It’s a tiny bit bizarre how The Wombats have managed to take four years to release a follow up album to their debut, ditch the guitars for a more synth-pop direction and still, somehow, be able to sell out venues as big as the 02 Apollo. Given the cluster of landfill indie bands that broke out around the same time as the Liverpool 3-piece, few would have predicted that such a feat was possible, and would have expected them to have fallen by the wayside, joining the likes of the Ting Tings of this world.
However, playing their final show of a huge UK tour, tonight shows the key to The Wombats’ success to be the fact that they are pretty damn good at writing really catchy pop songs. Set opener ‘The Perfect Disease’ precedes hit track ‘Kill the Director’, setting the tone for the evening as the Apollo’s packed out crowd- which was admittedly 90% made up of 14 year olds clearly overly excited to be at their first ever gig- bounce all the way throughout the night. The vibrant atmosphere even manages to spread to the seated area upstairs where everyone was on their feet for the entirety of the show.
Songs from this year’s sophomore record This Modern Glitch go down well and, despite at times feeling like you were listening to an Inbetweeners soundtrack, older songs such as ‘Moving to New York’ and set closer ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ also got the young crowd jumping.
Impressive lighting and Muse-esque lasers reaffirm that this band are (surprisingly) really big these days and although they’re never going to be artistically credible, The Wombats know what sells and clearly aren’t ready to fade away into obscurity just yet. Their fanbase are still there and, as tonight proves, teenage girls are suckers for catchy tunes and messy hair.
When Girls’ debut Album was released in 2009, it was embraced for all its lo-fi tortured optimism and let’s-get-fucked-up-and-love-each-other balladry. The story that led to its conception was pretty damn unbelievable (abandoned son of god-fearing cult members moves to San Francisco, is taken in by local millionaire, starts band with neighbourhood punks), and bandleader Christopher Owens’ voice had apparently been tailor-made to break hearts, falling somewhere between Elvis Costello and Ryan Adams’ end-of-the-road romanticism.
On Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Owens continues to channel the 60’s sunshine pop of Roy Orbison and the Beach Boys, but in an altogether more ambitious, rounded and ultimately satisfying piece of work. Just like on the first album, there’s a fresh batch of bouncy anthems about love that immediately sound like songs you’ve loved all your life, yet they’re tossed in with the Deep-Purple inspired, riff-heavy ‘Die’, the heartbreaking ‘Vomit’, and the world-weary despair of ‘Myma’. It’s an emotionality that borders on cliché, but lines that could appear over-sentimental and tacky elsewhere are so earnestly and desperately delivered that you can’t help but lend it the same sympathy and understanding that you would a close friend.
As is clear from the offset, the album borrows heavily from the past, but it’s hard to imagine Owens’ songs delivered in any other way. These are pop songs as they used to be, with all the raw emotion and attention to musical detail intact. Of course, it’s got its weaker moments, but all in all, Father, Son is anthemic, joyous, genuinely affecting and impossibly endearing in equal measure.
Remember Hulme estate’s torrid to tepid past? Well if you don’t (or you do), read on. Because we couldn’t resist asking the resident lens-witness of those ebbs and flows a few questions on what he remembers from those years – Manchester’s loyal-est photographer Al Baker. October 2011
PC: Where and when did you live in Hulme estate?
AB: I moved to Hulme at the beginning of the 90’s into the deck-access flats which were already due for demolition & urban regeneration even then. I’ve had different properties dotted around; I still live there.
It was a significant time for me as I was entering my 20s, into the first flat that was solely mine, a spare room for my baby daughter. As for living in Hulme, as Billy Shakes says, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…”
PC: Why, in your opinion, was the Hulme estate such a creative hothouse, music graffiti, poets…?
AB: Well, originally of course it was one of those new ways of thinking in 60’s housing, a definite Le Courbusier influence, ‘A Design for Living’. The Car was environmental demon of the day then, so there were very few through-roads & the estate was quite self-contained, with multi-level ‘streets in the sky’ walkways between blocks. You could walk from one end of the estate to the other without touching terra-firma.
Then there were the Bullrings, 4 huge crescent-shaped blocks of flats with a different thing in the centre; a playground; open space; trees; the Eagle pub; but it never really worked. Heating & cockroach problems meant the council tenant families moved out & the flats were filled (mostly) with students, unemployed, squatters, junkies, artists looking for space.
PC: Was it the freedom or the alienation from society that fostered such an environment?
