In this 30th Anniversary of what
we call Punk Rock, it seemed only a matter of time that London, the
birthplace of it all would produce a band with the spirit of 1976-77 and
the song writing which makes it relevant to the new century. That band
is the Duel. I have been reading about them recently and was given a
copy of their debut album "Lets Finish What we Started". Now it sits in
my CD player and wont budge, it is that fucking good. These guys do love
to tour, playing alongside the Vibrators, the Slits, UK Subs to name
just a few. They have even played CBGBs in 2006! I finally caught up
with them recently while they prepare for a string of gigs in England
and throughout Europe.
Andy
Thierum , Tara Rez, Peppe Senefonte
Punk
to me is so many things, fashion, attitude, music but the most
important is the content. If you listened to the Pistols or the
Clash like I did in 1977, what they was saying was just as
important as the sound they made and how they looked. They said
the things that I was feeling exactly when I was feeling them.
There are many bands out there they may have the attitude, they
may look right but fall down when you scratch the surface, there
is no substance. The Duel are different, when Tara sings what she
has written you know she believes it, she is as genuine as a
certain Mr Lydon back in the day. Tara: "Its too hard just
simply trying to survive these days - too much injustice and too
many no entry signs." Tara's co-conspirator who writes the
music that is the vehicle for her words is Andy: "I guess I
don't necessarily follow the traditional song writing guidelines,
usually with a bottle of vodka I will come out with a baseline or
something, Tara will start scribbling". What results is
genuine, full on Punk and firmly in the present, their debut album
"Lets Finish What we Started" is compulsive listening,
it grabs you by the throat and wont let go. The sound on their
album has a lot to do with the contribution made by Paul Laventhol.
Founder member of King Kurt, Paul arranged a large number of the
guitar parts on the album Tara: the track "Afraid" for
example, wouldn't be the song it is without Paul." There are
plans to bring Paul on board for the next album which the Duel are
busy working on in the studio. Tara continues "the great
pleasure in the making of the album is the fact that all 5 members
were working together, and all had an important contribution to
make."
As lovers of Punk we are no
strangers to powerful female singers, Siouxsie, Ari Up, Polystyrene all
had something to say and did it well. Maybe because they had to work
harder to be taken seriously or because they were so passionate about
their work, they all were incredible, powerful fronts of their
respective bands. Tara like those before her is not posing, she is the
genuine article and still has some of the problems they had back then
Tara :"some blokes all they did was stand right up close nr the stage
and blatantly just be looking up my skirt - id be on stage getting
pissed off that they didn’t give a fuck bout the songs - felt like
kicking them !!". Funny how some things aren't changed, Siouxsie had
similar problems and used her boot to explain how she felt. Jas
(guitarist): "Tara looks the way she does when she goes to the
supermarket, it's just her look nothing else." Tara is not the only
member of the band who uses the freedom that punk gives to make a
statement about themselves Andy (Bass / Music): "fashion wise I tend to
have my own take on 77 fashion/clothes mostly cus its what I feel most
comfortable in and can relate to the most." Tara: "punk means freedom to
me, don't have to try and be anyone but myself - anything else would be
a fake and pointless ."
“Another beautiful day
Walking the streets of Camden...
What do you do when your money runs out?
Beg for help get a kick in the mouth.
What do you do when your money runs out?
Sell the Big Issue, big issue for me.
Another beautiful day......for who?!” Camden Town
