the year is 1989 and the buzz is all about a new drug to hit the fashion magazine.
crack.
so of course, uk record label emi decide to sign up playful american arty duo big stick with their love for drag car racing, and crap clothes that make sigue sigue sputniks fishnet games look positively stylish.
the duo, john gill and the brilliantly named yanna trance, like to use technology enhanced drum machines, glammed up industrial guitar noise, and masses of corny phoned in voice overs spliced over state of play uk acid house production courtesy of mark ‘fon force’ brydon (later to become part of twisted pop duo moloko) making this a surreal combination of the underground desire to push the limits of acceptability and mass consumption.
of course, the relationship with emi, was doomed form the start, the band retreated back to their indie roots with the ep collection album, crack’n’drag, being released via blast first/mute.
for years the 4 track cd single (probably one of my very first silver discs and bought due to jumbo records 99 pence bin i suspect !) has been gathering dust in the archive, but when the name popped up on a dig through the wires yesterday i decided to make sure that the disc had not succumbed to the dreaded cd rot.
and the good news is that the digital data is in rude health, as is the band by all accounts who have new sounds, and new outfits ready to go, if only a record label would be willing to take a chance.
if you have an urge to hear such a slice of prime era noise infested acid house pop madness track, i have got the all clear to post crack attack in all its glory.
i have decided to post the freakscene version, this has bigger and meatier drums than the original, lots of acid squiggles, old school piano loops and scratching amongst the vocal cutups, however, i have to say this version along with the make some hardcore noise version make for a tough call, as i love the big sampled noise that is looped though the hardcore version.
for a few weeks this track made me smile and dance around my student digs quite a bit.
i was young. i was naive. no idea what excuse i can use now.
big stick – crack attack
more detail : here