The Saints: The Most Primitive Band In The World - vinyl release with more minuses than pluses

 

[review by Rev. Keith A. Gordon]

THE SAINTS

The Most Primitive Band In the World

(Radiation Reissues, Italy)

VENUE: According to Saints guitarist Ed Kuepper, these tracks were recorded in his parents’ garage (a/k/a “The Twilight Zone”) in Brisbane, Australia sometime in 1974.

SOUND QUALITY: Like rubbing your eardrums with coarse-grit sandpaper. Literally recorded as low-fi as one could possibly achieve, the album sounding like somebody snuck a tape recorder hidden in a suitcase and padded with newspaper into the band’s practice space and let it roll. Muddy, distant, hollow, noisy, raw…pick your adjective, you won’t be wrong…   

COVER: Very cool blue-tinted photo of the band with their name scrawled in white against a black background and the album title in blue type that mimics handwriting. Back cover offers more blueish band photos, track listing and credits and, because this is a sorta, kinda semi-legit release, liner notes by Saints’ guitarist Ed Kuepper.

TRACKLIST: 

Side One: 1. Wild About You • 2. Do the Robot • 3. One Way Street • 4. Knock On Wood • 5. Erotic Neurotic  

 

Side Two: 6. River Deep, Mountain High • 7. Lies • 8. (I’m) Stranded • 9. Messin’ With the Kid • 10. (I’m) Misunderstood

COMMENTS: Hailing from the unlikely starting point of Brisbane, Australia, the Saints were the first punk rockers of note to hail from “down under.” Formed in 1973 as Kid Galahad and the Eternals by singer Chris Bailey (from Ireland), Ed Kuepper (from Germany), and bassist/drummer Ivor Hay (the only native Aussie here), they found early inspiration in bands like the Stooges and MC5 as well as original rockers like Elvis Presley and Little Richard. They renamed themselves the Saints in 1974 and made a name by revving up and over-amping cover tunes from artists like Del Shannon and Ike and Tina Turner before they started writing their own material. The Saints would become notorious in their homeland – police would often close down their gigs, arrests of the band members for “disturbing the peace” were frequent, and they ended up converting the band house into a makeshift venue they called ‘The 76 Club’ to play in because nobody else would book ‘em…until authorities put the hammer down, that is...

In June of 1976, the band recorded two of its original songs, “(I’m) Stranded” and “No Time” and, unable to find any label interest, formed their own Fatal Records label and released the songs on a 7” vinyl single. They mailed out copies to radio stations and magazines in both Australia and the United Kingdom, where an indie label – Power Exchange – reissued the single to almost universal critical acclaim from the British rock press. EMI Records, afraid to be left behind in the race to exploit the bourgeoning punk rock scene, offered the band a three-album deal. In December 1976, the band recorded their debut album, (I’m) Stranded, over the course of two days with Rod Coe producing. Featuring eight original songs along with covers of the Missing Links’ “Wild About You” and the Elvis song “Kissin’ Cousins,” the band subsequently moved to Sidney and went out on tour with AC/DC to promote the album. 

Relocating from Australia to the U.K. in late 1977, the band’s self-produced second album, Eternally Yours, was released in May 1978. Moving Hay over to drums, and adding bassist Algy Ward (who would later form the NWOBHM band Tank), the album found the Saints pursuing a more R&B-driven sound complete with horn section. Gone were the cover tunes, the album’s 13 original tracks penned by Bailey and/or Kuepper. Sadly, without the forward-leaning raw punk energy of the debut, Eternally Yours sold poorly. The band released its third album, Prehistoric Sounds, in late 1978. Forging forward with a soul-influenced sound, the album made no waves commercially and EMI dropped the band. Additionally, a difference in musical opinion between Bailey (who wanted to play rock ‘n’ roll) and Kuepper (who preferred a more avant-garde direction) broke up the band. 

