Needles - Under The City

  by John Clarkson

published: 27 / 3 / 2004

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Review

Punk act the Needles have been floating around the nether regions of the Scottish independent music scene for what seems like an eternity. First formed in Aberdeen way back in 1996 by three truanting school friends, the Needles, whom consisted initially of vocalist and guitarist Dave Dixon, bassist Paul Curtiss and drummer Johnny Wolfe, played their first gig together in a local internet cafe, and eventually became a four-piece with the induction of Johnny Wolfe's brother Richey into the line-up on keyboards. In 1997 they signed to Lithium Records, a fledgling local label, with whom they stayed to release four singles, gaining in the process the odd respectable review, and a loyal, if small fan base. Lithium, which also had on its books several other fine but equally little known Scottish acts such as Josephine, the Gents and Quincy, folded in 2002. While its demise was a sad event at a grassroots level for Scottish music, it seems to have done the Needles nothing but good, pulling them out of the toilet circuit and pushing them towards a much broader audience. Shortly afterwards they signed to the far more prolific Dangerous Records. The Needles since then have played several prestigious London shows. They have appeared on the bills of festivals such as T in the Park and In the City, and are now currently working on their debut album with the much-acclaimed Cornish-based Sawmills production team, which has also recorded records by Supergrass and Muse. With things looking up, Dangerous Records have released, as a prelude to the album which will be out later this year, 'Under the City', which features four of the early songs from the Sawmills sessions. It is the Needles' finest moment yet. 'Under the City' jacks open in a blistering fireball of sound that the Needles show no intention of slackening upon until the EP's close some 11 minutes later. A rallying call to the dispossessed, the guttural title track hurls up jagged guitars together with stuttering keyboards. It is reminiscent of acts such as the Ruts with its impassioned, feverish energy, but also of fellow Scots the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in its swaggering bluster. The two middle tracks, the nerve-wrangled 'Back Where I Belong', which finds Dixon taking paranoiac comfort on his home turf, and the klaxoning 'Johnny Victory', another political rabble-rouser, lack some of the melody of the opening number. They have though a similar raw enthusiasm, and, despite being studio-recorded, their slightly looser sound captures some of the feral and occasionally blood-spattered nature of the Needles' live shows, which has put more than one member of the group in hospital. The final track, 'Teenage Bomb', is a welcome reprise of the Needles' very first limited-to-1000 copies Lithium single from 1998. Throwing up cracking wailing backing vocals from Curtiss and Richey Wolfe against Dixon's acrobatic lead, it has slightly more of a rock 'n' roll fervour than its predecessors, and recalls, with its speeding guitars, Johnny Thunders and the D4. Its suitably dumb lyric about adolescent lust provides a perfect antidote to the heavy politics of some of the other tracks. On this, the Needles have come of age. Hopefully it is at last only the start of better things for them.

Track Listing:-

1 Under The City
2 Back Where I Belong
3 Johnny Victory
4 Teenage Bomb