Violent Soho
My Pal/Task Force
2 Track, 7inch (2009, Ecstatic Peace)
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Related: Violent Soho.
They’ve spent the past month-and-a-half at Rockfield in Wales and are about to relocate to New York, but Violent Soho haven’t forgotten their roots. The quartet from Mansfield in Queensland’s “bible belt” have recorded two covers of Australian punk-rock classics (‘My Pal’ by GOD and ‘Task Force’ by Razar) for a tour 7” – and they’ve done a pretty faithful rendering of ‘em too.
If Violent Soho have learnt anything from Magic Dirt, Bored! and The Specimens’ take on ‘My Pal’, it’s that the original blueprint should be revered, not reworked. Thankfully, all’s kept intact: Matty Whittle’s pummeling fills, which belie his own pubescent dexterity; Tim Hemensley’s basslines that coolly snake around the melody; and one of the greatest five-note riffs known to man. Singer Luke Boerdam takes some vocal liberties and there’s an overall sense of higher fidelity (the original was cut on an eight-track in an afternoon) but the band stay remarkably true to the song’s acne-riddled genesis/genius. If it’s all a bit rigid and serious, it’s probably intended. There’s absolutely nothing funny about being 16 and uncool.
‘Task Force’ by contrast is far more irreverent and off-the-cuff. They take the piss out of the ocker intro, play ’round with the song’s snotty vocals and, in the process, sound more like Rancid covering the Ramones. But I guess that’s the thing about tackling a rarity from 1978. You can fuck around, because the few that were actually there were probably too drunk to remember anyway.
by Darren Levin
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I'm pretty sure they only recorded Task Force on Friday. That's some fast work.
i'm pretty sure i nailed your girlfriend on friday...not long after you met her...also quite fast work.
teen archer do a cool/sloppy cover of my pal too
peabody did as well....
covers everywhere.
and Diamond Sea
I think I have a copy of The Specimens doing My Pal live somewhere
Just listening to Violent Soho version now, could do with a little more nut on the main guitar riff but not bad
I love 'my pal' but covering it is very brave/silly.
Besides being done to death, you're only gonna get props for not butchering it.
And woe betide those who don't get it right...
'My Pal' is one of my favourite Australian songs ever, but it's like covering The Stooges The Pixies or something - the original is so perfect and universally beloved, there is no point in doing it. Whether it's reverent or fucks around with the blueprint, all these many versions of 'My Pal' do is make me want to listen to the original. I hope that's the point.
That said, this versoin isn't bad, but nobody can really match the laconic vocal drawl/snarl of Joel 'Rocknroll' Silbersher, which constitutes the heart and soul of the song.
I'm puzzled by a line in the EG about this today:
''three near-perfect minutes of teenage angst from 1987 that didn't pay off so well''
I had to pleasure to seeing them perform this song TWICE within a day. Last night at The Tote and just now at their in-store performance at Missing Link Records.
Originally heard them play it October last year, when they were supporting The Pixies' Black Francis at The Forum.
here is my pictorial review of last nights show...