Telescopes - Mondo Underbelly, London, 17/2/2010

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 27 / 3 / 2010

intro

Anthony Strutt watches former Creation band the Telescopes play a violent and darkly impressive set of songs from their 1989 debut album, 'Taste'

'Taste' was the debut album from the Telescopes and was released on What Goes On Records in 1989. Lots of my friends love this album to death, but to be honest when I listen to this album now it seems not only very loud, but also very much of its time. By the time 'Taste' came out, the music contained within in it was of a scene that was already quite old and which had been done countless times before by bands such as Loop and the Jesus and Mary Chain and several of the acts on Creation Records such as Meat Whiplash and Slaughter Joe. It is not surprising really as a result that the Telescopes never became huge. They supported the Jesus and Mary Chain at the Town and Country Club, now the HMV Forum, in 1991 and by then had signed to Creation Records as well, which had changed its musical output from Velvet Underground-influenced bands to shoegaze acts. While the Telescopes could be put in that bracket, they had more of a groove on their second self-titled album that rested within the Baggy movement. But back to 'Taste', which the Telescopes are playing songs from on a UK tour and which is an album, that is too much influenced by the Velvets especially on opener, '...And Let Me Drift Away'. 'While I Fall, She Screams' is dominated by white noise, something that was fashionable some five years earlier. By 1989, however, we were already in the time of Baggy and early Grunge bands were coming to these shores, like Tad, Hole and that then small Seattle band, Nirvana, which at that time played the London Astoria twice a year every year until 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' in 1992 broke them into the mainstream. 'Oil Seed Rape' is a song of mixed ideas, starting off trippy and dreamy before front man Stephen Lawrie goes into screaming mode and carries on in this fashion. 'Violence' is a track that has the central feel of the album, being both loud and carrying a heavy heart. It is a song that is every much as dark as the Jesus and Mary Chain and Sonic Youth at their most black-sided and when they were still cult bands. 'Threadbare' is another song full of fury, very dark, and played at super speed. 'The Perfect Needle' follows which was a single, which is like a late 80's version of the Lou Reed classic 'Heroin' updated for the next generation. The second side opens with 'There is No Floor', which is harsh, full on, and quite violent in its deliver. 'Anticipating Nowhere' is like a fast Jesus and Mary Chain, big on attitude and fury. 'Please, Before You Go' is one of the stand-out tracks from the album. Big chunky guitars glitter all across it, but its attitude is again that of the Jesus and Mary Chain. The album carries on with 'Suffercation', which has a classic white noise sound reminiscent of Spacemen 3. 'Silent Water' features wall to wall wah wah guitars and owes a lot to US grunge acts like the Pixies and early Smashing Pumpkins. 'Suicide' closes the album and is as you would expect vicious and full of pain, another white noise anthem. We jump forward twenty years or so to 'Taste' live, but the band playing it is not really the Telescopes. It is Stephen Lawrie, whom looks no different to what he did originally, backed by another group One Unique Signal, whom were influenced by the Telescopes. I miss the first band on the bill, but sadly have to suffer Lilian Gish, who employ some sexy dancers who get their breasts out while dancing to the band, which is more interesting than the band itself. Bela Lugosi's Blues are the next band on. They are not Goths and not a blues act and are not really worthy either of using the 'Dracula' star's name. One Unique Signal follow who were chosen by Stephen as the main support and it is easy to see why he has done this, as well as asking them to be his Telescopes for the night. They only play four numbers, which are massive work outs of white noise in the shape of Loop, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Telescopes, mostly instrumental and very long, but they absorb my brain and make me fall in love with them. After a short break, we get the Telescopes intro tape of whales crying, the same that they used at The Town and Country Club all those years ago. For a mere forty two minutes they deliver most of the album, but not all of it and also 'To Kill A Girl Slowly Walking', the title track from a 1990 EP, to a crowd of a few old fans, but mostly to a young hip indie crowd whom were quiet between the songs. It is a set that sees a glass broken on the stage by the time of the second song, 'While She Falls, I Scream'. Stephen crawls across the stage like Jim Morrison lost in his own habitat and seems quite comfortable within the violent settings of the music. There is no encore and the young indie kids are not sure what they witnessed but for me and the other older fans it was a joy to slip back into our pasts and rejoice that the Telescopes were so dark, if not just a little bit too late, to become bigger then then they were allowed to get.

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