STEPHEN MORRISand his wife GillianGilbert are in theirMacclesfield farm-house studio withBernard Sumner.They’re rememberingthe early Eighties whenNew Order emergedfollowing the suicide ofIan Curtis, the JoyDivision singer who hunghimself at 23 in 1980.Sumner says: “We couldn’tdo Joy Division any more.We’d lost Ian and it was toopainful to go on. We didn’tknow what to do. It was avery tough time.”Morris adds: “Being soyoung and naïve and notknowing how to deal with hisdeath meant we just wentback to making music.“Rob (Gretton, the band’smanager) said, ‘Monday morn-ing, back to work’ and wejumped at it. But we didn’tknow what we were doing.We were just trying to carryon and get used to Ian notbeing there. We all had a goat singing, even though noneof us had ever sung before.”

HistoryThose first, tentative stepsled them to become thebiggest dance band inmusical history who, morethan 30 years on, remain asimportant as ever.Monday sees the release ofTotal, the first album tobring the music of JoyDivision and New Ordertogether.Eighteen tracks in chrono-logical order and ending withthe unreleased Hellbent,recorded in 2005.Morris says: “It’s nice tohave the focus on New Ordertoo. What with the filmControl, 24 Hour Party Peopleand the Joy Division docu-mentary, it’s been non-stopJoy Division for the past fewyears. New Order sold morerecords and had huge success,especially in America.”Drinking tea, drummer Mor-ris, guitarist and keyboardplayer Gilbert and vocalistSumner laugh about theirtime in New Order, puttingon impressions of the lateFactory Records boss TonyWilson and remembering RobGretton, who died of a heartattack in 1999, aged 46Now in their early 50s,New Order have been defunctsince 2007, playing their lastgig in 2006. Interviewing the

By JACQUI SWIFT

band takes place in twoparts, first in Macclesfieldbefore heading off toSalford’s Lowry Theatre tomeet bassist Peter Hook, whoremains estranged from theother three. Tension betweenSumner and Hooky has beena constant throughout theband’s history and the pairremain on bad terms.“You need a Henry Kiss-inger figure to sort us out, orat least someone to bang ourheads together,” says Hooky.“The problem is that bothBernard and I are very stub-born and wilful. That’s whatattracted us to each other.I’ve known Bernard since hewas 11, so it’s been 44 yearsthat we’ve been rubbing eachother up the wrong way.”Sumner agrees: “We’re justtwo very different people. Wedidn’t have a huge barney,that was a myth. The prob-lem was simmering grudgesand different ideas.”The “golden age” of NewOrder saw them release sin-gles such as Thieves Like Us,The Perfect Kiss, BizarreLove Triangle, True Faith andFine Time.Blue Monday — released in1983 — became the biggestselling 12in of all time.The 7½-minute track wasinspired by the New Yorkclubs Paradise Garage andDanceteria the band were fre-quenting. “They were funtimes,” says Sumner. “Beingin those clubs thinking‘wouldn’t it be great if theywere playing our record here’took us in a new direction.”Hooky says: “The interest-ing thing about New Order iswe worked hard at crackingAmerica. We were playingcrowds of 30,000 people there.It was our main market.”The Hacienda, Manchester’slegendary and troubled night-club, opened in 1982, influ-enced by these New Yorkclubs. The onset of rave cul-ture and Madchester madeThe Hacienda — largely finan-ced by Factory Records andNew Order — the most famousclub in the world.Morris says:“They werefun times.We’d fin-ish oneclub at3 a mt h e ngo toanothe run t i lm i d -

day. I don’t know how, we couldn’twalk by then.”But as the financialtroubles of The Hacienda started tobecome more apparent, the non-stoppartying also took its toll.Sumner says: “That scene startedwith us in Ibiza in ’87 and car-

ried on until about ’93.Six years is longenough, itwasn’t fun any-more.”The Haci-enda closedi n t h esummer of1997. Sum-ner says:“The clubwas tak-ing upmore of

our time. Even when we touredAmerica and were selling loads ofrecords there and tons of cash wascoming in, Factory and the clubcouldn’t control the finances.“Rob and Tony weren’t very goodbusinessmen.”Making 1993’s Republic albumadded to the problems with frictionbetween Hooky and Sumner.Morris says: “It was pretty miser-able doing Republic. We shouldn’thave done it. We were doing arecord to prop up a record companyto prop up a nightclub.”Hooky says cocaine had become aproblem for him. He says: “Troublewith 1987 was them lot used toparty and I didn’t. When I startedto party I took it over the edge. Itwas our biggest problem, especiallywith Republic. It was awful.” New

Order returned in 1998 for some festi-val slots and they released Get Readyin 2001. Today they are a dividedband with a back catalogue stillinspiring a new generation.But will they reform for more showsor even one final show?Hooky says: “He’s mad at me forplaying Unknown Pleasures on myown, yet his new band plays Joy Divi-sion and New Order tracks. Why is itOK for him and not me?”Gilbert says: “If you don’t agreewith three other people it’s going tobe hard to sort it out, but Stephenand I never say never.”“I’ve said that before,” laughs Mor-ris. “Though we’re still working onmusic for The Other Two.” But forSumner, who is working on a NewBad Lieutenant album as well as onewith Stuart Price, there are many

bridges tobuild. “If oneperson wantsto tour 30dates and earnas much moneyas possible andthe other wantsto do ten daysand retain theirsanity, it causesfriction.“When westarted off we hadthe same ideals.“I’m just gladthat with all theups and downs themusic is still hereand we have the rep-utation for being thereal thing.”

