Clash Music

Mount Olympus in Greece always held a fascination at school since according to certain pickled myth all the Greek Gods lived up on its summit.

I always found this weird as I thought it’d be pretty easy for any wayward shepherd who’d lost a lamb (always their excuse!) to stumble in accidentally on Zeus ironing his work shirts or Poseidon having a quick and no doubt moist wank.

So when I heard that Clash was off to Athens for the Ejekt music festival, only a lightning bolt’s throw from Mount Olympus, I was quite excited at the possibility of meeting Ouch, the Greek God of Moshing, for the delectable sounds of New York’s proudest proponents of the city’s now trademarked dance-punk sound - Radio 4.

As a quintet they forge music possessing a myriad of influences and sounds. They wear their post-punky spikey and ultimately funky guitars of Gang Of Four and The Clash on their sleeves along with the pulsating house grooves of New York’s clubs.

With shimmering electronics from keyboardist Gerard and pounding dance percussion from the eccentric P.J. added to the core trio of bass, drums and guitar, Radio 4 have distilled several distinct genres into one accessible sound. It is their love of reggae however that marks them out as different to their city peers such as The Rapture,!!! and Interpol. Singer, song writer and bassist Anthony Roman explains how it evolved.

“It came together with the idea that at that time there was no real rhythmic, physical rock and roll music which wasn’t punk or heavy metal and what was considered underground or indie music was very either post grunge, throbbing or plodding or like singer songwriter. A lot of indie rock in America was very post-Pavement and ironic so we got very excited about doing something which was very physical but sparse and had scratchy guitars and a lot of rhythm.”

In 2000 Anthony set up a record store in Brooklyn called ‘Somethin’ Else’ which sold punk inspired collectables, dub and reggae, bits of dance music and the latest British imports. Next door an old ska fanatic ran a café who also had a love of house and techno. As the music poured through their dilapidated walls and raced through one another’s doors the singer had an epiphany that galvanised his developing little band (named after a Public Image Ltd lyric) whose desire was to fuse several genres with a deeper lyrical significance.

“We were different to all the other bands such as The Rapture and !!! because we wanted to be a little more melodic things,” explains Anthony, “and a bit more socially relevant lyrics. One of things which we really enjoyed about post-punk was that it was political and had a message to it. A lot of things around this time felt that it lacked sincerity or lacked real passion. Everyone seemed to be obsessed with being cool or clever. We didn’t really care about that.”

Radio Four’s message is something which again delineates them as specifically from New York. Their debut LP ‘Gotham’ (aside from obvious allusions to a city in decay) was riddled with political and social observations.

“We did a song called ‘Start A Fire’ which was about AIDS. We did a 12” version, which we gave all the profits to an AIDS organization and did a bunch of benefit shows. We also did a bunch of benefit gigs for Hurricane Katrina. We try to give in anyway we can. The main way though is to address problems and start a dialogue get a conversation going. Maybe someone will read a Radio 4 article and start thinking about an issue in a different way or listen to one of our songs in a different light and that’s how we feel we can contribute to society in a positive way.”

The band’s new LP in many ways is a reaction to their second and previous offering ‘Stealing Of A Nation’. Anthony claims this is really his only regret with Radio 4’s history so far: “It didn’t come out right. With ‘Stealing Of A Nation’ we overcooked it a little and overproduced it. Some people can go into a studio and make great studio albums, add a lot of electronics and I didn’t feel that was what we necessarily we were best at. When you make a mistake on a record or make a mistake doing anything there’s a reason why you make that mistake… it may have been necessary. The problem is when you make a mistake on a record and it doesn’t it come exactly the way you want it to is that it’s seen by the public. It’s perceived as a misstep and you have to do extra work to regain some of the ground.”

At the time of this “misstep” they were dealing with replacing their original guitarist Tommy with the cheeky Dave Milone. They also got dragged down what Anthony refers to as “dark alleys which were hard to get out of” by producer Max Heyes.

