A Tale of Crescendo ~ Chapter 7: The Flashback; Chapter 8: The Black Bird
- Bill Kurzenberger
“STP”/”Tragic Fridge Magnet” by The Chemistry Set: Review
“STP”/”Tragic Fridge Magnet” by The Chemistry Set: Review
New music has ballistically dispersed into the universe! The Chemistry Set just released “STP”/”The Tragic Fridge Magnet”, a double A-side single (yes, folks, BOTH tracks are good!)
Since the late 80s, founders Dave McLean and Paul Lake have concocted their own amalgamations and emanations, and they continue to distill all the soothing attributes of sixties psychedelia in their extensive lab, which gurgles and burbles through a secret corridor between the UK and Spain. Their newest “single” came out in December on good old vinyl and features artwork by the Swedish designer Robin Gnista (Television, Patti Smith, The Black Angels, Allah-Las). I was delighted when this reviewing task came across my desk, and I know you wouldn’t be reading this if you don’t melt into primordial ooze at the sound of flangers, farfisas, and twelve-string guitars.
Somewhat coincidentally, this review comes on the heels of a psychedelically momentous occasion- Syd Barrett’s 80th trip around…some celestial body somewhere! And from beneath his orange and purple floorboards in his own dimension, he’s been known to rattle The Chemistry Set’s borosilicate glass network (They’ve covered “See Emily Play”.)
So read on! Because these blokes have an intriguing story. They’ve had quite the ride, they’ve made LOTS of music, and they’re still going strong!
History of The Chemistry Set
The Chemistry Set began as a foursome in the late 80s, with McLean, Lake, Ashley Wood, and Henry Taprell as the original lineup. The band amassed an impressive following early on, and they played often. They practically had a residence at the legendary London venue, the Marquee Club.
Amidst a harsh late 80s climate of acts like Kylie Minogue and New Kids on the Block topping the charts, they did manage to find their way into the Indie Top 20. Subsequently, they signed to Imaginary Records, which British media provocateur Tony Wilson once wanted to buy. Wilson was an early fan of The Set, and they were even featured on one of his shows. However, there were many missed opportunities along the way. Warner Bros. might have signed them, but the group was late for a critical gig, and the rep had already come and gone. They also had an offer to play on a John Peel BBC Session, but the prospect coincided with the departure of the bass player–the one who received the inquiry. He simply forgot to mention it! The others only found out about it later.
Lake recounted that major labels had “eluded the band”, despite playing shows with big guns like Blur and Teenage Fanclub. Then one day, Polydor Records came knocking, and a five-record deal was offered! But…
“Polydor underwent a change of management, and then, to cap it all, the album which we’d spent a year recording, was shelved and we got dropped. The whole thing was a farce, so we all decided we’d had enough and didn’t see each other for years. The whole situation left everyone feeling a bit gutted and disillusioned, and things got quiet,” explains McLean.
Then, in 2008, Paul received a cryptic anonymous letter, knowing full well it was from Dave. The letter proposed a mysterious meet-up. Lake elaborates:
“It (the letter) invited me to a rendezvous at a carpark in Reigate and to bring the master tapes along, bearing in mind I lived in Cambridgeshire at that time. It was a long way to go to the supermarket shopping. I thought maybe I owed him some money or something, so I turned up with a slight sense of foreboding”.
McLean has his own side of the story: “I then set about finding Paul, eventually got his address, and wrote a Jorge Luis-Borges-esque surreal letter, talking about labyrinths, tigers, and such—asking if he wanted to come out and play again. Our reunion was the stuff of dreams. A huge embrace and several pints later, our plan for our second attempt at world domination had begun.”
He continued: “The best thing about getting back together was we had total control of the process, and we were exactly on the same wavelength of where we wanted to go musically. We did originally intend to try and remaster the old stuff and get the go-ahead from the other original members, but the tapes had practically disintegrated, so fate smiled our way and we went for original material instead.”
