Hugh Cornwell and Hooverdam

Though my new WFMU show is immersion total in scary metal and noise, this particular aesthetic apex could never have been realized without the formative contribution of my obsession with The Stranglers. I feel compelled, as Diane Kamikaze has done in the past, to bang the drum for Hugh Cornwell—singer, author, guitarist and former co-frontman for the paranormal punk combo (who still record and tour without him, under the Stranglers moniker.) Hugh's made a great new record, Hooverdam, and you can download the full album for free, with Hugh's blessing, right here. Hooverdam will be a treat for Stranglers fans, as it creeps up on you that these catchy songs are very much in the spirit of the more straightforward Stranglers material—the album has some real strong moments, the more I listen to it. (Note that on the cover, Hugh's name is reproduced in the familiar "Stranglers font.")

Hugh has several shows in the NY area coming up in September (Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on 9/8; the Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ on 9/9; The Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ on 9/11; and Highline Ballroom in NYC on 9/12); complete tour dates can be seen right here, at Hugh's Web site. It's also been announced that at his UK Academy dates in November, Hugh and the band will be performing Hooverdam as well as The Stranglers' classic album, Rattus Norvegicus IV—both in their entirety.

Since Hugh is giving these preview tracks away (the CD/LP are nicely packaged and are affordable to own as well), I'm hoping he won't mind my re-posting a few favorites here:

Delightful Nightmare
Rain on the River
The Pleasure of Your Company

There are also some amazing Stranglers clips up now on YouTube that you don't need my help finding, but here's a personal favorite, "Shah Shah A Go Go" from 1979:

Comments

[Chris Z]

The Stranglers... Talk about a band that has been overlooked and underrated by all the Johnny Punk-Come-Latelies. You'd think because the band used a lot of synth, and formed before 1977, they weren't great, or important, or real. It's a shame, because they cranked out a lot of fun songs with edgy catchy lyrics showing an awareness of their world. Really, in the US, they're kind of non-entity. Back in the day, you had to be in the know to hear Golden Brown or Bring on the Nubiles. Here in Oz, like in England, everyone knows them and their songs were as big as anyone else's at the time. I think it was their song Nuclear Device that got them banned from the state of Queensland (or was it Australia itself?) for ridiculing the state/country for allowing the US or UK to test their nuclear weapons here. The video looks like it was shot in Australia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYCyTYm2lxA

[Greg Macolino]

please change the address of the brighton bar from red bank to long branch...red bank is wrong...and if you could use the myspace link i've attached...thank you
greg
the brighton bar

[Wm.]

Fixed now; thanks for the tip-off. I do my best with these things....