(From the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado, 11 November 1994.)
Honest, No Joke: Killing Joke is Back
by Michael Mehle
Killing Joke once
cornered the market on a frenzied mix of hypnotic techno-beats, chunky guitar
riffs and angry battle cries as ready made for dance tracks as they were for a
murder spree.
In the past 15 years, however, the Killing Joke sound has grown like thistles
across the musical landscape, and several of the band's disciples have blown by
their mentor on the way to greener pastures.
Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Soundgarden and Metallica all tipped their hat
to Killing Joke on their way up the Billboard charts. In the meantime, the
British trio's own style began tumbling toward the mundane just as the genre was
gaining a toehold.
As 1994 winds down, the band (which performs at the Mercury Cafe Saturday) is
out to reclaim some of the lost ground it homesteaded.
The original lineup is intact for the first time since 1981, with bassist /
producer Youth back in the fold. Their latest release, Pandemonium, is filled
with the same fierce instrumentation, off-the-wall guitar parts and
techno-rhythms that prompted a flock of imitators.
''It was really strange being in the studio again with the old mates,''
guitarist Geordie Walker said from a tour stop in Connecticut. ''It was like
being kids again, just 10 years wiser.''
It's still the ego tug-of-war between Walker, singer Jaz Coleman and Youth, who
has spent the past decade producing albums and extended singles for everyone
from Crowded House to Paul McCartney to Tom Jones.
''It's a perfect situation. Killing Joke is such a family spirit,'' Youth said
in a telephone interview from New York.
A family spirit? Tales of tumult between the neo-hippie tendencies of Youth, the
Middle Eastern influences of Coleman and the heavy metal hankerings of Walker
have been Killing Joke's constant. It must be the spirit of a dsyfunctional
family that Youth finds so, well, perfect.
''What family do you know that isn't like that?'' Youth asked. ''We're secure
that we can be ourselves with one another. We're not the most easy people to be
around. None of us ever compromises. You have to struggle to find the resolve.
That's the beauty of it. There's always resolve.''
Those differences push and shove on Killing Joke's discs, one of the few spots
to find the snake-charming melodies of the Middle East layered over the growl of
distorted guitar and the thumping beat of European disco.
The members' varying philosophies extend to how each views bands that have
borrowed from the Killing Joke sound.
Walker bristles and admonishes a few guitar players for ripping off his licks.
Most recently, he fingered J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. for borrowing bits from
Killing Joke's fourth album on the single Feel The Pain.
''He only changed the last note,'' Walker contends. ''It's from one of my least
favorite songs, but there's only one cool bit, and he's all over it.''
The philosphical Youth offers a different viewpoint: ''It's a great validation
of our work. You're trying to move people, and if you move them to the point
where they rip you off, you're doing something right.''
IF YOU GO
Killing Joke plays with Stabbing Westward at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Mercury
Cafe, 2199 California St. Information: 294-9258.