Could it have been Mr. Barrett’s maneuvering from beyond to get the band back together through this exchange of cryptic correspondence? Maybe, but it seemed some celestial being smiled down on the Erlenmeyer flasks, Farfisas, and Ricken“beakers” of The Chemistry Set.
Since Dave and Paul started working together again in 2009, they have had more output than they did with the original line-up. They’ve released about 10 vinyl singles, one EP, several albums (including the brilliant Pink Felt Trip), one disc of remixes, and an armful of compilations PLUS a double disc retrospective. And since they haven’t felt the constraints of what a record company might have wanted from them, they’ve managed to stay the course on their own productive path of creative freedom.
A record company couldn’t keep up with that kind of yield now, could they? Dave and Paul have their own pace, and the two of them are happier now because of it. And they’ve received acclaim from Mojo, Classic Rock, Record Collector, BBC6, and loads of websites and radio stations around the world.
Present Day
Dave says, “It is bizarre that we are more popular today than in our younger days, and we are much happier. Probably the nicest thing anyone has said to us is, ‘I knew you back in the day, but much prefer what you are doing now´”.
These days, Dave lives in Madrid and Paul in Cambridgeshire. Between their own respective stations, they keep the capillary action flowing. Then, when the stars align and they’re happy with their respective material, they meet and record on an island in the Thames.
In 2010, the band, being vinyl fans, joined forces with Fruit de Mer Records. Ever since, they have released multiple albums and singles. They’ve taken on very ambitious projects, including some ambitious covers. In addition to “See Emily Play”, they’ve covered Hendrix’s “Love or Confusion” and Legend of a Mind”, which caught the ear of former Moody Blue Ray Thomas. Thomas had this to say about their version: “Well done, Chemistry Set. It’s not an easy song to cover, and you’ve made a cracking job of it. Very impressed with the flute.”
Side A “STP”
Of this single, Dave explains: “The lyrics are kind of a continuation of an earlier Chemistry Set song, ‘Paint Me a Dream’, with lots of visions from the skies, surrealism, and a bit of comedy.”
He continues, “A man takes a tab of LSD, which was the variety know in the 1960s as STP (and had the motor oil decal on it). We’re making a video, and that will have the STP typography but transformed into LSD …then the trip begins…….”
Just as you hit play, you feel a suction sensation on your face when you are confronted with backwards cymbal sips that you might have “experienced” before. The accompanying video for “STP”, directed by Drain Hope (director of Gong’s last six videos), follows an individual with a blank expression on his face, which is divided into four color-tinted quadrants. He bites into an index card-sized hit of STP. Let’s hope he doesn’t have anything on his agenda for the next six months! A black and white beauty with a headdress (maybe Cleopatra? Stay tuned!) looks on as he settles with the movement of a marionette into a pink couch with blue polka dots. And we all start to experience bed spins along with him.
The vocals in the verse have a “Swan Lee (Silas Lang)” or “Tales of Brave Ulysses” inflection, and they tug you down a tranquil yet destabilizing path. Through the darkness, you fall down a staircase punctuated by sizzling Farfisas, and through those orange and purple floorboards, you see lava. You might have hit your head, but only the space-time perception as you know it has whooshed away. Biff! Bang! POW! The chorus is a three-word pound on the head! Space! Time! Perception! This is familiar. You’ve heard it before, “Quark! Strangeness! and Charm!” (Did I mention these guys opened for Hawkwind? Well, they did!)
An extended version of STP is due out on January 19th, or perhaps it’s already out as you read this– cuz, you know, Space-Time Perception!