AB: Both. Emergency services found access difficult, so flats burned; police could be chasing a mugger into a stairwell where there might be 6 or 9 different escape routes for him so they stopped bothering. Burglaries & muggings were rife. As were the availability of a pharmacopeia of illegal drugs. It became quite hedonistic but also quite dangerous. You couldn’t get a taxi in or out of Hulme. You couldn’t get a job with an M15 postcode. People were left to their own devices. Poverty & Freedom writ large, with the volume cranked up.
PC: How did you feel when the estate was demolished?
AB: Sad, very sad: A way of life for a whole generation of people just wiped clean, and not for the 1st time. It was a slow, lingering death too. People who had kids or drug-addictions clung on, most everyone else trickled away.
Al Baker, '94
PC: It seems like Hulme fostered an atmosphere of goodwill and creativity, with very little hate or abuse in writing, and in general. Is this accurate?
AB: Tolerance was our key to living. On your landing you might have a lesbian commune, an alcoholic Irishman, a little old West Indian lady, a man with Care In The Community issues, a couple of students. Below you might be 3 Traveller caravans nicking electricity from a lamppost; above you might have a Rasta pirate radio station nicking electric from an empty flat. You had to get on with your neighbour. If you wanted them to look out for you, your safety, your property, well then you had to return that favour.
When Granada TV came to Hulme to film Cracker and used the estate as a backdrop it led to a community stand-off. Locals kicked off when the production crew, unable to find suitably offensive graffiti, decided to add their own. Local people were outraged because those kinds of opinion were not stood f or. Not on the walls of Hulme. Not in the pubs of Hulme. Lots of BNP & NF slogans had to be painted-over once filming had finished so that Granada TV were (only then) able to retrieve all their camera equipment safely. That was a proud day!
PC: Was there a dark side to Hulme? Were there crime and drug problems?
AB: Of course, lots of drugs. Different strokes for different folks. Punks on amphetamines; Hippies on Moroccan hash; Acid; Rasta’s who’d smoke sensei in the street; Heroin addicts who left syringes everywhere; and prescription freaks on Dexedrine, Valium, Temazepam, Diazaepam; then Ecstasy, Ketamine, GHB, cheap coke, skunk, whatever; all of it, up & down, but I don’t think it was much more than on other estates, just more evident, more obvious, more out-in-the-open. Then crack came into Moss Side and it all got fucked up. There were shootings, beatings & murders.
But I think wherever you find poverty you will find drugs, because it’s a quick way to make money & to escape. But whenever you have heroin you will have crime, simple as. It’s a parasitic problem quite unlike other recreational drugs & addictions
PC: Why did you first start to take pictures of the goings on in Hulme? What inspired you about the place/the people?
AB: I lived through an earlier Madchester period in a big shared-house with a band rehearsing in the cellar & took no photos at all of any of it! Very disappointing, but I was just learning photography. By the time I came to Hulme I was ready & knew what I was doing. Once I felt safe wandering around I started to take my camera out under my coat. Hulme was fast disappearing & I wanted to document its last days, its architecture & the faces of those people I knew then.
PC: Why take a picture of a picture? Why did you feel that it was important?
AB: At first I was just documenting Hulme, and photographing finished pieces as they appeared. Then I realised that context was everything and began to step back; to include the drab background more. You might notice a particularly large or smooth wall would get re-painted afresh, but rarely ever defaced. Once I knew the writers & they trusted me I began to shoot them on black & white film as they painted.
Ultimately though, the estate itself was becoming ephemeral, time passing into history. That tragedy is photography’s gain though. As time marches on, and things & people change, sometimes irrevocably, all that sometimes is left is a ghost in the machine; the photographs we have.
Al captures head-spinners at Smear 3, August 1996
PC: Does the community still have the same sense of respect between artists, and respect for the art?
AB: I think so. What I saw at SMEAR were graffiti artists from London, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, France, Spain, Holland. There’s a pecking order of sorts but only like any local pub or prison wing: Time served is important to these people. Joking aside, I’ve always found it to be quite an open atmosphere. Though there clearly are ‘beefs’ & people who just don’t like each other, in the main, just like back in the day, it’s not about who you are it’s about what you bring.
PC: How did it feel to be honoured by Manchester in the recent HomeGrown exhibition at Urbis, with so much of your photography crowding the floor?
AB: That was a fantastic buzz, I have to be honest, an honour to be involved. I contributed images to an earlier much-smaller exhibition there on D’n’B music in the North-West. Every time the curators asked the different local heads, promoters, producers, DJs & MCs for evidence they each put my name forward. So they called me up. They had much bigger plans than I could’ve achieved. I’d seen the Hacienda exhibition they had put together the year before at Urbis & they had the same design team onto it. I was impressed so I let them pinch the title from me! I thought it was well put together & well received. It’s a shame it didn’t travel. The real shame of course is that the Urbis closed as an Arts venue.
