If you have been reading this column for several years, you may have noticed that Kevin Rowland and Dexys Midnight Runners have cropped up a couple of times before. Rowland fascinates me, and rereading Julian Cope’s memoirs the other week made me think of that extraordinary generation of cult stars who were left on the shore as the tide of punk receded: Cope, Ian McCulloch, Morrissey, Rowland, Pete Wylie and perhaps a few others.
They shared many characteristics, a lot of them very unattractive, but one was the belief that popular music mattered, that it could change lives, that it should strive to be – in a word Cope used constantly – righteous. I know a bunch of people reading this will, perfectly reasonably, mock such infantile pretension, but I have a lot of sympathy for it. Almost all the artists I love the most share it, notably Bruce Springsteen, whose entire public life appears to be dedicated to proving that rock music is righteous, that it is a vehicle for something more profound than shaking a tail feather.
As much as I enjoyed the first of Dexys’ two Hackney shows, though, the current iteration of the band doesn’t feel very righteous, a view shared by the fiercely partisan Dexys fan who accompanied me. The problem wasn’t Rowland, whose absolute commitment always makes me think of the Van Morrison phrase ‘inarticulate speech of the heart’, and who is willing to invite ridicule in the name of honesty.
And it wasn’t the songs. I’m not mad about Love, this year’s album – they performed six songs from it, which felt a little ‘ambassador, you are spoiling us’ – but this wasn’t one of those shows where you’re fed greens for an hour before a tiny dessert. They did a cover of ‘Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache’, which will always be thrilling to me, and it was a delight to hear the greatest and most unlikely sitcom theme ever written, ‘Because of You’.
And the problem wasn’t the individual members, all of whom did what they should, and terrifically. Led by Sean Read, who was playing trombone and keyboards, they took the role of a Greek chorus, providing the response to Rowland’s mid-song self-questioning. But what did feel odd, and has done for a few years now, is that the touring Dexys, despite having seven members, has no guitarist or bassist. As well as Rowland and Read, there’s a drummer, a trumpeter, a violinist, a keys player and a backing singer, and a fair amount of programmed music.
It’s not that I think using programmed elements in a live show is morally wrong, it’s more that it seems to undermine the ferociously human passion of songs like ‘There, There, My Dear’ or ‘Burn It Down’. Maybe it’s financial: it must be cheaper to tour with no backline, even if you’ve got seven people. But I’d much rather have heard a different configuration of seven people, one that played every note I heard. Not for any rational reason; it would just have felt more righteous.
Across the road at the Moth Club a few nights later, opening for the US alt-country singer Tracy Nelson, were a youthful quartet from Exeter called Bramwell. They share members with another fun young band called Pushbike, and the two of them are apparently the leading lights in a burgeoning Devonian indie scene. Who knew?
Bruce Springsteen’s entire public life appears to be dedicated to proving that rock music is righteous
I went to see Bramwell on the strength of three charming songs on Spotify, but I liked them live even more. The recordings are jangly and a little spindly, but onstage they were much more muscular – there were hints of Hüsker Dü and the heavier end of old-fashioned melodic indie rock and there were actual guitar solos. Best of all, they write actual songs, not splurges of noise and effects. You could hear some obvious influences – ‘Problems’ was an IOU note to ‘I Am a Tree’ by Guided by Voices – but they’re all influences I like.
They’re a new band, and they’re far from perfect, but the things that could do with obvious improvement can be improved without too much effort: the singing could be stronger, the basslines a little more creative. They already have a creative drummer, who brings the songs to life in ways an amateurish indie thumper couldn’t. If you see them on the bill for a show you’re already going to, get there early: they’re worth it.
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