RFBX: ‘It’s Genius, I Swear’ Special – Saint Etienne on Modern Eon’s ‘Fiction Tales’
By: Pete Wiggs
Technically it's "This is half genius, I swear", as this is one of those albums - like Neil Young's On the Beach - where side two is the one you play to death. Of course, this doesn't sound anything like 1974 - it’s as 1981 as you can get: There are elements of zeitgeist bands Joy Division, Wire, Echo and the Bunnymen, OMD etc... we don't have Martin Hannett at the controls, but the ethereal, reverb-drenched and often pleasingly indistinct vocals give the ‘Eon a unique identity, (and if we ignore the occasional intrusion of the generally unwelcome saxophone) , the creative use of synths and sound effects earns them the use of "Modern" in their moniker.
I buy this album aged 15 or sixteen, shortly after it comes out. I earn money for music, chips etc by working in Croydon's market after school, and treat every new record with great reverence, poring over every detail, reading every credit, attaching significance to the etched scribbles on the run out groove. I know nothing about the band other than what I can glean from the sleeve and enjoy the mystery: the cold monochrome big brother eyes on the cover, the well chosen typeface, the singer who chooses to be known only as Alix (which works for me in 1981), and it’s on the DinDisc label - the current home of OMD, and I love OMD.
So side two opens with the angular guitars and synth percussion of the largely instrumental "High Noon" which builds to a climax of hard panned echoey vocals. This sets us up nicely for the distant wow and flutter of the mellotron intro to "Child's Play", (I must have tuned out the nasty sax break at the time).
“Choreography” comes next with a Joy Div-esque beat and haunting ebbing and flowing melody . As a callow teenager I failed to see the sexual imagery of the repeated line "mattress in motion" thinking more literally of a dancing mattress – aah, bless. Next up – “Euthenics”' which is the more pleasant and less Nazi method of human advancement than "Eugenics" -I think its the only Modern Eon track that has ended up on CD, Spotify etc.
"In a Strange Way" sounds like a cold war Ennio Morricone track, laden with aqualung breathing, creepy footsteps and the eerie vocal line - "I'm in with the swimmers". The sea effects continue through the last song, also my favourite -"Mechanic", the coldness of the lyrical imagery "Mechanic to mend your broken heart" suggesting to me the futile approaches of a lovelorn robot.
Saint Etienne are currently wrapping up the process of reissuing deluxe, double disc editions of each of their albums. See here for more details. Check back next week for Rockfeedback’s interview with Pete Wiggs.
Artists in this article: Modern Eon, Saint Etienne