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This Year's Model

The Reporter was Barry Mcllheney in Melody Maker
in 28th July 1984 issue

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Photo by Paul Rider

The original New Model Army were a pretty mean bunch. Recruited as Ollie Cromwell's shock troops, they trashed their way up and down the country, fighting the odd battle, and generally putting an early end to the reign ot that erstwhile hippy, Charles I. And around the very same time, there were a bunch of rather strange bods known as The Levellers, full of radical ideas and burning with a rare religious zeal. Here endeth the lesson. The 1984 version of the New Model Army go into battle armed with a musical manifesto which is based around the best bass guitar you will hear in ages, and a lyric sheet which demands much closer scrutiny than the usual run-of-those-satanic-mills stuff. The one thing which the Army have in common with others of the independent ilk, however, is a general antipathy towards anything to do with the Falklands Islands. Although the song "Spirit Of The Falklands" was obviously written some time ago, vocalist and lyricist Slade The Leveller still believes passionately in it's anti-Thatcher stance. "I still think that a lot more could have been done at that time to try and get a peaceful solution. Thatcher was set on a war, and just went ahead with the unnecessary sinking of the Belgrano. It was like, sod it, let's have a war." Such sentiments are hardly new, but there is surely a big danger of some folks, the families of the dead and injured, for example being genuinely upset by the song. "Well, if anybody told me that they found it insulting because they'd had friends or relatives killed in the war, I'd say I am very sorry but I still stand by every word of the song. Because the song is, in fact, in sympathy with the people who died, not an insult to them. It's a straight political song against the politicians who sent those young guys out there. And I don't think that all war is wrong, just that particular one was bloody stupid. I'm not a pacifist by any means." Indeed this particular Leveller had dedicated a song "Vengeance", to all pacifists. It is possibly with this genuinely spine-chilling three minute blast that the controversy over the New Model Army is best fought out. The frantic chorus certainly pulls no punches. "I believe in justice, I believe in vengeance, I believe in getting the bastard." Slade? "To start with, I don't believe in general liberal philosophy of life. That song, which I am always being asked to defend, is really just an effort to get things like this talked about, especially among young people. It's all a bit of a taboo subject, what with so much talk about peace and anarchy and love around at the moment. "I believe in crime and punishment. There is a wide consensus about what is a crime, and an awful lot of people abdicate their responsibility about what is right and wrong because they just can't be bothered. I've sat down and thought about it, however, and I believe that if people do wrong things they have got to pay the price, and if you do not, and justice is not seen to be done, then you get a very bitter society. Slade The Leveller's views on crime, punishment and hanging. Discuss. The other hot potato on the "Vengeance" album is "Liberal Education", which appears to be similarly out on it's very own limb. "Yes, it is against all the things that rock music is supposed to stand for. It's anti-liberal, and very disciplinarian and authoritarian. The song is basically all about growing up. "I happen to think that children become strong and adult by fighting against adults and authority. In United States, all adults are terrified of their children, and that song is a reflection of how American adults see their kids. They are terrified of standing up to them. The parents there have abdicated the responsibility of taking on their children and fighting them." All this talk of discipline is hardly what we are used to hearing, so perhaps Slade could elaborate a little. "Yes, we are a very disciplined band. We believe in discipline, we discipline ourselves very strongly, and that obviously communicates itself to the crowd because they have disciplined themselves as well. We stand very much against the traditional rock thing in that we believe in personal pride and honour, and not debasing yourself at all." And just in case any remaining liberals out there wish to point the finger of the new right at such a rigid approach, it is time for The Leveller and his pals to talk about the miners. "I hope they win and I am sure they will," says Slade. Stuart Morrow, who inevitably remains rather quiet throughout the ranting of his songwriting partner, is, along with the discipline-vengeance stance, the other truly distinguishing mark in the New Model Army. With a unique and startlingly proficient bass style, it is his rock-solid foundations which allow an inherently limiting three-piece format to achieve such dexterity in their arrangements. Although he will admit to a sneaking admiration for Jean Jacques Burnel, he is not quite so sure about suggested similarities to those other political funkateers from the north, the late, great Gang Of Four. I certainly never listened to them that much, although we may approach the writing in the same way as they used to. I think, however, that we are a lot poppier and a lot less self-consciously clever. We maybe don't think about it as much." At this stage Slade intervened to tell the tape recorder that young Stuart was the greatest bass player in the world and that this would soon be known to all. Neither the machine nor it's owner was about to argue. Earlier in the day Slade had talked of his love for history particularly the period around the 17th century, which he obviously takes as his specialist subject. "Yeah, it was a very interesting period, a time when everything was very liquid. The King was kicked out and there was a real chance of things going either way. Everything was up for grabs." The 1984 New Model Army story looks like being an equally fascinating period for study. Here is a band, very much out on a limb, playing a music that immediately sets them apart from the rest of the clan, and coming forward with sentiments that have the instant effect of delivering a shock to the system, but are later backed up by carefully thought out, fiercely held beliefs. And more that anything, a discipline and a sense of responsibility which should ensure, if such a thing is ever possible, that here is a band that will never let us down because they never wanted to spend our loyal money in the first place.

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