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Doing the majority of things in excess is a way of life celebrated and lauded in alternative music. Drugs, drink, women, profanities, liberties, violence, all celebrated vices of undisputed greats such as The Stones, and Led Zep. They made great music, and that was rock ‘n’ roll, the lifestyle that went with it was extensive showmanship. Skip forward to 2004. Rock ‘n’ roll, is not so much about the great music, but how much coke you can snort whilst getting through the queue of blowjobs waiting outside the dressing room, and that’s it. Many bands of today (see Jet) have the manifesto for what to do when you’ve made rock ‘n’ roll without any of the substance or material to go with it.
So when London three piece Neils Children claim that “We’re here to destroy rock ‘n’ roll not save it,” does it mean that they’re forming an AFI style form of straight edge rebellion? Far from it. Influences such as Gang Of Four, The Jam, The Pistols and The Clash, shredded and safety pinned to a droll sarcastic take on society, removes the taboo from their unabashed expression of the unconventional. Predictable rock ‘n’ roll it seems needs to be destroyed.
“I heard someone say someone on the BBC saying ‘this bands are into the Gang Of Four but they don’t read what the band read, or take it any further’, but what’s the point?” questioned frontman John Linger. “You don’t want to live out a bands life. Gang Of Four were into Marxist politics, but that doesn’t mean we have to be. You should enjoy music for what it is, you shouldn’t have to go really deep into it, or you’re just copying a band.
“People read too much into it,” added drummer Brendon Jacobs, “into their lifestyles and their views.”
“We have some politics in our music, but not politics that you’d read about in the paper,” continued Linger. “Feelings like hate, paranoia, fear. Bad emotions, but they're also the strongest emotions, which is why we write about it, and play the way that we do.
“We’re trying to put across a certain type of attitude and atmosphere. Our music’s dark and noisy, it’s weird. The lyrics are just things that happen to everyone. We don’t write songs about love, and heroes, or riots. We just write about the side of people’s minds that doesn’t get explored that much.”
Which rings true for forthcoming single ‘I Hate Models’, which is released later this month. “It’s a snipe at a certain type of fashion person that exists in Old Street, in Hoxton. We like it round there, and we go out there quite a lot, but there are always people who go ‘I’m going to New York tomorrow to do modeling’, and they’re not models but they think they are. They think that they’re so much better than you for doing that, but at the end of the day they’re worse off coz they never do anything at all. Wankers.”
Gigwise has caught up with the band in the middle of their UK tour. Despite being exalted by everyone who gets to listen to them, and the bands all encompassingly intense live punk mindfuck, the venues haven’t exactly been packed.
“The tours not been going very well to be honest,” admitted Linger. “We’re annoyed with the promotion people, because hardly anyone’s turned up, which is a shock for us, coz when we play in London we get big crowds. I expect people don’t know us outside of London, but it’s been pretty soul destroying.”
“Its like someone telling you you’re fucking great, you’re really good, and when it comes down to it, people don’t listen to you,” he explained. “As I said before, its got a lot to do with the fact that no ones doing the same kind of music as us, because if they were, we’d be like Franz Ferdinand, and we’d be embraced by the British public. But we’ve never been into that, we’ve always been into our own shit, and perfecting it over the years, it would be a shame to throw it all away now because its taking a bit longer to break through. They always say the longer it takes you to break, they longer you’ll be successful for.”
“We would love to be embraced by big labels, but at the end of the day, its so much more difficult for us because I don’t think that we’re playing the game, which seems to be a lot of bands sounding like each other. But a lot of bands put themselves in a box, and then they’re expected to play music like that for the rest of their lives,” he explained.
“They push themselves on major labels and get signed within six months, and then they can’t do it, they haven't got the experience. They’ve got ten songs. You should call it ‘Menswear Syndrome’!”
The band have been recording material for their forthcoming album since June last year. After releasing ‘Come Down’ in November, the band returned to Bark studios in Walthamstow with Primal Scream producer Brian Oshaunessy.
“We’re releasing a CD only compilation in July, which will have both singles, plus the B-side and some bonus tracks reordered at sessions which we’ve never used,” explained Linger. “We don’t know what it’s called yet; we’re trying to think of something clever.”
“Though it’ll probably end up being called Neils Children,” added bassist James Hair.
While the concept of killing rock ‘n’ roll may not be an apt one for a place such as Gigwise, the concept of taking out the swaggering cock-sure bollocks just for show is more than viable. Though Jet could drink you under the table, they could also rubbish songwrite you under the table too. Its time to reclaim the anarchic twinkle in the eye of the Pistols. Never mind the rock ‘n’ roll bollocks, you’ve been listening to Neils Children.
‘I Hate Models’ is released on May 17.
Photos by Dave Kent
