(Translated from
my old Italian text by Nicholas Green)
Elastica, fronted by Justine Frischmann
(who had briefly played in Suede),
found success by more or less copying the fast-paced disco-punk of the late 1970s (that of
Blondie,
The Cars, and
Wire), but with a punk edge reminiscent of - if anything - the
Modern Lovers.
They made themselves known with the singles Stutter (Deceptive),
an excellent Blondie imitation, Line Up (with a hiccup reminiscent of Wire's
I Am The Fly)
and especially Connection (which chugs like the Stooges' No Fun,
and blathers like Romeo Void's Never Say Never and Wire's
Three Girl Rhumba).
At any rate, Elastica (Deceptive, 1995)
ranks as one of the strongest blitzkriegs of the year with a compelling set of punk-but-not-too-punk songs that retread the history of rock music.
In Annie one can hear echoes of the Who classic I Can't Explain;
Waking Up basically steals the riff from No More Heroes by the
Stranglers;
Smile has the Velvet Underground's driving pace and bursts of guitar;
Car Song is blues-rock married to the harmonies of 1950s vocal groups; and
Hold Me Now is epic garage-rock sung in the detached register of Lydia Lunch.
The second half of the album contains some brief songs in a more authentic punk-pop vein, but unfortunately they pale in comparison to the stylized "imitations" of the first half.
To her credit, the singer breathes life into these noble plagiarisms with an explosive delivery that shifts between that of the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde and the petulant register of the old girl-groups. Elastica are one of those groups that have at their fingertips the possibility of establishing the science of irrelevance.
(Original text by Piero Scaruffi)
The Menace (Deceptive, 2000) took five long years to complete.
Frischman hired new guitarist Paul "Shag" Jones who shares songwriting duties.
The sound is fresher than on the debut album. While the Wire influence is still
all over the place, this time Elastica has concocted a more creative potion
of futurism and retro`, of finesse and punch.
Generator,
Mad Dog God Damn and
Image Change
also maintain the commercial appeal.
Donna Matthews from Elastica formed Klang and released
No Sound is Heard (Blast First Petite, 2009), containing
Waiting.
