[kj] From The Vaults - Killing Joke 'What's This For...!' (the pensive quill)

Paul dubecho at gmail.com
Sat Jun 1 12:11:27 EDT 2019


http://www.thepensivequill.com/2019/05/from-vaults-killing-joke-whats-this-for.html

[image: WTF...jpg]

*From The Vaults - Killing Joke 'What's This For...!'*

*Christopher Owens* delves into an 1981 album he feels is the best of all
time.

[image: wtf cover.jpg]

Let's get this out of the way early on.

This is the greatest album ever made.

Now, let me explain why.

Released in June 1981, Killing Joke's second album outdoes their s/t debut
in terms of song writing, intensity and brilliance but also outdoes
everything else released at that time. And 1981 was a brilliant year for
music: Solid Gold, Flowers of Romance, Movement, Prayers on Fire, Deceit,
Red Mecca, Mission of Dead Souls, Animal Now, Alles Ist Gut, Leather
Bristle Studs and Acne, Slates and Insect & Individual Silenced all came
out in 1981. All stone cold classics.

So to outdo all these is some feat.

But then Killing Joke always had confidence. They knew there was a power
and mysticism that they could tap into to further their vision, as evident
by this quote:

*This band would not just be a pleasure principle, it would have a social
function, rather than something you put on when you get home from work. I
guarantee that if you do that with a Killing Joke record, you'll lose your
job. We knew we were different - we were articulate and intelligent, yet we
were portrayed as thugs, which admittedly there was an element of truth in.*

The "intelligentsia masquerading as yobs or vice versa" debate blind
sighted many at the time, leading them to ignore the rich musical and
literary culture around the band. Evolving from the fractured UK punk scene
at the end of the 70's, early Killing Joke blended disco and dub into their
apocalyptic sound. Hence, fans of The Ruts and Chic could be found in the
crowds of their early gigs, alongside the mohican brigade. Their first Peel
Session captures this period perfectly.

[image: kj peel.jpg]
Killing Joke - Peel Session 1979 <https://youtu.be/Zs5D2mc_aG4>

By 1981, the sound had evolved into what one Village Voice critic described
as "an ugly, overwhelming, heavy metal-disco fusion that might be the first
real advance in HM since The Stooges..." Killing Joke were not impressed by
this comment, and quite rightly so. Aside from it being too simplistic (and
wrong), the use of the word 'disco' would have been anathema to certain
Americans still high from Disco Demolition Night and would have led to the
wrong impression of the band as Saturday Night Fever cast offs.

Which couldn't be any further removed from reality.

[image: jaz.jpg]

And reality was becoming a word open to subjective opinion in Killing Joke
by this period.

Their interest in astrology and the occult arguably hit it's peak in 1981,
with drummer Paul Ferguson commenting that:

*There is a force behind each individual and the idea is to find these
forces or powers and try to get them to work together. It's more than just
star signs; it's a sub-conscious thing. There are four main elements;
earth, water, air and fire, and when we started we tried to find a person
from each element, to theoretically produce a more balanced and stronger
whole.*

Bear in mind that a seven pointed star used to be chalked on the floor when
Killing Joke played live, followed by Dave 'The Wizard', who would breathe
fire. You can see that Ferguson wasn't joking.

As well as this, bassist Youth was suffering from the after-effects of a
bad LSD trip. Youth went mad, burning a collection of crisp five pound
notes inside his bank …

*I remember trying to get a bank loan and the bank manager said that I
didn't know the value of money. I pulled out a £5 note, burned it and threw
it on his desk. I said, 'Don't lecture me, that's what money is, it's just
paper'. He threw me out... *

… trying to break into the Freemasons headquarters and ended up in Chelsea
police station wearing a kimono and swimming trunks. Unsurprisingly, he was
placed in a mental home, leading to a tour being postponed. He later said:


*Somebody slipped me the acid. I wouldn't have taken it myself if I'd known
what would happen - but the mental home was great. I went crazy, sure, but
then I began to see the funny side of life. I made a lot of friends in
there, though it was really weird because I was in the ward for all the
flashers. It was quite amusing.*
[image: kj.jpg]

A simple but sinister drum beat opens 'The Fall of Because' before
guitarist Geordie Walker comes in with a riff that sounds like the gates of
hell opening up. Paul Ferguson and Youth play a tight, but inventive rhythm
based on dub reggae and tribal, Celtic beats. Vocalist Jaz Coleman sings a
set of lyrics influenced by noted British occultist Alistair Crowley, who
once wrote that “He shall fall down into a pit called Because, and there he
shall perish with the dogs of reason.”

It's not a flashy opener. Rather it's one that grabs your attention
gradually, due to all four musicians battling it out for supremacy in the
mix. When it does fully grab you, you find yourself feeling like you're
descending into hell.

