Friday, March 7, 1997
By Mike Prevatt
Daily Bruin Contributor
Don’t look now, but another band is reinventing itself.
Blur, the massively successful Europop band from Britain and a
cult fave here among the Britpop listeners, have a new, self-titled
album out March 11. "Blur" departs from the Cockney pop that made
them the kings of Britpop in 1994 with the hit album "Parklife,"
and later with 1995’s "The Great Escape." Instead, Blur have done
the unthinkable. They’ve embraced the Yankee alterna-punk sounds
and locked their quirky organs and horn sections somewhere far from
the studio.
Why the unexpected change? "It has a lot to do with American
alternative music I’ve been listening to for about three years,"
says Graham Coxon, the lead guitarist mainly responsible for the
new sound. "It’s the only thing, guitar-wise, that interests me.
Not grunge or pop, really. We like bands like Pavement, and Beck,
or even a little bit more of the punk thing."
This new "experimentation" era for Blur is also a result of the
decline and fall of the Britpop era. "We’ve kind of turned a bit
off after the initial Britpop party. That’s pretty much passed over
and become crap … lame and smelly. (Lead singer) Damon (Albarn)
and I are quite bored with it," says Coxon.
But will Blur’s more American sound win them fans? Here, they
sell an average of 30,000-40,000 copies per album and get
relatively little airplay. And their native Brits might not be so
open-minded for the new American sound, which the United Kingdom
has ignored the same way the U.S. have mostly shied away from
Britain’s music scene. But with recent successes by Oasis, Space,
Kula Shaker, Elastica and Radiohead here in the United States, do
they feel the pressure on them to succeed?
"We don’t feel the pressure, really," says Coxon. "We used to
get hung up about it, but there’s some bands like Oasis and Pulp
that have screwed it up for us a little bit. People think that
Blur’s attitude is going to be the same as theirs, and it really
isn’t. We’re actually kind of nicer people! But we have really
given up on being overly ambitious here. We’ve decided to take it
easy. We’re quite attached to our audience here ’cause they’ve
backed us all the way and seem to believe in us. And I guess they
don’t want loads of people spoiling their party. A few more people
wouldn’t hurt, though!
"I think our music is probably a little bit more challenging to
the ear, so that’s maybe where it’s been difficult for us in the
States. But I think the new record is a lot more primal, a lot more
loose. It isn’t really concentrating on English culture … it’s
just concentrating on music and emotion."
But where does the switch from quirky and complex to loud and
straightforward come from? "The primal simplicity of music
instantly gives you some kind of thrill, and I understand that,
because I love a good outburst of noise and sound … fast, loud
and hard. And there’s quite a lot of that on the new album," says
Coxon.
Blur is getting ready for its chance to expose its new sound.
Already KROQ and Y-107 are playing the new single, "Song No. 2."
And Blur is taking their music on the road, with a Los Angeles date
at the Palace on March 19 that the band is looking forward to. Blur
is also seeing more buzz with this album than usual, especially
with the media attention already on current British bands and the
potential for others to follow.
"I think there’s always been (a buzz for British bands), and I
think Blur deserves to be there, ’cause we’ve been going there for
quite a long time, and we’re very sensitive (laughs)! And L.A.’s
always been quite good to us. It’s going to be a good tour. I’ve
got a good feeling about it," says Coxon.
Blur’s new attitude has influenced its music, and vice versa.
"It seems like we were having fun in the studio. We’re pretty
positive, actually. We are really confident about the record, and
we don’t much care if people don’t like it, because we’re already
happy with it. You can feel that attitude in a band, and I think
you can really notice it in the record as well," Coxon says.
Amid rumors about a breakup and having the amount of pressure
Blur has had, especially when the vicious British media pits them
up against Oasis and the like, the band has amazingly found
happiness and confidence that will surely keep their sanity
intact.
"Y’know, it sometimes can be tough," Coxon says, "but all we
realized is that we needed to communicate and keep each other
happy. And you just about can face up to anything, if you’re strong
in that way. So I suppose a lot of bands may have crumbled under
some of the pressure we’ve had, but not us. We’re quite tough,
really."
Virgin Records
(l.-r.) Dave Rowntree, Graham Coxon, Damon Albarn and Alex James
comprise the Europop band Blur.