Though Phil Spector’s current tribulations might render any collaboration impossible for the foreseeable future, there’s no doubt that the old boy would have adored The Radio instantaneously.
Setting out to recapture the bubbly purity of Blondie’s golden years, with vague hints of slightly darker entities like the truly enchanting Primitives, The Radio specialise in a lush pop aesthetic, with girlie vocals that could wrap the most stony-hearted old cynic around their little finger at lightning speed.
The brainchild of ex-Rollerskate Skinny man Stephen M, The Radio formed in 2004 and have been on a steady upward curve ever since, with Caroline Lee Baker and Sue Rose supplying the sweetest of vocals. For his part, Stephen (who cites Spector, the Ramones, the Clash and the B-52’s as especial touchstones) seems fairly certain that the gang’s second opus Charm Offensive will herald a major breakthrough.
“Everything seems to be happening really fast,” he grins, “this is really the start of it, I can feel the momentum. ’Cause we’re amazing, as the record proves. It was in gestation for a year or two – it should have been out a year ago, but it got held up. Most of the tunes started swirling around my head not long after the last record came out, and I couldn’t wait to get them out there. On occasion, I’ll just strum and wait till something comes together. Other times, I actually hear the whole thing in my head and have to run home and try to get it down on the dictaphone before I forget the tune. I lost a couple of them – I’ve probably lost millions in the process – but hopefully they’ll come back to me.”
Live, the band are prone to experimentation. “We try to mess around with the songs live to a mild extent – I’m not precious, I’m not a perfectionist. Caroline plays a lot more Moog. Obviously most of them are three-minute pop confections, so there isn’t a whole lot you can do to them, but we try to avoid going out there, being all slick and professional and playing the same note-perfect versions of the same songs every performance. Discipline’s fine, but you can overdo it. I don’t give a shit: if a song was to fall apart half-way through, it genuinely wouldn’t bother me. Music should be fun. But in general, most musicians are a bunch of miserable moany whinging pricks, going on and on about themselves. It’s all very narcissistic. It’s crap.
“We’d like people to feel euphoric after seeing a Radio gig,” he adds. “I think there’s a feelgood factor there. This album’s more upbeat and faster than the last one, so hopefully people will actually dance instead of sitting on the floor with their legs crossed. And obviously, the ladies are welcome to throw their knickers at the stage if they like. We have an idea of how we look and how we’d like to come across. We try to make an effort, you can’t just go on stage in your normal clothes. Well, you could, of course, but you’re supposed to be performing, you need to put a bit of guts into it. And if we get it wrong, so what? I do find it amazing the liberties people take when you’re on stage, they think they can say absolutely anything to you, whether it’s telling you what song to play or loudly commenting on how bad you are – and you have fists, and you’re only two feet away from them, and you have to ignore it.”
The Radio have speeded up and energised the sound since their debut Kindness: a deliberate strategy, according to Stephen. “The personnel in the band have changed, and there’s a bit more attitude there. As such, the sound is maybe that bit more aggressive. I thought things were getting a bit tired and mediocre, and I’d sooner be shite than mediocre. It’s the same name but it’s essentially a new band, and we’re still finding our feet. Again, I’m not trying to disown the last record – I thought some of it was beautiful. But it was more the kind of album you’d sit down and listen to: this one’s kinetic, it’s got rhythm, it gets inside you.”
“Also, it suits Caroline’s voice better,” he notes. “On the last record, she was singing songs she’d had very little involvement with, and didn’t feel all that connected to. This is no reflection on the previous members, but we have more of a laugh now and we’re more comfortable in one another’s company. We’re all very chilled and there’s no tortured artists, and we all get on – okay, maybe I’m a right misanthrope, but I try not to wreck people’s heads too much. I would be the boss, and I do lay down the law to an extent, cause I’d one or two bad experiences with my last band which was too much of a democracy, and that led to a lot of confusion.”
Steven isn’t exactly dying to discuss the last days of Rollerskate Skinny’s existence, testifying that “it was very stressful, and mostly unpleasant. Basically we burnt out from mental exhaustion, we were three trembling wrecks by the end of it. We should have been able to savour it, we had money, we were in nice hotels, we got fuckin’ limos. Life was good to us. But it was a very shallow lifestyle, it all got chaotic and a bit scary. That said, we had a few laughs, it wasn’t all misery. And I wouldn’t change anything. There’s no point beating yourself up, you learn from your experiences and I’m happy now. Everything happens for a reason. I met my girlfriend largely because I was such a fuck-up then. I was all over the shop, in a dangerous place, and I wouldn’t have met her otherwise.”
Is he expecting Charm Offensive to go massive?
“I can’t worry about that – it’s out of our hands to an extent. I expect it to sell – and not just in Ireland, I’m hoping it does well internationally. But that’s not what’s driving us, I won’t be sitting there agonising about the sales figures. I need a bit of time away from it to be honest, after working on it for a year you’ve heard it so many times that you need a break from it to be able to appreciate it again. With any luck, people will still be listening to it in 10 years’ time – that’s what pop is, it should be timeless. Like, the Ramones and Sex Pistols were great pop music. Really, if you listen to ‘Anarchy In The UK’, it’s incredibly tuneful. Your kids could sing along to it. That Joe Strummer movie blew me away, I came out with a lump in my throat. I think I was in just the right mood to watch it, I’d had a load of beers. It’d be fantastic to think we could have that kind of impact on people.”