>>REVIEW
UNCUT
Friday, November 17
Liberty Lounge
Anyone who grew up in the ’90s with a Jones for guitar-based indie rock has probably got a record by The Jesus and Mary Chain. Before Jim and William Reid went on indefinite hiatus, they turned up the feedback and turned out some of the most ear-shattering pop music ever released.
Ironically, their influence is just as strong today as it ever was. There was a while there, where such bands as The Raveonettes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were just two of many praying to The Jesus and Mary Chain. These days, guitarist Ian Worang falls into that category. Midway through Modern Currencies, the new album from his band Uncut, the track "Kiss Me" hits you dead in the chest with a heartbreaking guitar melody and simple, breathy monotone chorus that would have the Reid brothers nodding in approval.
"If you hear a Jesus and Mary Chain song, you know it’s them before you hear their voice," says Worang, explaining why that sound that is more than a decade old still has appeal. "It’s kind of perverse in a weird way because you are wrecking pretty Beach Boys songs.
"I think it’s kind of easy, in the way that kind of genius stuff is. It is really simple rock progressions with lots of feedback, but they did it perfectly so it’s deceptively simple. A lot of people try to copy it and fall really short."
Uncut, however, don’t fall short. Moreover, they aren’t content to simply ape The Jesus and Mary Chain. Like they did on the band’s 2004 debut Those Who Were Hung Hang Here, Worang and company take their cues from all facets of indie rock’s golden age. The Jesus and Mary Chain wall-of-sound is knocked down with guitar dissonance á là Sonic Youth and searing high-end guitar work reminiscent of Swervedriver. Modern Currencies takes all the frantic energy of those bands and distils it into something surprisingly contemporary.
"It kind of comes naturally from the band members being into different things," says Worang. "If I was to go in with a Sonic Youth sounding song, just by nature of John (Drew) playing drums it wouldn’t sound much like it because he’s not all that into them, necessarily. He’ll bring his influence in. I think it’s the group effort that sorts that part out."
Part of that comes from the band’s uncertain past. A look back at the Uncut history book sees a two-piece techno dance-rock band folding almost as it started. Founding member, DJ Jake Fairley, moved overseas when the band was on the verge of signing to Toronto’s Paper Bag Records. The remaining member, Worang, picked up the pieces with a new lineup and an understandably modified sound.
Uncut’s debut succeeded in spite of itself. Hitting the studio for Those Who Were Hung Hang Here, none of the new members knew where Uncut was going to go. The second time around, this four-piece was functioning as a proper band.
"Everyone kind of opened up what their interpretation of the band was going to be and a bit more of themselves creeped in instead of just the band, which I think worked out pretty good."
Worang isn’t lying. The 12 raging pop songs that make up Modern Currencies work as a cohesive Uncut album as well as a nod to all the aforementioned bands. Uncut have found their own voice, but there is one element of that classic sound that Worang will admit to stealing.
"I like noisy things," says Worang. "That is what all those bands share. The idea that you can hang your guitar in front of your amplifier for 20 minutes and let it feed back." |
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