Heartland

Borne out of punk, the Slax line-up were original members of the Mekons, the Sisters of Mercy and The Gang of Four.

On MySpace.

Anyone know anymore about them?

Peel used to play them a lot

If I'm not mistaken their name derived from an old Eddie Cochran rocker...

They were definitely part of the indie scene in Leeds in the early 80s - gigs in the usual haunts, interviews in Whipping and Apologies et al - but musically they were entrenched in a different era (1950's) and I had zero interest in them personally. The comment on MySpace is a reference to Jon Langford, the Mekon who helped out both the Sisters (pre Ben Gunn) and Pink Peg Slax. As a competent drummer and guitarist, he was very much in demand !

I saw them live once. The audience hated them and the band knew it and the singer was noticeably angry by the end of their performance which ended with him saying that the drummer had broken the skin on the snare drum and if anyone wanted to come backstage to kick the other side of the drum in they were welcome to.

Cheers gang. I may risk going to see them, in the spirit of journalistic enquiry.

timsinister wrote:
Anyone know anymore about them?

I know they sound like a bag of s**t!

moses wrote:

timsinister wrote:
Anyone know anymore about them?

I know they sound like a bag of s**t!

SPLAT!!!

i used to put on a rockabilly night at the phono when i first moved to leeds and the singer from pink peg slax used to one of the regulars there

think his name was mark, but on stage he went by the name of vince. a tall chap, probably in his late 40s now, maybe even early 50s. he was ok from what i remember, but i never saw the band as they'd long since split up by that point.

i seem to recall him saying they'd played futurama or somesuch back in the day, and had played with the sisters when they were all first starting out.

as far as i could ever tell they were 3rd generation rockabilly revival (now known as neo-rockabilly), so think the stray cats or the polecats. eddie cochran & gene vincent sound and attitude, made by post-punk kids who love rock and roll.

Forgive my cynicism QB but everyone who was in a band in Leeds in the 80's claims to have "played with the sisters when they were all first starting out."

Danny (Salvation) got them to play a set at his birthday do last year, albeit with someone's son on drums. Pretty much all the original Sister's / Fav crowd were there, Von included, so all part of the same world I guess.

markfiend wrote:Forgive my cynicism QB but everyone who was in a band in Leeds in the 80's claims to have "played with the sisters when they were all first starting out."

They did indeed support the girls @ York University 15th October 1982.

Quiff Boy wrote:as far as i could ever tell they were 3rd generation rockabilly revival (now known as neo-rockabilly), so think the stray cats or the polecats. eddie cochran & gene vincent sound and attitude, made by post-punk kids who love rock and roll.

I admired them for doing their own thing but whereas The Meteors, say, had a clear post-punk attitude, Pink Peg Slax were merely The Merry Thoughts to Gene Vincent's Sisters IMHO.

Dan wrote:I saw them live once. The audience hated them and the band knew it and the singer was noticeably angry by the end of their performance which ended with him saying that the drummer had broken the skin on the snare drum and if anyone wanted to come backstage to kick the other side of the drum in they were welcome to.

And here we are. Enjoy!* http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VM3WHDDC

*Perhaps. Some of the audience didn't.

the-happening wrote:

markfiend wrote:Forgive my cynicism QB but everyone who was in a band in Leeds in the 80's claims to have "played with the sisters when they were all first starting out."

They did indeed support the girls @ York University 15th October 1982.

Fair enough, I stand corrected.

Nikolas Vitus Lagartija wrote:

Quiff Boy wrote:as far as i could ever tell they were 3rd generation rockabilly revival (now known as neo-rockabilly), so think the stray cats or the polecats. eddie cochran & gene vincent sound and attitude, made by post-punk kids who love rock and roll.

I admired them for doing their own thing but whereas The Meteors, say, had a clear post-punk attitude, Pink Peg Slax were merely The Merry Thoughts to Gene Vincent's Sisters IMHO.

aye, i never actually saw the band but from what i gather that sounds about right

I'll risk it for a biscuit, I think. You've made me curious now!

timsinister wrote:I'll risk it for a biscuit,

Surely you mean

taylor wrote:

Ah I'd forgotten about that!

Now that's a gig poster!

We weren't Neo Rockabilly, we were cajun-tinged jiveabilly. The Sisters supported us in the Riley Smith Hall at Leeds University in July 1981. I couldn't take the Goth stuff seriously. It was just as pompous as Rush but with a rather unattractive vampire imagery. To me, punk was about pissing the hippies off. Doing jolly rockabilly songs amidst a sea of Goths was consciously subversive.

I knew Andy via Clare and Tim Taylor (our bass player) and had known Craig and Grape via the Expelairs. I was in the Mekons in 1980 and did a Peel session and a couple of album tracks; forgot the track.

I think Andy Eldritch was at Danny's party - it was our Francis playing drums, by the way.

As for my musical ability, well, the m*****n needed a guitarist to do a tour of the US in about 1990 and we're going to ask me to do it but Mick didn't think I would do it. I had heard they were looking and considered offering, but I didn't think they would want me.

We are playing at Milo's on 10 September

Vince

Vinny B wrote:
I knew Andy via Clare and Tim Taylor (our bass player) and had known Craig and Grape via the Expelairs. I was in the Mekons in 1980 and did a Peel session and a couple of album tracks; forgot the track.



Vince

the same Tim Taylor that played bass on Marc and the Mambas, Fun city/Sleaze single

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1036076

Vinny B wrote:I think Andy Eldritch was at Danny's party - it was our Francis playing drums, by the way.

Yes he was. Francis did well, I really enjoyed your sets. Got into a bit of trouble from my wife for the burlesque dancers though. Wasn't expecting them, but it was Danny's do after all...

sam1 wrote:

Vinny B wrote:
I knew Andy via Clare and Tim Taylor (our bass player) and had known Craig and Grape via the Expelairs. I was in the Mekons in 1980 and did a Peel session and a couple of album tracks; forgot the track.



Vince

the same Tim Taylor that played bass on Marc and the Mambas, Fun city/Sleaze single

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1036076

Any relation to the Martin Taylor that one Andrew Taylor got his drum kit from before he bought a drum machine?