Bailey put together a new version of the Saints for 1981’s The Monkey Puzzle, and has forged an eclectic career for the band ever since, releasing ten albums to date and featuring various line-ups with musicians like guitarists Brian James (The Damned, Lords of the New Church) and Marty Willson-Piper (The Church). Kuepper has pursued his own muse as both a solo artist and with bands like the Aints and Laughing Clowns, releasing better than 20 albums since 1985. All of which brings us back around to The Most Primitive Band In the World, a collection of poorly-recorded, live-to-tape performances that pre-date the band’s debut album and were literally recorded in Kuepper’s parents’ garage. 

The band’s youthful energy and enthusiasm lift the material on The Most Primitive Band In the World above the horrible low-fi recording, songs like “Wild About You,” “One Way Street,” the Velvet Underground doppelganger “Erotic Neurotic,” the lengthy, Stones-ish “Messin’ With the Kid,” and punk classic “(I’m) Stranded” emerging fully-formed and sounding every bit as electrifying and impactful as the versions found on the band’s groundbreaking debut album. Other tracks, like the rockabilly-tinged “Do the Robot” or the bass-heavy, soul-drenched “Lies” (both of which would be included as bonus tracks on the 2007 CD reissue of (I’m) Stranded) showcase a band still experimenting musically and lyrically to achieve its signature sound. 

Inspired livewire cover of Eddie Floyd’s Stax Records hit “Knock On Wood” and Ike and Tina Turner’s classic “River Deep, Mountain High” display the band’s interpretive ability in reimagining classic R&B tunes with punkish ferocity, the former song imbued with loads of soul and performed with reckless abandon, the latter with Bailey’s rapid-fire vocals and Hay’s impressive, fluid bass playing. The album’s final track, “(I’m) Misunderstood,” was recorded on mono cassette at Queensland Uni studios with short-time drummer Laurie Mysterio banging the cans. The song would reappear on Eternally Yours, but it’s recorded here as a charging, guitar-tortured rhino with crashing cymbals and galloping drumbeats.    

    

The Most Primitive Band In the World was originally released on vinyl and CD in 1995 by Hot Records in the U.K. while this 2021 version was licensed by Italy’s Radiation Records for their reissue vinyl series. Saints’ guitarist Ed Kuepper was the source of the recording, creating even further friction between him and vocalist Chris Bailey. In his excellent 2020 book Another Tuneless Racket: Punk and New Wave In the Seventies*, former zine publisher and music historian Steve H. Gardner quotes Bailey talking about the album stating, “in fact, neither Ivor nor I were consulted on that thing, and it was after the fact that we discovered that it was out. I think it’s atrocious…also there’s quite a bit of tension between his record company and management and mine because we weren’t notified and it is kind of an illegal thing that they’ve done.”

As for the album’s sonic quality, Gardner refers to it as “a crude recording for sure, but one that shows that in 1974 the Saints were already performing songs that would be recognized as punk classics…and playing them with the same full-on sonic assault that the rest of the world wouldn’t get to hear for another two to four years. Does anyone still think punk started only in CBGBs or the 100 Club?” Still, despite its historic importance, Gardner admits that “because of its raw sound,” the album is “not one to enjoy through repeated listenings” and that while “the band has energy and spunk,” if he was a member of the band, he “wouldn’t necessarily want anyone else listening to it.” 

So, you’ve been forewarned, buckaroos…The Most Primitive Band In the World is one for the rabidly fanatical, the obsessive completist, or the historically curious. I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anybody (go dig up a copy of (I’m) Stranded instead), and the generous grade is due mostly to respect for the band’s status as punk pioneers than any sort of kind listening experience. Grade: C- (Review by Rev. Keith A. Gordon)

* Buy a copy of Gardner’s Another Tuneless Racket if you’re a fan of 1970s-era rockers and proto-punks like the Saints, Dr. Feelgood, Television, Blondie, the Stranglers, the Damned, et al…

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