Sounds On the Ground #9: Divorce
By: Steve Rose
What's the deal?: Glasgow; famous for drugs, drinking, battering things (in more than one sense) and plethora of quaint Scottish indie, ranging from Belle and Sebastian to Franz Ferdinand. This said, Divorce are not your average Scottish band - four fifths ball busting riot grrls, one fifth gargantuan, pounding male drum-monkey, they are completely terrifying, brutal and relentless.
Embodying Shellac’s aggression and distain for their contemporaries ‘cutesy music’, The Jesus Lizard’s evil and primal nihilism, and Sonic Youth’s early tendency towards raucous noise and unchartered musical territory, they are one of the most vicious and original art-punk acts since Wire set a standard for the blossoming genre.
On top of this volatile vocalist Sinead flails between shaky, high-strung whines and a deliriously guttural sing-speak, her words cracking hoarsely in strangles of anger and desperation. Lyrics are disjointed and abstract, evoking nightmarish images, embodying nonsensical screaming, and crawling the floors of the shitty venues that they are currently tearing down.
When can I see them live: Divorce will be sporadically tearing the UK a new ars*hole throughout September and October:
20 Sept: 13th Note Glasgow (w/Teen Sheikhs)
25 Sept: Stereo Galsgow (w/Part Chimp)
8 Oct: The Common Place Leeds
9 Oct: Club Milk, Unit 3xxx, London
10th Oct: The Greenhouse Effect, Brighton
11th Oct: Clang at Catch, London
12th Oct, TBC Manchester
19th Oct: Stereo Glasgow (w/Crocodiles)
31st Oct: Halloween Noise Fest, Glasgow
10th Nov: CCA, Glasgow
What can I listen to: www.myspace.com/puredivorced is a good start with a variety of nihilistic no wave noise, visceral spiraling guitar, pounding rhythms and gutteral female screams – as well as some relatively palatable techno remixes of Divorce ‘classic’ – ‘Judge of Youth’. Following this their eponymous debut 10” released on Glasgow’s Optimo label (renowned for its ‘innovation and hedonism’), is ‘totes’ awesome. The EP comes complete with slightly disturbing teethy cover, and reeks of The Jesus Lizard, early Sonic Youth, Scratch Acid and even the dry angry humour of Shellac, despite the bands seeming lack of recognition, to any form of musical influence.
We all know music peaked in 1994, so give me a sound-bite about how we could compare them to some kind of obscure band from the Britpop era: I’m not really sure if Scotland has ever really had any Brit-pop bands, has it? In spite of Oasis being signed in Glasgow, and Glasvegas being cheesier and bigger than the moon, right now – this isn’t about to change. Unfortunately for Noel, Liam, Damon and the lads this is one band they have not influenced in the slightest…they actually have more in common with the almighty Anvil.
Artists in this article: Divorce