PC: What did you think about the recent riots in Manchester and around the UK?
AB: Interesting, I thought what happened in London was different, more to do with the long dark history of our Metropolitan Police Force. But what then erupted across the UK was mainly rampant opportunism, fuelled by new media (Blackberry, texting & Facebook), as well as more traditional News media (newspapers & television). Lots of young people who had voted for the 1st time, voted Liberal, and got the Tories. Loads more don’t even bother to vote. Fear of long term unemployment is still seared into the memories of their parents. Student grants are snatched away. There was protest then too. This was another eruption of dissatisfaction.
I was particularly disappointed in Newsnight, for immediately hosting a debate between black Labour MP Dianne Abott, a black educationalist & a former black gang member, with a white chairperson and all the usual scapegoats that they hung on a peg in Toxteth & Moss Side 30 years ago. Namely a right-wing view that rioters were mainly black youths, in organised criminal gangs, who had no respect for authority because they had no fathers at home: This was and still is clearly divisive nonsense.
PC: What are you working on at the moment?
AB: Still poking my lens occasionally out around city nightclubs, which I do less now to be honest. Since the digital revolution in cameras there are many more wanna-be photographers than ever & most cutting edge Manchester club nights are regularly documented & shared on websites or Facebook. Examplemagazine do a good job of keeping their fingers on various creative pulses
I work in an FE college & teach evening classes in Photography. I’m Photo Editor at Examplemagazine.com. Most recent work is with Virus Syndicate press & publicity shots for them. Loving their output more each & every time! But I’m always reppin’ for Manny me. Check out Al’s work at http://www.albakerphotography.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/MischiefMakerPhotoTaker
Much credit must be given to Manchester 3rd’s team as they were promoted into BUCS Northern Conference 2A from last season and will be battling it out against Man Met 1st, Liverpool 1st, Chester 1st and Lancaster 1st. Wednesday saw the opening game of their 2011/12 league campaign against Liverpool with hopes high as the club as a whole is looking to improve on the achievements from last year.
The first quarter saw immediate pressure from Liverpool’s attacking players who were faster to the ball and quicker at off-loading when in possession. Manchester’s defence seemed a little dazed with Liverpool’s off the ball movement combined with lightening speed passing and were made to pay by clinical shooting, most noticeably from Liverpool’s GA- Kathryn Turner who literally didn’t miss a shot. Manchester did start to make a dent into Liverpool’s lead towards the end of the half when Jade Jarvis (WA) and the shooters started combining well together in the final third of the court with Ashley Sturrock (GS) hitting the target with most success. However Liverpool ended the first quarter with an established 15- 11 lead.
Manchester realised the dominance of Liverpool’s GA and GS (Turner and Baldin) and made a change in defence with Adrianna Winters coming on as GK which had an immediate effect as she harried and pressurised the attackers forcing them into errors in front of the net. Manchester gained confidence from this and there all round game came to life with excellent contributions most noticeably from Jade Jarvis (WA) whose passing and off the ball movement were excellent. Also Ashley Sturrock (GS) performed well in front of goal when given the ball continuing in the same vain from the previous quarter. However Liverpool continued to be clinical in their shooting despite Winters limiting their opportunities and the second quarter saw Manchester trailing 18-24.
The 3rd quarter saw both teams make the tactical decision of swapping their GA’s and GS’s around and Manchester moved the impressive Jarvis to (C) position to maximise her impact in the game. Manchester pushed Liverpool as far as they could making sure that they kept moving forward and getting the ball to Kennedy (GS) and Sturrock (GA) this tactic worked and Kennedy was lethal in front of goal. Liverpool however kept taking their chances which had been the pattern of the game and once again Turner didn’t miss a shot. Liverpool went into the final quarter with a 39-29 lead.
Jarvis had literally run herself into the ground with her battling performance and for the final quarter she was replaced by Jess Maughan who had started the game in (C) position. Liverpool also decided to change their (GA) and (GS) around once again to keep Manchester’s defence guessing. Manchester started the quarter on top and at one stage were only 3 goals behind. But unfortunately it was not to be a nail biting finish as Liverpool’s quality in finishing came through and they comfortably sailed to a 50-37 victory.
Despite the score-line Manchester can take much heart from their performance, the difference on the day was the finishing in front of the net; Liverpool took all their chances whereas Manchester did not. For any viewer it was an exhilarating game to witness and I felt out of breath just watching! Hopefully much can be taken from the game and Captain Fran Goodwin can turn their fortunes around and lead them to victory in their next away clash against Lancaster 1st on 26th October.
