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Young Marble Giants
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THIS MONTH: Young Marble Giants FILE UNDER: Post-punk for actual humans. YEARS OF EXISTENCE: 1978-1980, 2007 RECORD TO START WITH: Colossal Youth (1980; 2007, Domino) GO DOWNLOAD: "Constantly Changing," "Wurlitzer Jukebox," "Credit In The Straight World," "Final Day," "Include Me Out," "Music For Evenings" THE MUSIC, THE MESSAGE: In the forest of scrawl that makes up Kurt Cobain's posthumous Journals, there's an early self-penned Nirvana bio listing his influences: Along with "drugs, divorces and sound-effects records," it name-checks something called "Young Marble Giants." This last reference shouldn't be as obscure as it was 17 years ago, especially after the post-punk revival of the past decade, but it's no mystery why Cobain might have fallen for the Welsh trio's elegant music. Compared to their classmates Gang Of Four and Wire, Young Marble Giants played songs-not manifestos or deconstructions of Funkadelic according to the theories of Jacques Derrida-but songs. And great songs: Drawn in sparse lines by leader Stuart Moxham's muted Rickenbacker and homemade synths, bassist (and brother) Philip Moxham and the cool, trembling vocals of Alison Statton. The band released only one full-length before splitting up, 1980's Colossal Youth, an indie-chart hit in the U.K. But of all the art-cracked debut albums in punk's immediate wake, it's the most diverse and least allergic to melody, with crystal, unforgettable riffs; lyrics about real life that somehow also manage to be as abstract as Buddhist sutras; and snatches of dub, funk, Spaghetti Western, the Velvet Underground and 1950s novelty music. PUNK-ROCK RELEVANCE: It's hard to say how music so brittle might have influenced Cobain beyond its melancholia, but unsurprisingly, Courtney Love is also a professed fan (Hole even covered Colossal Youth's "Credit In The Real World," one of the most thoughtful songs ever written about the temptation to sell out). Young Marble Giants' chilled melodicism also can be spotted in Interpol, and all you have to do to make perkier numbers like "Wurlitzer Jukebox" into Guided By Voices tunes is add real drums and Miller Lite. But the YMGs left their deepest impression on entire scenes, rather than individual bands: The anti-corporate bedroom minimalists of Olympia, Washington, and the totally corporate, studio sophisticates of British trip-hop. CURRENT WHEREABOUTS: After the split, the Moxham brothers and Statton went separate ways for the better part of a quarter century; Stuart discovering acoustic guitars and a solo career, and Phillip finding name-recognition with Everything But The Girl. Next month, Domino Records issues its completist three-disc edition of Colossal Youth, with a catch-all of demos, singles and five luminous Peel Sessions tracks. To preview the occasion, Stuart, Phillip and Alison reunited in May at Wales' Hay-on-Wye festival, with a brace of |
