I went to see Dead Men Walking at the weekend – a campfire quartet of punk veterans: Jake Burns (SLF), John & Dave (The Ruts), Kirk Brandon (Spear of Destiny etc.). I was a ‘casual punter’, but I was knocked out – it was a fabulous show – a great spirit onstage and in the room, funny stories and spirited performances too, of material that really came alive in the stripped back format (percussion, acoustics, the odd effects pedal, occasional electric bass). The band name (first used by Kirk with a different supergroup of collaborators in 2001, and revived with the current team in 2016) seems perhaps worryingly accurate: Dave Ruffy hobbling on with a walking stick (osteoporosis) and Kirk moving with a certain stiffness (recovering from a heart operation last year).
I bought their recent album ‘Freedom – It Ain’t On The Rise’ – heartily recommended. It’s also got me exploring Kirk’s extraordinarily prolific and (it seems to me) extraordinarily high-quality output since 2000: no fewer than 19 studio albums in the past 24 years, and even that’s discounting a couple of 35th anniversary re-recordings of 80s Spear of Destiny albums. Much of his output isn’t available on general streaming/download sites and a fair amount of it has only ever been available on physical format in a very limited way. I recommend his own website for access to this body of work (as downloads, mostly).
The most recent Spear of Destiny album, ‘Ghost Population’ (2022), can be previewed in full on his site. To my ears, it contains some sensational songs and performances. My favourite Spear of Destiny album as a whole, though, is its predecessor ‘Tontine’ (2018) – which can only be sampled on the site, but can be heard in full elsewhere. Let me recommend buying it. If The Who had released it (and Brandon’s roar brings to mind Roger’s here and there), it would have been acclaimed an instant classic!
It seems to me that Kirk’s artistry is still reaching its peak – 40+ years after. That’s amazing, isn’t it? Let me commend his recent works to those who know nothing about the fellow or haven’t brought him to mind since the 80s.
‘Afrikan Proverb’ from ‘Tontine’ (2018) by way of example:
Mods and rockers…
I was a big fan of Theatre Of Hate. I saw them 10 times in the early 80s. Great live band with Kirk wailing away and a very loud drummer. Boy George was regularly seen in the audience, this was pre Culture Club. Their records weren’t as good. I eventually gave up on them and never saw Spear Of Destiny.
He’s revived TOH as an occasional touring/recording entity in recent years – two albums to date.
He tours under both banners as the mood takes him. Saw SLF one year with support from Spear Of Destiny, and the following year was support from Theartre Of Hate
It’s the same people, isn’t it? Give or take a saxophonist.
If you’ve seen Parliament you’ve basically seen Funkadelic. But if you’ve seen Funkadelic you haven’t seen Parliament. I know what I mean by this.
Does anyone buy the albums? If they’re not part of a package tour, I would be surprised if they could attract 200 people to a venue outside of London.
I bought two today. There’ll be another tomorrow.
Here’s the SOD hit in the Dead Men Walking guise:
Waiting for Dead Men Walking to do a southern UK leg of this tour (I have messaged Jake Burns, and he replied with a thumbs up – make of that what you will?).
Kirk owns the Dead Men Walking name in the UK, while Mike Peters of The Alarm (who was an original member of the collective) kept for the US. Mike Peters (I think with cajoling from Captain Sensible eventually relinquished the name, and now tours as The Jack Tars).
Others sat on chairs playing acoustically have included: Pete Wylie, Glen Matlock, Billy Duffy, and Slim Jim Phantom.
Have seen them a couple of times, and always entertaining – Segs and Ruffy are another of those insuperable double acts. And you can see the friendship and respect on stage.
And yes, I second your recommendation for the album
You know how every band has that one song that they MUST play live when you see them. I reckon this is Kirk’s.
Liberator:
‘Liberator’ sounds half-formed compared to his later work. Most people say of any artist ‘I prefer their early work’, but Kirk’s post 2000 output leaves the 80s major label work in the shade, to my ears. And yet the 80s work is endlessly repackaged while the later work appears to be overlooked. Time someone did something about that!
This song, ‘Uphill Backwards’, from 2000’s ‘Volunteers’, is surely a classic – a song that anyone in the music game could understand. The 21st Century work is extraordinary, trust me. 🙂
I’ve always had a soft spot for KB. I saw SOD supporting U2 and they were very good. They sound unique which is actually a rare truck and one worth celebrating.
Will give his later stuff a listen.
As an aside, one of the stand-out performances at the Dead Men Walking Belfast show (they’re in Carlisle tonight…) was ‘Kill the Pain’, written by the blokes from the Ruts and from their ‘Music Must Destroy’ album (also on the 2021 DMW album ‘Freedom…’).
Here’s the Ruts DC version with Jake & Kirk on backing vocals:
Jake tells the story of the video shoot, mishearing that it was to be filmed in a bar. Jake and Kirk accept hoping for a few drinks. They turn up to find it is in abarN, in January, with the outside temperature nearly breaking zero degrees. Maybe the acoustic shows are for the sake of their ears.
Yikes!