name for a band?), and continuing the Gerry Anderson theme, the Sputnik's keyboards and dub control lady sports long purple locks, possibly in homage to Gay Ellis from the UFO TV show.

Singer Martin Degville still looks like he’s having the time of his life (Not something you can say about many singers!) and former Marc Almond band guitarist Neal X shows that there’s more to him than just three chords. He even gets to sing a cover of ‘Sympathy For the Devil’ midway through the Sputnik’s thundering epic ’Love Missile F1-11’. We also get the delightfully daft ‘Jane Mansfield Superstar’ and the super slick ‘21st Century Boy’. The boys in day glo wrap off the night with ‘Rocket Miss USA‘; a loose tribute to Suicide’s likewise named song, and one that reverberates long after they’ve left the stage. Despite the blind hatred that they fire up in some quarters, SSS are the best Christmas present any fan of sleazy electro glam could wish for. Any chance of having another encounter with the futuristic purple haired keyboard lady sometime near Valentine’s Day?

Despite Sputnik’s latest vinyl gem ‘Piratespace’ being one the alternative alternative highlights of the year thus far, the audience is pretty light, consisting mainly of first generation fans. If only the kids who are parting with £20 a piece to see Fear Factory could find their way to Sputnik- A mere £9 to stand only feet away from an eighties top ten legend!

And so onto a stage more acquainted with the likes of Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts and the Hamsters walk our three favourite pop culture vultures, bathed in a shroud of dry ice (Tony James obviously nicked the Sisters’ dry ice machine as a leaving present much in the same way you or I might ‘borrow’ a few pens and paper clips when leaving our most recent employer!).

Spiky haired vocalist Martin Degville has waved goodbye to his fishnets and (literal) nine inch nails, now attired in dapper suits with a slight hint of Marc Almond’s hustler chic. A slimmed down Neal X no longer resembles an Aryan version of Gary Glitter- he now looks like Dave Gilmour’s cute l’il brother. Our old mate Tony James on the other hand, hasn’t changed a shread since the band’s prime- A rocking mass of red dreads and space age guitar antics. Changing with the times, the lads have swapped ultra vixen keyboardist Yana Ya Ya for a younger (and blonder) model.

Tony James- No Top Hat Required

‘Piratespace’ leader ‘Welcome to the Future’ kicks us off, an appropriate epic of rumbling bass, Martin’s microphone contortions and Neal’s rockabilly guitar riffs. Golden oldie ‘Sex Bomb Boogie’ follows suit; in these times of Manics misery and Radiohead’s attempts to out bore their audience it’s sheer relief to see a band who actually look like they enjoy playing their songs live and who (wait for it) SMILE on stage- all without the slightest hint of irony!

Degville with 'Space Age Axe Grinder' Neal X

The new LP is well represented with the likes of ‘Alien@tion’ and ‘Everybody Loves You’ and in a live environment the generous overdubs of the LP are filtered down to the bare essentials, although the sub standard nature of the Half Moon’s PA could shoulder the blame for this, the final results

being more Mesh than Ministry. In such an atmosphere the two note electro tracks of old work far better, and the crowd more than show their appreciation. In contrast to the intense guitar theatrics of most contemporary musicians, the classics' glam thunder supplied by Neal X is a joyous relief.

There’s no sign of Matthew Kelly, but soon it’s Stars In Their Eyes Sputnik style, as Martin offers an Alan Vega inspired rendition of ‘Teenage Thunder’. Despite their cyberpunk image, Sputnik always beat with a heart of glam, hence Bowie cover ‘Jean Jeanie’ is an obvious inclusion. Gary Glitter’s ‘Rock n Roll’ might be a controversial choice, but now as at their peak, Sputnik still like to whip up a storm or two. The band’s hatred for their ‘Dress For Excess’ period is well documented, but ever the crowd pleasers, ‘Jayne Mansfield Superstar’ and an acoustic ‘Dancearama’ make the live set all the same. Obligatory greatest hit ‘Love Missile F1-11’ rears its head, Degville’s cries of "Shoot it up, SHOOT IT UP!" mimicked by the fans word for word. Martin hugs Neal X like a brother (Degville- "Ain’t he gorgeous?") before the space age axe grinder sings an impromptu rendition of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ (He has a fine voice- a much under used talent!), before a reprise of ‘Love Missile’ rounds events off.

Encores aren’t the done thing in south London pubs, but our boys (and girl) do three anyway, beginning with Elvis’s ‘Always On My Mind’ (Yup, the same song that the Pet Shop Boys did a cover of kids!). Once the moving tribute to the King is over, 'Flaunt It' favourite ‘Atari Baby’ gives the Pokemon kids something to cling onto. If one Suicide homage wasn’t enough, Sputnik supply another in the shape of ‘Rocket Miss USA’. An adrenalised techno rocker, it’s so hypnotic that all assembled are guaranteed to still be singing the chorus before the mirror first thing tomorrow morning.

The band bid us farewell and Tony thanks us for coming. Sputnik were a pretty strange bunch by eighties standards and they’re far from the norm in 2001. The band are almost playing their career in reverse- Beginning with stadium theatrics before entering their latter period playing the kind of intimate venues that many an aspiring star makes their first appearence at. But remember, this is Sputnik showing us that live performance is as much their domain as the mass media. Tonight they have proved true their modern day slogan- ’History Will Prove Us Right’. It may feel strange for a band who once created videos rather than singles to be stripped down to such a functional unit, but who needs banks of TVs when you have a band as tight (And as fun) as James, Degville and X? Bono can keep his stolen Sputnik ideas- The futures bright, the futures Sputnik!

