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Rating: In the mythological world of social conventions, the repression of instincts, compromises with oneself, the renunciation of oneself; economic comfort at any cost, the irresistible yearning for the Comfortable Position: Olympus above all happiness, the Valhalla of the heroes of Unbridled Ambition. In that great ancient world - now buried by two decades of oil battles and various pitying veils - a small alternative hero: David Gedge from Leeds. Veteran of the exploits of George Best and Bizarro: triumphs of high, towering walls of guitars, intricate bass labyrinths, and memorable, immediately engaging melodies; fundamental chapters in the glorious book of British post-punk.
In nineteen ninety-one, Gedge lives his tragedy. A sailor at the mercy of the stormy waters of perdition, forgotten by the gods, without a friendly harbor, without a Penelope, prey to his demons: sea monsters, the supreme terror of every seafarer.
Gedge's sea monsters are diabolical manifestations of the ailments of his time: stone women, steel women, married and treacherous women, lying and deceitful women, harlots: they seduce and delude him, taking on the sweet forms of love but are nothing but mirages. They draw Gedge to them with the hopeful lights of their beacons, like a miserable insect, into the safe waters of their harbor, but they are the ones who suck the life out of him: You suck it all right out of me, sings the hero with his poignant, deep, heart-wrenching voice. Inhuman, empty, insidious, brazenly malignant, created by a discomfort much greater than themselves, daughters of evil and suffering. There is no hope for Gedge. The boy in the Corduroy photo has grown up quickly, is a man now drowning, dragging himself through the waves of sick loves, betraying, feeling betrayed, abandoning, being abandoned, alone. The many yous are distant and futile.
Seamonsters is the sound of this malignant, nocturnal sea: a storm of guitar distortions, sudden dissonances, sonic incursions - highlights include the furious, interminable breaks of Lovenest, at the end of a refrain reminiscent of Ian Curtis's obsessive monotony - electric ballads on the brink of a nervous breakdown, acoustic ballads disturbed by the thunders of an ever-prominent drum, a metallic, scratching bass - a rhythm section of great experience, as pragmatic as it is effectively destructive - post-hardcore accelerations amidst mists of feedback and walls of distortion raised by the excellent Solowka, at times overshadowing the rest, without however creating the sensory peace effect of certain shoegaze: because toiling underneath, beneath the foam, under the distorted waves of Dalliance, is the desperate pulsing of a disillusioned and disappointed man, seduced and abandoned by his sea monster, the married woman incapable of being swept away by passion, by life. A serial betrayer, a slave to the conventions of her society, a victim of a sick marriage.
In the sea of a depressive and impulsive shoegaze - a cross between the dark side of the Jesus and Mary Chain and the noisy fury of Sonic Youth - Gedge's baritone is a mournful sobbing of abandonments, an ecstatic whispering of fleeting amorous visions, a panting, weary whispering, a hoarse and tuneless outburst: seductive, tender in its limitations, at its highest levels of expressiveness. True, human, all too human.
The production by Albini is that of the uterine nightmare: a work according to the moderately deafening standards that will characterize In Utero some years later. A carefully crafted production to appear unrefined, very Shellac, a sound that after more than twenty years seems not to have aged a day.
The ending is dry, tragic: the vaginal monster prevails, the Octopussy wraps Gedge with its tentacles of seduction, inescapable. It's the final illusion and the hero, tormented, knowingly surrenders to it. Someone might shout for a happy ending, might think that choosing to delude oneself is a choice. The slow melancholy of Octopussy leaves no doubt: illusions. He drowns in illusions.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Dalliance (04:25)
You've told him lies now for so long
Yet still he's ready to forgive
He's got you back and that's all he wants
A lot more than I'm left with
You don't care now that you're gone
But do you know how much I miss you?
It's not fair after all you've done
That I'm so...
I still want to kiss you
And throwing presents straight away
Because you could never take them home
Always scared what he might say
But always leaving me alone
You don't care, now that you're gone
But do you know how much I miss you?
It's not fair after all you've done
That I'm so...
I still want to kiss you
You told him what he wants to hear
And so you got another chance
But I was yours for seven years
Is that what you call a dalliance?
You don't care, now that you're gone
But do you know how much I miss you?
It's not fair after all you've done
That I'm so...
I still want to kiss you
02 Dare (03:45)
There's one more thing, come inside, no I'm all alone
Danny isn't here today
She said she had to get away
It's on your right just by the telephone
She promised that she'd try and ring
So far I haven't heard a thing
I'm glad you came round though
There's something I must know
You shook your head and you walked away
I think you'd maybe had a row
I know you wouldn't leave him now
But the things you said as you turned my way
The look that came into your eyes
It kind of took me by surprise
And you can't have not known
I'd be here on my own
Stay all night, I dare you
Look who is going to know?
I can't believe you want to go
Yes, all right I scare you
But you're just as bad as me
And I know where I'd rather be
Are you calling John? Well tell him anything
Look how we tremble when we kiss
One day soon we'll laugh at this
But just tonight we've got everything
Stop listening for the door
I told you where she went before
Nothing can go wrong
If you're not here too long
Just stay all night, I dare you
Look who is going to know?
