The eternal tragedy of rock history is just how little mention The Stranglers get in any tome that talks about the punk and rock music which crashed out of the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. Bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Buzzcocks always get ample examination and there's no arguing the validity of those bands' contributions but (with the exception of The Clash maybe), in listening to them, it's easy to conclude that a lot of music would not sound the way it does now were it not for the gritty, grimy and sardonic artistry that The Stranglers left (and continue to leave – they're the only band of those aforementioned still working in any capacity other than performing greatest hits sets in Las Vegas) in their wake. The list of bands that owe a debt to The Stranglers is enormous and the breath of styles that the band influenced is equally so; it's possible to trace the fingerprints of drummer Brian Duffy, singer-guitarist Hugh Cornwell, bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel and keyboardist Dave Greenfield as well as the strains of albums like Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes, Black And White and The Raven into the music of current new rock toasts including Modest Mouse, The Arcade Fire and Franz Ferdinand as well as the far more poppy spectra that Flight Of The Concords inhabit. In comparison to The Clash (who get name-dropped by every punk band in creation) and the Sex Pistols (who everyone knows of course, but no one models their music after), there is simply no comparison to make; The Stranglers are one of the brilliant but crazy uncles locked under the floor boards of punk, modern rock, and mainstream indie, and have remained in the cellar for the last thirty-five years.
How does a band that has remained such a well-kept secret exert such a reach? The answer to that question resides in the forty-nine cuts that populate The UA Singles 1977 – 1982.
In the beginning, The Stranglers were at least a marginally genre-adhering punk band as, with ham-fisted guitars and a four-on-the-floor rhythm section, they beefed up and snottified rock as The Buzzcocks and the Pistols had but, even in the early going (check “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)”) more adventurous dynamics, stronger musicianship and a wider array of sounds (keyboards, notably) were factoring in, giving Rattus Norvegicus a more unhinged and experimental bent. At the time, that larger sonic palette got The Stranglers lumped in with the short-lived 'pub rock' scene, but that never sat right; the other members of that club (bands included UK Subs, Kilburn and The High Roads, Eddie and The Hot Rods, The 101'ers – which featured a pre-Clash Joe Strummer – and, later, The Pogues) were simply mining the same old motifs and offering them up with a new, working-class whitewash. The Stranglers didn't wear it well and the tag didn't stick long though and, even by No More Heroes (released the same year as Rattus Norvegicus), a cursory listen to songs like “Something Better Change,” “No More Heroes” and “Peasant In The Big Shitty” all reveal that the game was changing – and quickly.
The further they went, the bolder and more experimental they became too. While there would always be a nagging pop bent to The Stranglers' early recordings, it was also always the gateway to a more surreal centre. Singer Hugh Cornwell would forever be just a little too rough around the edges for straight-laced pop because his throaty growl was just a little too dramatic and dismissive sounding for audiences that were content to smile in perpetuity and the propulsion in songs like “Nuclear Dawn,” “Thrown Away” and “Just Like Nothing On Earth” was supplied by the bass; an event totally uncommon pre-Minutemen unless you were on a dance floor. Such a twist was difficult for mainstream audiences to grasp then, but it's totally commonplace now.
The UA Singles 1977 – 1982 issues all of those moments that, in a perfect world, should have received more attention than they did but, really, now very well might be an even better time for them. Given the climate in modern rock right now, uninitiated listeners will appreciate The Stranglers as the great band they both were and remain, but reissuing these songs now will also point to the impact they had. Better late than never, here's hoping that The Stranglers finally get their due.
Artist:
www.stranglers.net/
www.myspace.com/thestranglers
Download:
The Stranglers – “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)” – The UA Singles 1977 – 1982
The Stranglers – “Peasant In The Big Shitty (Live)” – The UASingles 1977 – 1982
The Stranglers – “Peaches” – The UA Singles 1977 – 1982
The Stranglers – “Something Better Change” – The UA Singles1977 – 1982
Further Reading:
Ground Control's review of Hooverdam by Hugh Cornwell.
Album:
The Stranglers The UA Singles 1977 – 1982 is out now. Buy it here as an import on Amazon .