TOMVEKLeisureSeizure

WHITEDENIMD

ARCTICMONKEYSSuck It And See

ROYAL BANGSFluxOutside

YOU can’t accuse Tom Vek ofmilking the critical acclaim hereceived for 2005’s debut WeHave Sound. It’s been sixyears since we heard fromthe bespectacled electro pio-neer. So where’s he been?Judging by the multi-

layered rhythms of thisalbum, the answer is over-loading hard drives withstrange bass sounds. Theintricate, evolving drumbeatsand electro riffs are relent-lessly inventive and expandon the promise of his debut.The bored-sounding vocals

recall a polite Mark E Smith,but that aside,there’s nothinghe re tha ts o u n d sremotely likeanyone else.

DTB

3.5

THE Monkeys evolution con-tinues on their fourth album,whose title has inexplicablyfallen foul of US censors.Since their spiky, spirited

debut they’ve been addingmore rock with every album.The monstrous riff of Don’t

Sit Down ’Cause I’ve MovedYour Chair perfectly sets upthe yeah, yeah, yeah backingvocal. Black Treacle and thetitle track are wistfullycrooned love songs whileHellcat Spangled Shalalalahas a huge singalong chorus.Their angst at being thrust

into the spot-light at suchtender years isove r andthey’re readyto play to thecrowd. JS

IT’S hard to pin down butthere is something totallyriveting about the Texanband’s fourth album.Over 37 minutes, they

expertly conjure a mind-boggling range of styles thatsummon the spirit ofAmerica’s most celebratedjam band, The Grateful Dead,but with a Southern twist.Jazz-rock gets an extensive

and thrilling work-out oninstrumental Back At TheFarm while the angular BessSt. really rocks. Street Joyhas a proggy Pink Floyd feeland finale Keys is the closestthe band get to countrymusic.D is for daring and delight-

ful. SC

4

4.5

3

FILMSMUSIC DVDsGAMES BOOKSCOMEDY

HOTGIGS

ROYAL BANGS hail fromTennessee but there the simi-larity with Dolly Parton ends.(And, no, they’re nothing to

do with Prince William’swedding night either.)They’re one of those Ameri-

can indie bands who shredtheir rock and punk influ-ences into something entirelytheir own. Exuberant, scuzzy,nearly great but not quite.Their third album has

received the attention ofnoted knob-twiddlers ScottMinor (Sparklehorse) andDave Fridmann (FlamingLips, Mercury Rev) and is anenjoyable if forgettable romp.Best track is

Triccs, a bandjam that findsthe trio actuallyhitting the sonicbullseye. SC

DONOVAN – tonight, Royal Albert Hall, Lon-don, 0845 401 5045TAKE THAT – tonight, City Of ManchesterStadium, takethat.com

PAOLO NUTINI – tonight, York Barbican Hall,0844 854 2757DAVID GRAY – Monday, The Royal FestivalHall, London, 0844 847 9910

NEWMUSIC

NN EEWWMMUU SSII CC

PENSIONERWHO: Ross Middlemiss (guitar/vocals), Callum Sutherland (guitar/vocals), Michael Lennie (bass/ vocals),Mark Keiller (drums/vocals)WHERE: DundeeFOR FANS OF: Idlewild, Biffy Clyro,At The Drive InJIM SAYS: I do love a band that hasfun with song titles, and Dundoniannoise merchants Pensioner cer-tainly do that. Their debut album,Yearlings, features such tracks asMassive Ferguson, Big Trouble InLittle Richard, the ever so risquéEnter Shakira and, my favourite,Annannannawiddecombe.But strip away the silliness and

you still have a band who know howto seriously rock. Formed from the

ashes of Dundee favourites JulietKilo and Alamos, Pensioner havelinked up with rising Glasgow Indielabel Olive Grove Records for thealbum.It’s refreshing to find a label run

by genuine music fans — in thiscase, key bloggers and tastemak-ers in the shape of Halina Rifai (Glas-

gow PodcART) and Lloyd Meredith(Peenko). While Pensioner areunlikely to find daytime mainstreamradio play at this stage, the under-ground isn’t likely to be their finalresting place. Like Biffy Clyro beforethem, they have the potential to takeit all the way. Their take on melodichardcore, coupled with a few musi-cal twists and turns, is a joy.As unpredictable as it is brilliant,

Pensioner already have a contenderfor album of the year. How can yougo wrong when the packagingcomes complete with instructions toturn it into an origami horse? Moreat pensioner.bandcamp.comQ JIM presents In:Demand Uncut, Sunday7-10pm on Clyde 1, Forth One, North-sound 1, Radio Borders, Tay FM, West FM& West Sound FM. jimgellatly.com

BYJIM

GELLATLY

4 SFTW Friday, June 3, 2011