I can't believe you want to go
Yes, all right I scare you
But you're just as bad as me
I know where I'd rather be
03 Suck (03:58)
We've talked so long
Suddenly it's Tuesday
We still don't know
If what we want is wrong
I just love hearing you say
"Oh please don't go"
Darling can't you keep
Your head next to my head
Oh just stay here
Because I can't fall asleep
Even in my own bed
Until you're near
No, you'll go away
Of course that's not what I want
Oh I've missed you
That's what I thought you'd say
But you must know that I can't
Resist you
You suck it all right out of me
You suck it all right out of me
I didn't have to search for you
I knew where you'd be hiding
You astound me
There's nothing I won't do
To feel your body sliding
All around me
No, no, no, don't stop
I think I must be dreaming
I'll just hold you
I'm just about to drop
You thrill me with your screaming
I adore you
You suck it all right out of me
You suck it all right out of me
You suck it all right out of me
You suck it all
04 Blonde (05:07)
I'm just some name in your book
That's why you gave up writing weeks ago
You won't be getting in touch
Oh do you ever?
And I meant every word that I said
Oh did I try to hard oh, I don't know
You made sure it wouldn't happen again
Oh you're clever!
Yes I was that naive
Yes I was that naive
You've heard this all before
You've heard this all before
I'm just some name in your book
That's why you gave up writing weeks ago
You won't be getting in touch
Oh do you ever?
Yes I was that naive
Yes I was that naive
You've heard this all before
You've heard this all before
I still can't believe
I still can't believe
That's all you took me for
That's all you took me for
05 Rotterdam (03:16)
I thought you'd come round
And I know how this will sound
I said so much yesterday that I shouldn't have
So what did I do
After I talked to you?
I should have gone home straightaway but I couldn't have
Oh I stayed with you and my heart began to sink
I wanted you but not the way you think
So what did I say?
I didn't mean it anyway
And I don't want anything that I should do
I know you're sad
Believe me I'm feeling bad
If I could change everything then I would do
Oh I stayed with you and my heart began to sink
Oh I wanted you but not the way you think
06 Lovenest (05:11)
I heard another voice this morning on the phone
But just the other day I thought you said you slept alone
And yes, I knew that laughter, okay now I see
You wouldn't even know him if it hadn't been for me
Sometimes in the fading light
I can't help thinking back to, well, the way we were
And then I start feeling guilty lying next to her
I know and it can't be right
Pretending that its you
You still won't go away
Pretending that its you
You still won't go away
If you write again perhaps you shouldn't send it here
It's just that I don't really want your letters to appear
Oh no, I just think she might
Forget I ever said that I'm just being scared
I told her all about you and I don't think she even cared
I know but its not all right
Pretending that its you
You still won't go away
Pretending that its you
You still won't go away
And does the thought of leaving him bring you to tears?
I bet you never felt the same about me all those years
Well you know just what it's like
Pretending that its you
You still won't go away
Pretending that its you
You still won't go away
07 Corduroy (03:29)
And now I've kissed you I'll show you how I've missed you
Before you even say a word I already heard
No, someone told me but don't speak now just hold me
You wandered up a cul-de-sac and now you've come back
So did you leave him? I'm sure you didn't deceive him
Just the same you're here today wanting to stay
Have I upset you? Well I tried hard to forget you
Now you say, "Look, I came, let's try again"
I'll make you laugh when you see this photograph
It's not from that day I threw all those away
Its just some boy probably dressed in corduroy
He grew up fast but you've not changed at all
How can I trust you? No, I'm not trying to rush you
But I was here when you ran; I don't think I can
I won't desert her and I'm not about to hurt her
I worshipped you once before and you slammed the door
I'll make you laugh when you see this photograph
It's not from that day I threw all those away
Its just some boy probably dressed in corduroy
He grew up fast but you've not changed at all
08 Carolyn (03:39)
Just before you go today
There's something that I've got to say
Well you asked me what was wrong
And I didn't want to tell you
You believed me when I said I tried
But oh, Carolyn, I lied
And it's gone on far too long
And I never tried to help you
But don't wait up for me
Just don't wait up for me
It isn't quite the way you think
How low do you suppose I'd sink?
We can't bear to be apart
Oh I'm sorry that I said that
But come on now let's not pretend
We both knew we were near the end
I don't want to break your heart
But we just can't turn the clock back
But don't wait up for me
Just don't wait up for me
No more
09 Heather (03:32)
I tried to call
You'd just gone out
We've got to talk
You going to be about?
Oh you don't have to tell me where you've been
It's bad enough I know you were with him
What makes you want to take him there?
What makes you think I wouldn't care?
And did you walk from the town into the heather
To where we used to lie down when we were together?
No I walked by
I sort of knew
I don't know why
Maybe I'll ask you
You don't have to tell me lies today
I saw him sat there waiting anyway
But what makes you want to take him there?
What makes you think I wouldn't care?
And did you walk from the town into the heather
To where we used to lie down when we were together?
And I know I said
I wouldn't be the one
But an empty bed
Your clothes all gone
I didn't know how much I'd miss you until now
I didn't know how much you mean to me somehow
What makes you want to take him there?
What makes you think I wouldn't care?
And did you walk from the town into the heather
To where we used to lie down when we were together?
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