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| RUBELLA BALLET - THE NEW DANCE STYLE IN THE industrial wasteland that is Poplar, vital flowers bloom. Amongst the cold, sterile concrete edifices that pock-mark their parish Rubella Ballet strive to survive and even to overcome. For in direct contrast with their dreary surroundings the group - Zillah (vocals), Sid (drums), Gemma (bass) and Sean (guitar) - are an impressive collection of weirdo haircuts, zany clothes, sparkling eyes and youthful smiles. Their whole presence, especially in this depressing environment, screams colour, warmth and individuality On the face of it Rubella Ballet can be seen as an 'anarcho band', and most of their links lie within this field. They've played a number of gigs with Crass, Conflict et all, and their first 7", the 'Ballet Dance EP', came out on the Poison Girls' XNTrix label. Indeed, bassist Gemma is the daughter of anarcho punk godmother and Poisons chantuese, Vi Subversa herself. But finding any other connection between the group and the anarchy set is nigh on impossible. Here is none of the darkly shrouded, often naive musical and ideological thrashing. "Anarchy? What's anarchy?" asks the gangling drummer Sid in reference to the ambiguity and pretension surrounding this word. That's not to say Rubella Ballet aren't idealistic or that they don't care, it's just that they like to present things a little bit differently. As Zillah says: "Like most punks we generally believe in the same basic things such as creating a better world with no bombs and all the rest of it, but we don't want to write exclusively about these subjects especially as 50 bands are doing it." Where all the other anarchist bands wear stark black battfedress, Rubella Ballet explode in various hues and shades of psychedelia - strange patterns and primary colours are here, there and everywhere. Where all the other anarchist bands serve up clear cut, very black and white servings of anarcho-fodder, Rubella Ballet present their subject matter in a subtler fashion. Take for instance their stand out number, and the group's own persona! favourite, 'Slant And Slide' which deals with hate and fear, equating the attitude behind the witch hunts with nuclear weapon mentality. The music too it more imaginative and inventive replacing the standard thump- thump-thump with variety, from the bass ridden atmospherics of 'Slant And Slide' to the bouncy funk based 'T' to the frantic pogo workout that is 'Belfast'. These songs and more can be found on the 'Ballet Bag' cassette which came out a year and a half ago and sold 3,000 copies - not bad for a home made tape. The songs remain as the nucleus of the present Rubella set, songwriting having been hampered by "guitarist problems". "Every time we build up momentum by playing gigs and attracting more and more people, the guitarist just ups and leaves," complains Gemma, With the arrival of Sean things seem to be on an upswing again. A recent gig at Feltham, their first with him, proved to be a triumph with a near capacity crowd enjoying a markedly more enthusiastic Rubella Ballet show than of late. Plans for an LP are afoot and as Sid says, "the new dance is gonna be Ballet style". And I don't think he's talking about Spandau. RICHARD NORTH (New Musical Express 2nd July 1983)_ |
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