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Woodbine.
 A lot of fairly anonymous music floats around the office of dB Magazine, and whilst we tend to try to keep an open mind, it does follow that a lot of it is particularly average. Sure, I have my say about the hype machine that emanates from record labels to infiltrate the music media, but generally if it's good, surely somebody somewhere would have heard of it. Happily, there are exceptions, and one of these is Woodbine, an incredible English three-piece whose second album 'Best Before End' is a sparkling example of pop purity, an enchanting record with a lot of beauty and a slight element of the bizarre.
Strangely, 'Best Before End' is the band's first album after a six-year break. Guitarist Rob Healey says that whilst the band never broke up, it also didn't play during this time. "We still carried on in between. It sort of went dormant, but... We were just having a rest from it, I think."
Seeing as this strange band has managed to exist in a comatose state for six years, I wonder what kind of world they've re-entered. How have the British Isles reacted to their reappearance? "I don't think we fit in at all. We're not really part of any clique, really. We started off in Birmingham, but we're based in London now, so we've left all our friends and fans behind."
Not just to play music, mind you: the trio moved to the big smoke to chase more sensible employment. "Yeah, I've got a job, and Graham's got a job. Susan's still signing up [for the dole]. I'm a caretaker at a school, and Graham delivers yoghurt. Glamorous, isn't it?"
Maybe not, but at least here in Australia, it's completely necessary for band members to keep a hold of proper jobs, even if their bands are making a fair impact on the national scene. "That's what we've found as well. Our wages really subsidise the band, at the moment. It's a labour of love. When I started off making music and being in bands, there weren't any jobs at all, so everything was being subsidised by the welfare state. There were loads of bands everywhere because there was just nothing else to do. But now the economy's picked up, and that's ruined it!"
That seems like a good time to start talking about the British election, which was to be held the next day. I ask Healey what kind of impact New Labour has had on British music. "Well, they're fairly right wing, aren't they?" he asks, rhetorically. "They're probably going to privatise the whole of the public sector, and I work in the public sector, which means I'm probably going to have to turn up to work wearing a stupid uniform. A sweatshirt. And you know, your rights will go, and everything. So I'm quite scared of [Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon] Brown and [Prime Minister, Tony] Blair...
Getting away from politics, if only momentarily, I tell him that from my perspective as someone who listens to a lot of music, 'Best Before End' really stands out as one of the best records I've heard all year. Far from impressed, Healey questions my credentials. "That's what my sister said, and she doesn't listen to a lot of music. She's not a big music fan. I'd hate to appeal just to one closed-minded minority. I mean, people could get into it. It's not that difficult music, is it? It's pretty strange, I guess, but it's not radically..." He tapers off.
Finally, even though they are still a struggling little welfare-aided band, is there any chance Woodbine will be coming over to Australia any time soon? "Yes, yes," Healey insists, "but to get there we've got to overcome a lot of hurdles. We've got some gigs at the end of the week, and they're the first gigs we've played since 2000. We had a date lined up that was going to be a big showcase thing, but it all fell through at the last minute."
Isn't that fairly counter-productive? Shouldn't they be touring rampantly to promote the new record? "I'm sure it's meant to be like that... but we've never been that good at the proper way of doing things."
Ben Revi
 | 'Best Before End' is out now through Remote Control/Inertia. |
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