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Virgin Prunes: Hymns From The Village
Date: Wednesday, October 13
Mute Records give a worldwide release
to Virgin Prunes back catalogue.
The five CD's include A
New Form Of Beauty, If
I Die, I Die, Heresie,
The
Moon Looked Down And Laughed and Over
The Rainbow.
'Somewhere between chance and mystery lies imagination, the only thing
that protects our freedom, despite the fact that people keep trying to
reduce it or kill it off'
- Luis Bunuel
What draws us together as people, as friends? Beauty, dreams and the hopefulness
of integration? Belief, an understanding, a communion of spirits . . .
In 1970s Dublin, Ireland a group of teenagers began to explore and develop
their individual ideals of beauty and creative expression. Influences
were shared and names were given: Gavin
Friday, Bono, Dave-iD, Guggi, Strongman,
Dik ~ all inhabitants of Lypton Village. Hearts were strengthened and
a music was born. Virgin Prunes: six people evoking and evolving their
songs of independence, free from the restrictions of religion, politics,
culture, class and identity. Speak once more with fire and purpose . .
.
'Life is but a dream'
Originally conceived as a seven-part project encompassing 7,10 and 12
inch vinyl records and an as yet unreleased book and film, A
New Form Of Beauty (1981) remains Virgin Prunes' first fully realised
longform statement of intent. It's provocative and mysterious songs still
sound simultaneously caressing and complex. Being chained together by
the bittersweet delicate pop of 'Sandpaper Lullaby', a hymn to unrealised
love which in turn kisses life into the evocative dreamscapes of 'Sleep
Fantasy Dreams'. Golden gentle harmonies sung from the heart but there
are also screams from an abattoir of alien rage. Drawn in by the churning,
swirling 'Sweethome Under White Clouds' and finally to be cleansed by
the infernal apocalyptic curse of 'Beast'. A voyage through light and
dark, a transportation by tornado to the Land of Oz. To awaken far away
in a field of thorns nestled amongst the poppies. At the same time the
Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin was utilised by the band that presented
to the curious public an exhibition which included installations containing
rotten meat and the sight of two live rabbits sharing a bed soundtracked
by a pornography loop. The climax of the event is captured live on the
2nd disc 'Din Glorious'. Exposing the bands raw and emotive performance
at the art space whereby they unleashed some of their most harsh, abstract
and beautiful music to a terrified but fascinated public who remained
locked into the gallery for the duration of the three hour performance.
Throughout the early 1980's extensive live work followed. With Virgin
Prunes rapidly gaining notoriety and a huge underground following for
the often radical and confrontational aspects of their largely improvised
concerts. The nature of these performances often embracing the surreal
and nightmarish. A single concert's themes could include band members
crawling through mud, the onstage destruction of furniture and the consuming
of foodstuffs. All backed by Dik's chiming evocative guitars, Strongman's
powerful reverberating bass and the rhythmical thump of Mary's tribalistic
drumming. Dave-iD regularly opening the evening singing his solo compositions
all filled with beauty, wonder, honesty and sadness. By contrast dual
singers Gavin and Guggi often appeared in full makeup and dresses crying
and screaming songs of pain, anger, love and intent. A universe of dreams,
longing and loathing offering escape and emotion but also retaining an
innocence. Illuminated by candlelight, flickering shadows sometimes resembling
children playing in the rubble, digging and discovering diamonds among
the dirt.
'Seeker save your soul she said' . . .
