The Jazz Butcher
Press
The Province
- May 27, 1992
Published: The Province
(Vancouver, BC)
May 27, 1992
Credit:
Tom Harrison
The associated Gig:
1992-05-27
Interview w/Conspirator:
${pat_fish}
Expect a dark show tonight
The Jazz Butcher cometh.
This isn't a warning to bury your Kenny G records
(although it's a good idea) but to serve notice.
The Jazz Butcher returns
to the Commodore tonight for an
evening of whatever color has invaded Path Fish's soul.
Lately, he indicates, it's a moody kind of blue.
"It's a pretty dark show," Fish says. "Some people aren't
used to that. They think of us as a comedy act: Let's go and
listen to
Pat Fish
talk funny for an hour and a half. I don't
see us that way but..."
Phoning from Saskatoon, Fish doesn't sound like a troubled
man. In fact, as he happily remarks on the rubbish bins,
called Orbits, that break up the endless ribbons of Manitoba
highway, the leader of the Jazz Butcher sounds like the guy
who once said that anyone who can stand on stage for 90
minutes without cracking a joke is psychotic.
Yet the new album is called
Condition Blue
and arrives after a low
period which Fish describes himself as crazy as a loon.
And, for every irreverent and charmingly clever rocker
(such as
Shirley Maclaine
, with its key lyric, "I've had a thing about
Shirley Maclaine since I was so high"), there is the obverse
-
Shirley Maclaine
on
Condition Blue
or
Sister Death
on the previous
Cult Of The Basement
.
This - the introspective side that is wet with electric guitar
- is the one that this edition of the Jazz Butcher has chosen
to explore.
"Boy, have we got a mad version of
Sister Death
live," he
boasts. "On the records it's pretty slow, but we thought,
how can we do more with it? The first thing we did was
make it even slower, which made it twice as long right
away. Then we added a new bit, plus we have a monster
guitar player and we let him go. So now the song is four
times as long, but are we happy?
"Unh-unh," Pat says gleefully.
The Jazz Butcher conspiracy was hatched in the mid '80s to
put a jolly spin on the mope-rock of The Smiths, or a
Hawaiian belch shirt on the black uniform of such gothic
animals as Sisters of Mercy.
Pat Fish established himself as an engaging... character...
rather like Ray Davies of the Kinks
but with a particular fondness for the epic, rhythm-driven
stories of the Velvet Underground. Jazz Butcher records tended to be as
much examples of fan worship on Fish's part as they were
documents of his own credos and confrontations.
With
Cult Of The Basement
and especially
Condition Blue
, the band has come into
its own. These are the best-produced of JB's records.
Whereas
Cult Of The Basement
is fragmented and retains some of the
self-indulgences of old,
Condition Blue
has a cohesive sound and,
Fish figures, was the first to capture the real personality of
the band.
Given its history and Fish's love of rock'n'roll, it's no
wonder that the band has become the eminence grise of
Creation Records, original home to House Of Love, The
Jesus And Mary Chain and many shoe-gazing acts since
Fish met owner Alan McGee in 1984.
And given Creation Records's enormous influence on U.K.
independent rock, it's no wonder that Fish has some
misgivings about the direction the label has taken. So to a
certain extent, he guides its conscience.
"Are you kidding?" Pat Fish demands, sounding triumphic.
"Just ask yourself, `Who played Alan McGee the third
Big Star album?'"
Not Kenny G.
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