In all probability Morrissey is being naive and confused rather than racist. In
declaring sulkily that "I never read a newspaper. I feel separate from the
political world. I just find it harder and harder to care," he could be
speaking for a generation that includes the dour "shoegazers". He is the yin to
their yang, lost and searching for an identity.
The same thing, unfortunately, may be equally true of the resurgent followers
of Screwdriver, the National Front-affiliated skinhead band, who had all but
disappeared from view until late this year. On 12 September, police were forced
to close Waterloo station in London, as groups of skinheads on their way to a
Screwdriver concert clashed with anti-NF/British National Party demonstrators.
At a time when nationalism is on the rise throughout Europe, one could be
forgiven for imagining that something has gone horribly wrong.
It is with some relief, then, that pop pickers have this year marked the
emergence of a new breed of bright young things, who seem to be reasserting an
alternative brand of Englishness. When London group Suede were thrust on to the
cover of music weekly Melody Maker before they even released a record, many saw
it as time-honoured musicbiz hype. In reality, something was infinitely more
subtle and interesting was happening.
Suede and their ilk eschew escapism and deplore the stultifying demands of
rock 'n' roll "cool". They claim to be at once firm grounded in reality and
recklessly extravagant. They sing in exaggerated English accents and have names
like Brett and Bernard. When they perform, they perform. Last week, their
second single "Metal Mickey", went straight into the BBC chart at number 17.
"You know the cliche that comes up in every band interview?" asks singer Brett
Anderson. The one about,"Oh, yeah, we make music to please ourselves and if
anybody else likes it, that's a bonus? We're the opposite, if no one else liked
it, there'd be absolutely no point."
In 1992, the idea that it's worth trying at all will seem extraordinary to a
large cross-section of young people. On the face of it, Suede as a whole are
determinedly apolitical, though individually there are well-informed and
articulate. In practice, the shift in thinking they represent is radical and
empowering.
"We've always been completely horrified by the James Dean school of music, the
leather jackets and the shades. Some people have taken the piss out of the
English accent in our music, and we do push that: there's a time to be subtle
and a time to be forthright about what you are. People like our honesty, I
think."
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