David Stubbs interviews The Young Gods, 19th-26th December 1987.
A clever reference to U2’s Unforgettable Fire titles this piece I first read when I was 16. A few quotes culled from this for the time poor.
“Their sound is pure artifice, spectacular, irrelevant, a disembodied roar, a cathedral unpeopled except for Gods whispering among themselves.”
“There’s ‘Did You Miss Me?’ their Dadaist reworking of the Gary Glitter chestnut, a stately montage of Tchaikovsky, Liszt and an audience scream from a Yello live album”
“And ‘Jusqu’au Bout’, their masterpiece, which shudders deliriously like the earth about to vomit its core, like sex between God and Satan, a slamdance between the moon and the sun.”
Back then I read these pieces with a sort of mystified awe…I didn’t fully understand it but I knew I wanted to hear the record. And today it’s easy…here’s The Young Gods ’smash hit’ single Envoyé from the MM Album of the year.
July 22, 2008 at 11:54 pm
What’s that quote? Writing about music is like dancing about architecture?
Reading Melody Maker back in the late eighties, and especially on the subject of bands like Young Gods, was like entering a palace designed by a cabal of absurdist architects.
It was inspiring and mysterious but often left you wondering if you’d been the victim of an intellectual practical joke.
ie: The Young Gods.
Never got them. I reckon they were invented by the likes of David Stubbs the same way emo bands are invented by videdo production companies today.
Nice blog by the way. Off to deliver parcels now. Ciao!
July 23, 2008 at 1:54 pm
typos are evidence of arrogance.
young gods are shit. and they sound hilariously limp and lightweight now – that is, for something that once shuddered deliriously like the earth about to vomit its core.
they sound more like a teenage goth vomiting alcopops.