Pete Hope always makes such interesting music. A few years back I wrote about his 1980’s collaboration with Richard H. Kirk called “Black & White Medicine.” (You can read about it here but, sadly, the music does not appear to be currently available.) I also discovered, years after the fact, that he was involved with The Box; I got their (first?) EP in the early 80’s but available details on the band were limited at that time because, well, no internet. In any case, that music was pure punk jazz energy; here’s a sample:
I could go on, but suffice to say I’m intrigued whenever his name pops up. And it does frequently, as he seems to be somewhat of a serial collaborator. (He also runs the Wrong Revolution site on Bandcamp, where a lot of his other music can be found.) All this leads us to “Neverland.” This is an album he made working with Ed End (who also seems prolific but is a little more mysterious from an internet standpoint) and is described as “the final incarnation of rADio eNd.” And if it is the last, what a brilliant way to go out.
There are four longer tracks here. Opener “Rattling My Blue Hand” grabs your attention with heavy a song anchor of pots-and-pans percussion and understated bass, while slightly distorted vocals frequently repeat the title. There are also lots of fun embellishments to the music, like the little “Hamburger Lady”-like electronic squiggle that pops up throughout. It’s all busy, buzzy and, at times, a bit unhinged.
“Collapsing Pulse on True Television” feels like tuning into overlapping alien frequencies, along with a percussion element that becomes more prominent as piece moves on. It’s all kinds of weird and wonderful. Next comes “Real Gras in Your Skin.” This one feels a bit claustrophobic, with creepy elements like (what I assume is electronically generated faux) slide guitar riffs and other ominous instrumentation that sounds like it’s all slowly coming undone. The only meaning I could find for the word “gras” from the song title is the term “generally recognized as safe.” I’m not sure if that tie-in was intended, but it seems to fit (at least ironically) when you consider lyrics like “Am I real, am I unreasonable” are presented with different moods from questioning to somewhat threatening. None of it feels safe.
The great closing track is called “Two Headed Smoke Ghost Never More.” It kicks off with electricity buzzing and ominous drone, and then there is a slow pounding in the distance that carries through the song. There are creaking doors, buried vocals, rusty metal, all giving the feeling of breakdown. That pounding rhythm brought to my mind the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song “Stanlow,” which I’ve heard referred to as a love song to an oil refinery. While the OMD song has a touching and melancholy feel, this song provides a different view, using that very similar distant factory percussion but showing the dark and decaying side of an industrial site. This is real-world with no illusions; there is no escape to a fictional Neverland.