'Tension' does what it says, and does it through a chugging, staccato
guitar riff that feels like a baseball bat landing on your head. The
bizarre imagery in the lyrics ("Sitting in my armchair thinking again and
again and again/Going round in a circle I can't get out") can suggest manys
a thing: 9 to 5 conformity, LSD paranoia, mental disintegration. The free
flowing imagery, combined with the stable music, is almost psychedelic in
it's outcome, especially the guitar line during the chorus.

'Unspeakable' begins with a moody keyboard line, then Ferguson ups the ante
by plummeting his drum kit with controlled violence. Youth's basswork
during the chorus adds an extra layer of discomfort. Once again, the lyrics
depict a world where "Facts and figures turn anti-clockwise/Many signposts
leading to the same place", clearly predating 'alternative facts' and
consumer driven lifestyle.

There's a real sense of paranoid and dread running through this song. The
tribal patters on display during the drumming conjure up images of tribes
people preparing themselves to hunt for food, while Geordie's chords make
me envisage council estates on fire.

A staccato keyboard line holds 'Butcher' together, with Coleman's distorted
vocals spewing venom about the rape of the land for oil and wealth. The
most 'industrial' track on the album, the mechanised feel nicely contrasts
with the environmental message.

[image: kj live.jpg]

Coleman then uses 'Follow The Leaders' to lambast the then British Prime
Minister, Margaret Thatcher, as well as the lemmings who'll follow anyone
with a stronger personality than them. The only single from the album, it's
groove is inspired by Chic, but is much more violent and chaotic sounding
than anything that Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards ever put their name to.
Listen to the middle eight, when it pares down to just the bass and the
synth line. The dub influence is keenly felt, but the effect is akin to
being stamped on in an alleyway at 2 in the morning.

Nearly eight minutes long, the krautrock leanings evident on 'Madness'
capture the daily grind of modern life with precision. By utilising
Coleman, Youth and Ferguson as vocalists for this one, the listener is
barraged with contrasting vocals. One line sums up the bleak viewpoint of
the entire album: "If this is today/Well what the fuck's tomorrow." Adding
to the insanity, Walker's guitar is suitably metallic, but minimal.

'Who Told You How' is a short electro number with tribal percussion and
sweeping guitar. A sound collage with a simple question, it's not a million
miles away from what the likes of Cabaret Voltaire were doing at the time
and acts as both a respite from the grind of 'Madness' and a change of
pace.

The last song on the LP, 'Exit' may sound like a more traditional and
conventionally 'punky' number, giving some the impression of ending the
record on a somewhat optimistic note. But a closer inspection of the lyrics
suggest otherwise: "Noise turns darker the moments pass/But the drums keep
thundering in familiar way." Ending with a fade out of the drums furthers
the point.

[image: geordie.jpg]

Cover wise, it may not be as iconic as the 'vandalised' Don McCullin photo
that adorns the first LP, but it's another visually arresting piece of work
from Mike Coles that encapsulates the paranoia and dread that pours out of
'What's This For...!'

A solitary figure, dressed in white, (whose gender is unidentified) is
stuck in a Lynchian style setting where a traditional English street is
populated by clowns are observing their prey. It could be argued that it's
a comment on conformity, the seedy secrets that lie in suburbia, the
struggle between good and evil, nuclear war paranoia, finding strength from
within and even a joke on seaside postcards.

Whatever the true meaning, it's use of muted colours, exquisite detail and
ambiguity mixed with evocative imagery make it a potent comment in it's own
right.

[image: bpf.jpg]

Coming out to mixed reviews (Sounds infamously gave it five stars
musically, but one star on moral ground), the praise for 'What's This
For...!' has grown dramatically over the years.

At the time of release, UK unemployment was over 2 million, Nazi skinheads
regularly clashed with anti fascists, rioting had broken out in South
London and the country was still reeling from the Yorkshire Ripper murders.
In the North of Ireland, republicans died on hunger strike (fully
encouraged by their 'leaders' for political gain) and riots in nationalist
areas were daily occurrences. And, while the album was being recorded,
rioting broke out in Brixton (not far from the band's squat in Ladbroke
Grove).

Harsh times like this require an album to soundtrack this chaos, and
'What's This For...!' perfectly captures this period by evoking imagery of
subversion, suspicion and mayhem through the riffs and lyrics. But these
are still harsh times, and it still sounds as potent nearly forty years on.

As Jaz Coleman said in 1990: "Killing Joke always have an important role to
play in times of world tension" and this is still the case today.

The greatest album of all time. No question.

[image: kj wtf full.jpg]
KILLING JOKE "What's THIS For...!" [Full Album] [2005 Reissue]
<https://youtu.be/5FzwTKuKesQ>



⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to
study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland.
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