THE sex is of the sado masochistic variety, the drugs of the class A variety and the rock `a' roll of the dirty, sleazy variety. Hurrah, The Sultans are back, in time for the summer hols. They've got a new album Good Year For Trouble, a new guitarist Sammy from The Golden Horde and a new attitude "Happy little indie kids ..... kingware" is their new, sing along motto. Don't laugh, they're on a mission from God.
"After the last album (Teenage Drug) it just felt a bit like we were riding into the valley of death," says Niall (singer) cryptically, "so we shortened the name, got in the new guitarist and beefed up the sound. We were a bit displeased with the whole `quirky pop' label so we've gone a bit darker now and got a bigger sound going. This time we're walking it as we talk it".
Little bits of "controversy" helped their re launch along the way. First the album's sleeve (which features a fairly innocuous" image of sado masochism) was banned by HMV and Virgin on grounds of "taste", so a new cover had to be hastily reassembled the original cover, you'll be glad to know, is still available in independent record shops. Then, at the album's first playback in the rock `n' roll Columbia Hotel in London, the city's Metropolitan Police were summoned to investigate allegations of drug taking on the premises. What a cliche.
The other cliche of "But we're big in Japan" actually holds true for the band. Back around the time of Where's Me Jumper, the band made their first foray Far Eastwards and still enjoy a bizzare cult status there. "It's very strange the way we get viewed, over there," says Niall, "we did this film and toured a lot, but firsts we were a punk band, then a S&M band and then we ended up as a Vampire band ... and there's the slight matter of my writing songs for a singer over there. When I got to hear the finished product, it was all bossanova and castanets. It's more than a bit strange".
The Sultans have taken a few whacks from the British media over the years (one review actually advocated physical violence) but Niall remains unfazed. "We don't fit in to their indie scheme of things and we're not a second rate Britpop band, which you have to be to get written about these days," he says. They were getting written about in the Irish press for all the wrong reasons last year, when a gig in Limerick became a bit ugly after Niall used the word "knacker" in a rather indiscriminate manner "what happened in Limerick was sheer buffoonery. It was all very stupid and all very badly reported. Using the term I did was a reflection of our own strange sense of humour and nothing else," he says.
Just after a tour with The Ramones and soon to join The Sex Pistols on some European dates, The Sultans then head off to the good of U.S. of A. to fulfil the promise contained in the title of the new album. Expect plenty.
THIS fell out of the file called "A Simple Twist Of Fate" When Divine Comedy's Casanova came out, it sold about as much as his previous albums (not much) and seemed destined for the "unheralded classic" section of the record shops. However, three weeks ago, DJ and TV presenter, Chris Evans, was at a friend's house and heard the album for the first time. Evans was so taken by it, he started playing the single, Something For The Weekend twice a day on his radio show and got young Neil Hannon on to his TFIF programme. Net result the single goes Top 20, the album starts to fly out of the shops, Neil finds himself on the cover of Melody Maker and all over the media, and is now on his way to becoming (get this) "the new Jarvis Cocker". It's a funny old rock `n' roll world ...
Gigs Scheer are at Whelans this very night (8 p.m.) while Revelino supported by Luggage and Dave Long/Shane O'Neill are next door in the Fiddler. Revelino's new album, Broadcaster will be out shortly ... All the young people seem to be turning away from that noisy tech no stuff and heading for the chill out rooms, with the news that Ultra Lounge is now present and correct every first and third Thursday of the month up in McGrattan's (Deluxe Club and Bar) on Baggot Street. Told you so.
