MODEL
ARMY
www.newmodelarmy.org
Photos - taken from offcial NMA website
Background - Cover Illustration for Strange Brotherhood Album by Joolz
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEW MODEL ARMY |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I first came across this lot at the Reading Festival in 88 or 89. Their write up in the programme stated that they had been refused a work permit in the USA due to "no artistic merit" a decision which appeared to owe more to their uncompromising independent stance that �conflicted with the rampant Thatcherite/Reaganite doctrines of the time. This was enough to make me go and see them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mainstage, mid Saturday afternoon on an overcast day in a field is not the best time or conditions to see any band, especially for the first time but hey that's what festivals are for right? This was the time of the Thunder and Consolation album which contained some fucking awesome songs. They blew me away: The World, 225 and Stupid Questions can still play in my head - albeit like some shaky old 8mm handheld black & white film. I saw them last month in London and some 15 years later I still get the same intense spirit hit from the music, the passion's still there only now its deeper and more solid. Justin & Co have �stood with me thru all the shit that the last 15 years has chucked at me and when I've needed some sort of articulation to an emotional feeling there they've been with just the right track. Why? Why does this one band above all others� stand the test of time so well? Why does it still feel that this band and me are looking down the same road? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Somewhere else you'll find my blitherings on what makes music so special so I''m not gonna repeat all that. But this band combine the lot: words, music, passion, honesty and emotion - a powerful mix. I think that the real reason I love this band tho' is that there's a shared vision of the world around us. There's a sense of� injustice, love, yearning, pride and anger. I dunno I'm struggling here. It's more of a moral/social/political ethos thang a low key philosophy p'raps, it's probably a minority thing maybe an outsider sort of vibe. Don't go thinking that it's a sad indie shoegazing thing tho' because theres also a celebratory shining light running through the whole core of my love of this band. The gigs themselves are an awesome tribal gathering - I don't think anyone who has never witnessed an NMA gig could really appreciate how intense it is and the band are never ever detached from it. It's a communal thing not them & us. Now I've been to loads of gigs and seen many different bands some of which I really got into and followed for a long time and one or two of which I still follow to this day but none of them have ever come close to an NMA gig - yeah, yeah I know I'm biased and unlikely to be objective about this but if you don't believe me go catch the band next time they're out on the road. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's difficult to separate the music and the words when you're trying to explain why this bands songs are so good. Musically they just seem to capture the feeling and can encapsulate it in sound, they take you on a journey . And words? Well in my humble insignificant little opinion there is no songwriter anywhere to match Justin Sulivan (only Robert Smith of The Cure is in the same area). This ain't adolescent hero worship but an adult respect for a talented artist. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For The Official Website go here: www.newmodelarmy.org |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| So, you still here at the end of my ode to an obsession then? Well hopefully I've piqued your interest enough to make you wanna check out some of their tracks. If you're hunting some stuff down then album by album these are the ones to look out for: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Studio Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vengeance: Great Expectations, Christian Militia, Vengeance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No Rest For The Wicked: Better Than Them, No Rest, No Greater Love | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Ghost Of Cain:� Poison Street, Western Dream, Master Race | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thunder And Consolation: 225, Green & Grey, 125MPH, White Coats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Impurity: Get Me Out, Marrakesh, Lurhstaap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Love Of Hopeless Causes: Here Comes The War, White Light, Bad Old World | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B-Sides And Abandoned Tracks: Brave New World 2, Courage, Prison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strange Brotherhood: Wonderful Way To Go, No Pain, Big Blue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lost Songs: Disc 1: Brother, Higher Wall, Far Better Thing Disc 2: If You Can't Save Me, Falling, Over The Wire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eight: You Weren't There, Stranger, R & R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Live Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio Sessions 83-84: Notice Me, Frightened, Drag It Down | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Raw Melody Men: Whirlwind, The Charge, The World | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| & Nobody Else: Disc 1: Snelsmore Wood, Fate, The Hunt Disc 2: Headlights, Stupid Questions, Living In The Rose | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credits: Photos - taken from offcial NMA website Background - Cover Illustration for Strange Brotherhood Album by Joolz |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||