This was in contrast to their first LP, which was produced by the legends who have become DFA – Tim Goldsworthy and James Murphy. These two producers had met whilst working with David Holmes. One did the production, the other did the programming. They instantly gelled after having to do a serious amount of legwork together whilst Holmes waved around a series of vague ideas. They have gone on to develop perhaps New York’s most distinct and true imprint, which does their city proud. As Murphy puts is “to be what it should be”.

What DFA did for Radio 4 can’t be underestimated. They almost effortlessly launched their career with a filthy and stripped down kiss of approval which found its birth with Radio 4’s club anthem ‘Dance To The Underground’. Anthony equates them with wild reggae producers in their ability to throw in crazy ideas and laterally produce crazy textures and tones and hopes to work with them again one day.

“Working with DFA was a pivotal moment of dance music and rock and roll music coming together. They made us realize what we wanted to do. A great experience and one I feel that I am lucky to have had. There are a lot of bands now who’d dream to work with them. Tim Goldsworthy is doing a remix for us right now so we are kinda still working with them. Making ‘Gotham’ was one of those real timely things where the right people come together at the right time in the right place. Stars are aligning you know?”

“Although on a much bigger scale, it’s in line with Primal Scream hooking up with Weatherall. They obviously are a lot bigger but there are moments when you hook up with people and they are able to transcend the limitations which a band can have on itself. There are many famous moments when bands turn a corner after hooking up with the right person, which is why producers are a great thing. ‘Gotham’ gave us a career and the ability to get a record deal and tour the world. So I would never deny, belittle or try to understate that experience for us.”

Two albums down the line and their new LP and their production is not quite as conventionally ‘cool’. But what Anthony was striving for with ‘Enemies Like This’ was a large degree of “honesty”. Simply how the band relate to one another face to face, a document of their sound: “We learned that what we do in a room as five people is what we should be concentrating on and not worry about other stuff. We tried to do something which represented what we are like live so we really focus on what the band sounded like in the rehearsal room. So we did like a song a day, mostly on first or second take and we found it to be a very easy record to make.”

So how does the new record ‘Enemies Like This’ compare in its message? “I think it is a little less overtly political in that a song can be interpreted in different ways. It’s not quite as slogany like ‘Stealing Of A Nation’ and ‘Gotham’ were where each song was about a specific problem. But when you look at singers like Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie who influenced us, they’d be writing a love song but also a political song and I like that duality.”

“Speaking specifically though there is a track on the new record which is a deep criticism of the American government because we went through 9/11 in New York and saw that how quickly there were people to help but because it was New Orleans it just dragged on and it showed the bigotry in the American government unfortunately.”

“Another song, ‘As Far As The Eye Can See’, is a more positive take on Katrina that the city will overcome and the people will get past it and get their shit back together. There is also a song called ‘Ascension St’ which is a reggae song that is about gentrification of Brooklyn and how quickly it’s disappearing. It’s just being bought out and built up in a way that people like us will not be able to afford it.”

“Fans seems to want to talk to us about the lyrical content and seem to get behind the songs. I was shocked when after we made ‘Gotham’ we had fans coming up to us after shows and saying how cool it was we were raising certain issues. I remember what it felt like to me when I was younger hearing Clash records and making think about what they were saying. Again some of it could be construed as class tourism or ghetto tourism but it’s more sincere than that.”

Anthony was keen to point out that despite their overseas touring and often luxurious stays in hotels they were still very much connected with their community in New York.
As a band they were centrally involved in the sharp splatter of Brooklyn based outfits which exploded from our transistors around 2000 in a manner which the BBC’s Radio 4 and its Archers programme certainly would never be able to muster. Dusty and provincial radio plays in fact could well act as Radio 4’s sonic polarity as they have resolutely, like many of their peers, stuck melodically to the wall.

As Anthony puts it himself: “New York is integral to our sound. The pace and the energy deeply affects us. This band hasn’t reached its full potential yet. We need to be heard by more people.”

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