With If
I Die, I Die (1982) Virgin Prunes had deliberately written and
composed a richly layered and powerful set of songs. With Wire vocalist
Colin Newman enlisted to help produce and develop a more emotionally direct
album. The impact is immediate as the pulse of the songs are driven by
the beat of a sometimes black heart haemorrhaging secret meanings and
inner revelations to the listener. Gavin's seanos-like singing is strident,
powerful and perfectly aided by the counterbalance of Guggi as brutal
poetry is delivered, bursting with bruised conviction. 'Ulakankulot' and
'Decline and Fall' resonate as pleas to reaching and establishing an earthly
nirvana, clawing and grasping for a glimpse of the afterlife but always
seen through the mists of mortality. Visually contrasted on the inner
sleeve by the band appearing in lush woodland, outsiders semi naked in
loincloths sheltered amongst the tranquilty of nature. The potential evils
of straying from purity of purpose are further examined in songs such
as the haunting and powerful 'Dave-iD Id Dead' and by contrast 'Ballad
Of The Man' in which the spirit of pop is examined with tongue firmly
in cheek. If
I Die, I Die, a book bound with flesh, blood and tears finally
to closed by the delicately harmonious pulse of the strikingly beautiful
and very human closer 'Yeo'.
'We play a different game' . . .
In the same year the band were commissioned by the French label Invitation
Au Suicide to record a number of musical pieces which would act as a soundtrack
to a series of booklets exploring interpretations of insanity and madness.
To achieve the necessary creative mindset the group prepared and wrote
material during daylight then spent 3 full nights forsaking sleep to realise
Heresie(1982).
Both the studio compositions and live soundtrack recorded in Paris stand
alone as an individual document of dementia but also act as a distinctive
and alarming aural accompaniment to the If I Die project. The bo-prune
language, an ancient forbidden dialect is voiced, whispered and shrieked
in a discordant but still humane tongue. For the most part a dark compassion
shines through the extended pieces such as the wall of feedback and noise
erected by 'Rhetoric' while 'Down The Memory Lane' is a wonderfully sloppy
pub singalong revealing Virgin Prunes at their most humourous, spontaneous
and inventive.
'Like the fire that burns in your eyes'
By the time The
Moon Looked Down And Laughed was finally released in 1986, a full
two years after the original recording sessions had taken place. Virgin
Prunes had lost two members in Dik and Guggi with Mary switching to guitar
and Pod returning to percussion. Former Soft Cell member Dave Ball and
engineer Flood were recruited to develop and produce a distinctly commercial
but still ravishing suite of songs. Over the course of the album the heart
is both embraced and dissected, bleeding with all the ecstacies and agonies
of romantic love. Words are delivered in a desperate, delicious and delirious
tongue. Opening with the celestial strings of 'Heaven', Gavin's vocals
have never sounded so assured but still damned. These are very much torch
and tortured lullabies to amorous suffering with the highlights including
the warped blues of the title song where the band are joined by fellow
avant-maverick Jim 'Foetus' Thirlwell. The waves of dramatic tension are
broken up by the rousing sea shanty of 'Sons Find Devils', a Brechtian
lust for life and death leading agreeably to Dave-iD's wonderfully melancholic
and heartfelt ballad 'Uncle Arthur's Lonely World'.
'The dream is over'
Following the completion of The
Moon, Virgin Prunes imploded in some very different but colourful
directions and began to follow their own distinct and differing creative
paths. Gavin appeared as a wonderful acerbic and extravagant torch singer.
Mary and Strongman discovered the dark psychedelia of The Prunes and finally
Dave-iD showcased his uniquely inventive solo albums. The compilation
Over
The Rainbow is certainly a fitting and multi dimensional epitaph
which truly displays Virgin Prunes at their most creative and beguiling.
Indeed such is the schizophrenic diversity of the material present here
that 20 years later it still sounds like little or nothing released before
or since. Snarling punk spittle (Twenty Tens) rests uneasily with musique
concrete-like symphonies. Soundtracks to arcane films and extended exhumations
on personal band acquaintances (Jigsawmentallama) all drawn in from the
ether. The haunting dronescape opening instrumental 'Red Nettle' and the
'perverse experiment in humour' that is 'Mad Bird In The Wood', a claustropobic
vision of madness which sonically exploits the throes of accidently trapped
pigeons mixed with the feedback of swinging mics recorded at the bands
Dublin headquarters 'The Beautifull House'. So much of these radical,
raw and richly imaginative records still sound breathtaking and bewitching
and to anyone with an interest in challenging but still highly original
music and more The Virgin Prunes catalogue is highly recommended. Just
close your eyes and dream . . .
Justin Stabler
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