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August 25, 2006
Works in Progress, vol. 2
Part two in our ongoing series looking at songs in their various states of being. To read the previous entry, go here.
The story of the Glove goes like this...
London in 1979 was a magical place where they held Throbbing Gristle concerts at the YMCA. Robert Smith shows up to this improbable event wearing a green checkered suit. Steve Severin, bassist for Siouxsie and the Banshees, sees Smith, mocks him. The two become instant friends. They hang out, talk about poetry, ear studs, pouting, etc. Rob and the Cure tour with Siouxsie, and he fills in occasionally as an emergency Banshee. The bond of the road cemented, the boys are itching to get into a studio together to make sweet goth. "Oh, not so fast" says Friction records head Chris Parry. "Robert Smith is under contract and can only bleat for us!" Incensed, Robert Smith demands his right to sing on this new band's album! At this point, there is no band, there is no album. A back room deal is struck, allowing Smith to sing on two tracks. Now, the pissing match completed, a hypothetical album now necessary, the boys do the concscientious thing, and take loads of acid and beginning playing with sitars. Kotos, dulcimers, and drum machines are also implicated. Songs emerge. But Robbo's bound up, who's to sing? "Hey" says Banshee drum-man Budgie, "How about my girlfriend Jeanette? She's never sung before, but she's a Top of the Pops dancer!"
...and there you have it.
Lost to time and out of print for ages, the resulting record, Blue Sunshine (named for a cult movie about acid that turns a man homicidal) has finally resurfaced. Only now, we get a bit of a glimpse into what might have been as a second disc is provided made up entirely of Rob Smith's forbidden vocal takes. A rather drastic difference, perfect for our compare/contrast steez.
the Glove - "Like an Animal"
the Glove - "Like an Animal" (Robert Smith vocal demo)
This track, about a schizo lady hiding in her high rise apartment dropping things on passersby, is the first single to have emerged from the Axis of Lipgloss. It's about as dark as you might expect from a Cure/Banshees hybrid with lyrics like "Tuesday in the sun/ nothing can be worse" bandied about freely. The track stands apart from the work of those groups with more exotic psych textures and an emphasis on drum machine rhythms. For a novice, Landray holds her own. I'm sure she was understandably pegged as a temp Siouxsie upon the record's initial release, but in modern terms her high/studio treated pipes sound vaguely like those used by Asobi Seksu. Her presence lends weight to the frazzled state of the detached female protagonist, her enunciated stiffness an asset. Robert Smith's take on his own vague lyrics is more sympathetic maybe, his urging of "Couldn't we just once leave her in bed," sounding like a defense of outsiders everywhere. Of course, he's got the better vocal chops but the direct contest between the two versions is basically a wash. Forgiving a thinner backing track for the demo the difference is between the sound of a great lost Banshees track or a great lost Cure track. The personal loyalties of the listener while likely determine which is preferred.
the Glove - "Punish Me With Kisses"
the Glove - "Punish Me With Kisses" (Robert Smith vocal demo)
On "Punish Me With Kisses" the disparity in vocal quality between Landray and Smith is more pronounced. The sound and structure for both are basically identical with only slight mixing tweaks differentiating them. Both open with gurgling synths that seem to suggest Mario wracking up on coins in a bonus level. Both have big bloody keyboard washes and echoed drum strikes that immediately recall Martin Hannett's soundscapes for Joy Division. Here though, the lyrics don't benefit much from gender reversal and are much more heavy handed than "...Animal" 's. The titular image alone, to "punish" someone with kisses, points out how ridiculous the Smith/Severin lyrics can sound occasionally. Like he's trying to find anything negative he can in the simple pleasures of life. The thing is though, Smith can pull this stuff off, and Landray can't. She gives it a go for sure and as a goth museum piece it works, but her delivery is sort of monotone and not wildly expressive. Smith on the other hand inventively stretches out syllables, or adds little vocal tics in all the right places. He shifts emphasis when necessary and gives the track a human center. It's hardly a fair comparison, as he's one of the most influential (and as of the 00's, most imitated) singers of his genre, and she dated drummers and danced around on Top of the Pops.
the Glove - "Punish Me With Kisses"
Here, you see the kids in action, and still poor Jeanette's mugging is sort of overshadowed by Robby just hanging back in his bright white suit. If he'd been allowed to step into the lead as originally intended, I suspect it this material wouldn't have been shelved so long and the Glove entity might have been more than a curious footnote. So it goes.
Tags: the Glove, the Cure, Robert Smith, Siouxsie and the Banshees
Posted by Jeff Klingman at August 25, 2006 03:05 PM
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