Along with The Slits, THE RAINCOATS are highly regarded for bringing a feminine perspective to the male-dominated aggression of punk. Indeed, the two bands’ stories are forever intertwined, simply because drummer Paloma McLardy (‘Palmolive’ to most punk historians) featured in both.
Palmolive had quit The Slits before they made their classic 1979 debut album ‘Cut.’ While the record’s cover image (the band’s core members Ari Up, Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt covered in mud and very little else) is notorious, the record itself had a memorable, dub-infused depth, partly due to the input of renowned reggae producer Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell and future Banshees drummer Budgie’s session skill behind the drum kit. Recorded for the fledgling Rough Trade label, The Raincoats’ self-titled debut (which did feature Palmolive’s rudimentary drumming skills) couldn’t match it for proficiency, but it had a special, naive quality all its’ own and its’ best tracks – the anti-violence ‘Off-Duty Trip’, a spirited, off-kilter cover of The Kinks’ Lola’ – still sound striking today.
Palmolive left after ‘The Raincoats’ was released and the experimental, restless songs making up its’ follow-up ‘Odyshape’ were written while the band was without a regular drummer. Ingrid Weiss, Charles Hayward (This Heat), Richard Dudanski (PIL/ 101ers) and Robert Wyatt would all make percussive contributions to the album, but the band’s DIY charity shop punk ethic prevails and most of the songs have a spontaneous, shape-shifting feel which may try the patience of those with an aversion to anything but a ‘verse-chorus-verse’ approach.
And in truth, the abstraction can sometimes run aground. Tracks like ‘Family Treet’ (sic) and ‘Dancing in My Head’ are loose to the point of sounding careless, while ‘And Then It’s OK”s title somehow perfectly sums up a set-piece where voices intertwine and fade away and instruments apparently fart around individually, only to come together quite gloriously when you’ve all but given up on them.
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Elsewhere, though, the band’s anti-song approach works a treat. The primitive indie-dub of ‘Shouting Out Loud’ recalls PIL’S much-maligned ‘Flowers of Romance’ LP, while the frail riffs and clock-style beats on ‘Only Loved At Night’ have an atmosphere all their own. The title track, however, is the jewel in the crown. While the music is suitably playful and improvised, the lyrics (“Hung up for traditional inches/ hung up for the cloth that pinches/ do I measure up to your expectations?/ Am I owed any explanation?”) seem to ring truer than ever in these days of celebrity-fuelled body fashion.
‘Odyshape’ initially appeared on the Rough Trade imprint in 1981 and it arrived with less of a fanfare than its predecessor. It didn’t curry favour with some devoted fans at the time either. Gina Birch’s frank sleeve notes reveal how some people made fruit bowls from their vinyl copies and she even admits she has mixed feelings about it herself. Personally, I think it’s got a naive, otherworldly presence of its’ own and I believe its second coming is long overdue. After all, if you need a new fruit bowl, there’s plenty of Michael Buble product out there you could make good use of.
The Raincoats online
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