Someone asked who the best band we ever saw or put on or released was, well the answer to that is obviously Cardiacs… But there was a time, for about six months, back there, back in the middle of the summer of all that dreadfully dull Brit pop, back in 1994, back there, for six or so glorious months, something very very special happened..
Someone just brought the fact that someone has put these tracks up on bandcamp to our attention. So much stuff from back there lost now, people who remember still talk in hushed tones about that time at the Falcon or the days before the flyshit took down the original Monarch, or that night at the Bull and Gate….. people who know still talk of Huge Baby…
I haven’t heard any of this stuff for years, whooooooooooo this is going straight up my spine, this still sounds fresh, this is Deathgrips fresh! (ah damn, stop press, the band took it down)
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Here’s some words I wrote and a biog I put together back there, did I put this together? Doesn’t matter, the words get close to nailing it, for once the music press bothered to look and well Huge Baby just couldn’t be ignored…. and the frightening thing is, these recordings aren’t anywhere near as good as those original ORG ones on that 10″ 9no I haven’t got the masters). Did we do 500 of them or 1000? We did hand print and spray paint all the covers, a big gold leafheart! (dues have been paid there was well!). A blockprint, a blockprint we just dug up to do things with again this summer The gigs were as intense as these recordings, no, they were far more intense – fire rituals, hands burnt on candle flames before the start of a song, equipment flying (yes I did have to get people to hospital and get cut heads fixed, blood really was spilt, some of it mine, it was the Monarch, Panixphere as well, Tim from Cardiacs, now that was a gig).
For six months it was as intense as it could get, these recordings get close, nothing could get as close as actually being there at the time…. Grinding the Organ was exciting back there, very nearly worth all shit we took over it…. Really hope Huge Baby are still out there somewhere, hope they made it. They meant every word, every note, they were very real, I loved it.
Here’s the words from their Bandcamp page that appears to have gone up in February of this year… Go download that album right now.
HUGE BABY quite literally exploded on to the scene in a hail of mystery, chaos, rumour and counter rumour in 1994….. There first release was a 10″ EP on ORG and you just could not avoid them around the capital for six glorious venue crushing months –
“Huge Baby, in a perfect world, should provide the soundtrack to Omen III….. This is an evil, malevolent and unspeakably scary record which you should only play in the hours of daylight, if accompanied by a priest, do not be fooled my children by the seemingly frivolous title. Growling satanic bass, grinding guitar which can often sound like it’s actually sacrificing a live goat in the studio, whiningly inhuman vocals, horribly grimy violin-ish squeaks and somewhere along the line, macabre ambient tunes to ensure you sleep in your mum’s bed for the next week” Johnny Cigarettes – NME Single Of The Week (the ORG debut)
“Y’know how every now and then, when your faith in music is waning, a record seems to come out of nowhere and shows you a whole new infinity of possibilities that need exploring? Happened with Public Enemy, Throwing Muses, LFO, The Young Gods and now Huge Baby. This band are most intriguing. “Black Mama” turns from a Main-ish feedback wall into the dirtiest scuzziest blues I’ve heard in years, before stopping, starting again and finishing on a crescendo that even had the cat pinning her ears back. “Hopscotch” is a terrifying Slint-ish lullaby that will send you to sleep clinging to the sheets and bracing yourself for a restless night, and “Voodoo” is a cross between Pram and AC Temple, featuring a most astonishing vocal performance. Thinking the record was warped, I got up to take it off but it wasn’t, she was doing that shit naturally! As I stepped back from the hi-fi, already a little spooked. whoevershemaybe’s voice abruptly mutated from a light croon into a frankly horrifying blast of vocal rage that actually physically sent me jerking away in fear. Good job I hadn’t eaten. Fascinating stuff, and one to keep an eye on, albeit a widely dilated, shit-scared one.” Neil Kulkarni in Melody Maker (not quite sure of singer Sal’s sex – he’s male.)
“Huge Baby are responsible for some of the most ferociously intense live shows London’s ever seen. From the minute they hit the stage, it’s virtually impossible to predict whether band or audience will survive the night…….” Virginia Black Melody Maker
“The rumours are spreading. Again. Two punters have apparently been helped out of the Monarch. covered in blood……..” Simon Williams NME
Ah look, it’s hard to remember it all now, for six months in 1994 the rumours flew, it really was over the top “It’s getting ridiculous!” blusters guitarist Kay “More people are saying they were taken out with injuries now – there’s been another three since the last gig! People are actually queuing up to tell us they were injured at our last gig” – interview in the NME
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