Admit it, you hate this band, don’t you? Being the defender of all things artistic and introspective, you wonder what the appeal could be of five men in silly haircuts who used a weapon called hype to foster recycled Giorgio Moroder synth tracks to a gullible public? Perhaps it’s time that you gave Sigue Sigue Sputnik another chance? Underneath all their corporate meanderings and media manipulation was something that was far more intelligent than any body gave the lads credit for at the time- A pure satire on corporate rock and roll. By 1986, the vestiges of punk had been swallowed up by the mainstream conglomerates and one time punks Tony James (of Billy Idol’s Generation X) and Martin Degville (A former associate of Boy George) had decided to recapture the anarchist spirit that was once theirs- but by playing the music industry at it’s own game. They became the ultimate corporate rock whores- big hair, big egos, big ideas- The Sputnik Corp!

Tony James was suitably described by his future collaborator Andrew Eldritch as a great conceptualist and this latest creation was inspired by a love of Suicide’s repetitive electronica, The New York Dolls sleazy image and a techno noir Blade Runner future dominated by Japan.

‘Love Missile F1-11’ arrived as a single. A strong floor filler, it couldn’t quite match the sheer excitement of seeing the band TOTP. Fish net clad singer Degville looked absolutely terrifying and a thousand Mothers switched off their televisions in disgust- This was what rock and roll was all about! The multi media package that the band offered was far more important than any one single element, and this was seen to full effect at Sputnik gigs. The band performed before vast banks of TV screens, emitting signals from around the world. Sound familiar U2 fans? In fact Bono freely admits that the whole Zoo TV idea was ‘borrowed’ from Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Give the boys credit- they were doing the whole post modern/post irony thing a full decade before anyone else!

By 1989 SSS had decided to do what any self-respecting set of rock whores would choose to do- sell out. And who better to sell your soul to than Stock Aitken and Waterman? Ex punks at the home of Kylie rock? How subversive, how rock and roll! Of course there were those who couldn’t view the resulting single ‘Success’ with the right amount of humour and saw it as the last act of a band who were fast running out of commercial steam. Oh, and of course, the Sex Pistols would never have done the same thing had they been around a decade later? Some how I think that they would have. Many folks still didn’t get the joke, and Sputnik eventually faded off into obscurity; Degville releasing an early nineties solo LP with Tony James joining little known Goth rockers The Sisters Of Mercy.

Rumours persisted of a Sputnik comeback (Come on, it was the obvious thing for them to do!) which finally happened in 1999. During the intervening period the likes of Sheep On Drugs and Marilyn Manson hitched a ride on the ‘ never mind the music, here’s the hype’ ethic, to greater critical success than that received by Sputnik. At present Sputnik are keeping a low profile, with only a handful of live dates and internet releases to their contemporary CV, the aforementioned information super highway placing SSS into the virtual world which they always belonged. However, a full tilt industrial rendition of Trent Reznor’s originally languid ‘Piggy’ surfaced on a recent NIN covers album, hinting that Sputnik are to follow a similar destiny to the industrial heavy weights. Which is somewhat worrying- what if Sputnik have begun to believe their own joke? Even memoirs published by Tony James on his web pages showcase a milder, more vulnerable character than the media manipulator witnessed in the past. Lets hope that they of all people haven’t forgotten what they stood for, after all- Don't we all still want a set of Sigue Sigue Sputnik action figures for our toy box?

Fortunately Tony James is still obsessed with Japan, technology and designer violence, but his mass media aspersions have found a new muse that only became widespread during the band’s hiatus- the internet. If the layers of HTML coding that enwrap the CD’s sleeve weren’t enough, most of ‘Piratespace’ is a mass of corrupt computer feedback and electronic chaos. Which reminds us that we now have a genre entitled ‘Industrial’ into which Sputnik could easily slide, and if they won’t they’ll try their best until they can.

This will come as the saddest loss to fans of Sigue Sigue’s cheap and cheerful two note electro glam rockers, as the lads have bought onto the Industrial trip in a big way. Tracks such as ‘Slave Trade’ are bursting with fat bass lines and reverberating frequency waves- Cubanate had better watch their tails! Then again, it is Cubase software that’s propelling both bands! As you might expect, Neal X’s rockabilly guitar riffs take a back seat in the mix, although the techno Glitter glam stomp of ‘Demon Seed’ gives the Sputnik boys a chance to remind us of exactly where they came from.

Whereas once Sputnik’s music was only part of a multi media package, it’s now become the main focus, and as such it’s all too easy to accuse the band of taking themselves far too seriously. They’ve waved goodbye to the stripped down Suicide simplicity of ‘Love Missile F1-11’ and instead we have the over complex (and slightly bloated) sounds of ‘Spaced Out' where far too many layers are begging for a position in the sound mix. A few ill chosen ballads such as ’How Do You Dream, Little Caesar’ don’t exactly help matters. In the past such a track would have been seen as a blatant piss take, now there’s an unforeseen sincerity at play. At least ‘Up 4 It (WakeUpIWannaFuck)’ reminds us of the electro sleaze that Sputnik pioneered in conjunction with Soft Cell.

In comeback terms, Sputnik are essentially at the same stage that Gary Numan was during the time of ‘Sacrifice’, and like Gary, Sigue Sigue are trying a tad bit too hard to reclaim past glories. All the ingredients for them to make a fresh mark are in place, and such a master of media manipulation as Tony James is unlikely to let any opportunity go to waste.