Other Side A: “Tragic Fridge Magnet”
Imagine you’re finally embarking on that long-awaited dream vacation to Egypt. You seek “culture and a new perspective ”. You get there, and you’re reminded of all those images straight out of National Geographic: Cairo. Heat. Exoticism. Dust. Bustling streets. Fragrant spices. You take it all in, but you wonder how you can extract everything and take it home with you. But how? It’s with this in mind that you’re in search of a souvenir, and you find just the one down in a souk away from the dust and the heat. “That’s when you saw it, adored it/ it shook you inside/ You couldn’t be denied/Oh my…”
We learn of the striking object of this beauty. But, rather ironically, it’s just a refrigerator magnet. It is the eye of Horus or perhaps the eye of Cleopatra. Above the eye says “Egypt Souvenir.” Below, it simply says “Cairo” with a small pyramid next to it. But this is no ordinary fridge magnet!!
“Its striking beauty brought a tear to the eye/
A masterpiece from an exhibition/
Even Botecelli wouldn’t deny/
This was a truly esoteric vision”.
You are thrilled and beguiled by what you get to bring home and stick on your fridge. But once affixed to your boxy appliance, the magnet sheds tears. You realize this object was keeping an ancient secret and that “it had once been an amulet to a queen, but now it was fused to a magnet!” So now you’re stuck with this thing, and all the secrets it holds are now trapped in the mundanity of an English kitchen!
The story feels like a slight nod to The Kinks’ “Holiday in Waikiki,” except instead of being disappointed that all souvenir grass skirts are made of PVC, the souvenir YOU bought (yeah, I like that the lyrics are in the 2nd person) carries the weight of a thousand ancient secrets. Henceforth, your life will never be the same.
Of the narrative, Paul elaborates: “Now, suppose you bought one (a fridge magnet) that was really an amulet from the days of the Pharaohs that had been nicked from a tomb, stuck to a magnet, inscribed with the words, “Hello from Cairo”, and sold for a few quid in a local souk. It could happen, right? Now that would be tragic, wouldn’t it? Both for the magnet with its terrible fall from grace and possibly for you…if it were cursed…look what happened to Lord Carnarvon!”
The track itself is a tight, dynamic rocker, starting with a bluesy, classic-rock riff that summons a crisp snare. Enter a persistent fuzz bass that churns throughout the rest of the song. The vocals bear a slight resemblance to Coldplay’s Chris Martin.
I caught a few hints of ELP’s “From the Beginning” in the pre-chorus tease, which adds an element of sinister, cold mystery. That sizzling Farfisa reemerges in verse two, and with that pacing device, you’re hooked. The chorus finally rears its head with very Buzzcock-ian screaming, bending layered guitars. Everything comes to a complete stop, and through the silence, and throughout the millennia of an ancient curse, there’s the title of the song: “Tragic Fridge Magnet.”
What follows is a variation of the opening guitar hook, with the bass joining, creating a double helix. Now you’ve been whisked off into a screaming, pounding guitar solo as hot as the Cairo sun! The song modulates, and now you’re back home from your travel adventure. The last verse admonishes that YOU have a huge responsibility now that this strange object is in your possession, and it’s in your kitchen no less! The dire truth of the matter is underscored in the coda, and the song title is repeated “Tragic Fridge Magnet. Tragic Fridge Magnet”– yet very playfully.
If you’re a fan of feeling not knowing what hit you, then you’re going to love Side A as well as Side A of the Chemistry Set’s new single “STP”/”Tragic Fridge Magnet.” Dave and Paul have really come into their own and still really enjoy what they do, which is reflected in this latest release. If you’re still unfamiliar with the work of The Chemistry Set, these two tracks are a perfect gateway drug, and you will surely delight in their extensive discography.
Riffindots is Britta Pejic. Britta is a musician. Songwriter. Artist. Foreign Language Teacher. Grew up in Maine. Lived in France (The Basque Country). Now back in New England. Enjoys getting lost. Makes a lot of songs at home, puts them into a canister, then into a hatch and then through her own pneumatic tube system under the Atlantic. The songs are vacuumed out the other end, dusted off and polished by Console Lole, her loyal sound engineer back in Basque Country. It’s a system that works well for her. Follow @riffindots for cartoonish fun and visual mayhem or simply enjoy her music at https://brittapejic.bandcamp.com.
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