CARTER USM - 101 DAMNATIONS

Fresh from the fall of jangle-pop band Jamie Wednesday, JimBob and Fruitbat (aka Robert Morrison and Les Carter) created the indie-rock band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine in order to fulfill a J.W. pre-arranged gig. With JimBob on vocals/guitar, Fruitbat on guitar/backing vocals, and a drum machine that frequently broke down, Carter USM took the punk D.I.Y ethos, the adrenaline-fuelled noise of The Jesus And Mary Chain, and a panache for snappy sociological lyrics, to create one of the most original British bands of the 90's.

Coming to the attention of minor record label Big Cat Records the duo released their debut album 101 Damnations in 1990.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Road to Domestos

2. Every Time A Church Bell Rings

3. Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill

4. All American National Sport

5. Sheriff Fatman

6. Taking of Peckham 123

7. Crimestoppers A Go Go

8. Good Grief Charlie Brown

9. Midnight On The Murder Mile

10. Perfect Day To Drop The Bomb

11. GI Blues With possible reference to the opening of  The Smiths The Queen Is Dead album,  101 Damnations first track 'Road To Domestos' is a bootlegged copy of hymn 'Love Divine, All Love Excelling,' segueing into the first Carter USM song 'Every Time A Church Bell Rings' with a barrage of Machine-Gun fire. 'Every Time A Church Bell Rings' looks to the radio for release from the pressures of living, but the fates of 'bonny Clyde,' 'Sally Clarke / . . . the patron saint of nothing much,' and 'Micky Doyle'  are all mistreated by 'the DJ's playing the same old songs / to whistle while you're signing on.'(1). The song, and Carter USM themselves, identify with the losers of London, the nobodies you pass in the street without looking at them, the ones who stand on the balcony of their high-rise flat and, sometimes, jump. With 'another seaside suicide' to report the narrator attempts to drive his car off London Bridge, only for London Bridge to have already become a dilapidated state so he decries 'I'm cancelling my driving test and walking back to happiness.' Many of the songs on the album are London specific, and 'Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill' paints an ugly picture of the seedy side of London Town.. TFMFTH's title is a parody of the Gene Pitney song 'Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa,' though Carter USM don't find a beautiful woman but a city full of 'smackheads, crackheads, pensioners, and pimps / anonymous alcoholics looking for a drink' and 'yardies, steamers, parasitic cops / . . . hammerhead loan-sharks trying out for Jaws 6.'  Managing to avoid 'The silver blades,' the narrator finds themselves back home where 'Daddy bangs you against the wall / Beats your brains in with a tablespoon,' a frightening image of domestic violence hidden behind four walls, made all the more sickening with the onomatopoeic 'AWOPBOPALOOBAPALOPBAMBOO' echoing every strike, possibly to the sound of the song 'Tutti-Frutti' by Little Richard. Even when the cops are called to 'make it safe for the OAP's' it isn't long before their ineptitude is found and everything is 'right back to the track, Fruitbat!' The song ends with the horrific ride continuing and JimBob shouting 'Fun, fun, fun / Here we come.' 'All American National Sport' continues the London theme, this time taking in the sights of Chelsea Bridge, whilst our narrator, a down and out living 'Underneath Cardboard City lights' is offered supper and fags by would-be well wishers. The song deals with a fact, largely unreported at the time, of the abuse homeless people suffered from gangs who would room the streets and frequently set fire to any homeless person they found asleep. JimBob, much like Kurt Cobain would do with the Nevermind track 'Polly,' takes the role of the victim, and the stark images of violence of 'The two scumbags had come back / With some matches and some petrol' allow the listener to sense the panic and distress the narrator feels as he realises he is on fire.  But JimBob does not allow the listener to just understand the situation, but also makes us to realise the humanity within the narrator. The narraor tells of his dreams of 'being an artist / Like Toulouse-Lautrec or Manet,' of 'Sailing home to the misses in Kilburn,' by doing this the narrator becomes identifiable, and the listener connects philosophically and emotionally with them. Instead of pandering for our sympathy, JimBob forces us to come face to face with the stark reality of homelessness, and makes us aware of the thin line most of us walk between being a part of civilization and being apart from it. If you were to ask where the Carter USM phenomenon started most fans would point you to 'Sheriff Fatman.' 'Now Sheriff Fatman started off in a business as a Granny farmer' the surealist lyrics inform us, before listing off a host of shaddy and criminal activities Fatman had engaged in, including winning 'A Prince of Wales Award / For pushing Valium and Amphetamines.' The song is a retort towards the slum-landlords who held most Londoners hostage, and still do some would say, by charging extortionate prices for run-down flats and bedsits. Fatman feeds off 'The Capital's homeless / . . . the no fixed-aboders,' and his houses are described as 'The windows are jammed,' and 'The toilets aren't healthy,' and Sheriff Fatman 'Chuckles and smiles / laughs like a madman.' JimBob's cultural referencing is in full-force throughout the song, comparing the Sheriff Fatman character with: Peter Rachman, Klaus Barbie, and the strangely titled Nicholas Van-Whatshisface (a clever pun on tabloid journalistic jargon which causes readers to forget peoples' names thanks to the papers' 'witty' nicknames). But why does such a song strike a chord with so many Carter USM fans? Is it because of the triumphant fan-fare, and ominious in-time clapping that adds to the air of domination characters such as Sheriff Fatman had over the populace? Is it the familiarity with such contemptable characters? Or is it because 'Sheriff Fatman' is everything that is great about Carter USM, with its catchy chorus, sociological discussion, un-dramatic political point, and all set to loud guitars and pounding drum beats? Whenever it is played at a gig, and I have been lucky to be present at a fair number, it is one of the songs that always gets the audience going - though to be fair with this bands crowd they sing along to every word until they are hoarse (this writer included).   'Sheriff Fatman' was a revolutionary song when it was first released, a hybrid of the left-wing political stance of Billy Bragg, mixed with influences from the developing dance scene, and with the blood of punk-rock coarsing through its veins. Though the rock/dance fusion wouldn't become hugely popular until the end of the 90's, Carter USM had already begun ploughing the way for others to follow. 'Taking Of Peckham 123' is a queasy-waltz set to minimal drumbeats and guitars. Starting with imagery straight out of 'St. Valentines Massacre' where the 'Barman lays / On the bloodstained floor,' the narrator describes the remnants of the chaos that lays around him. Using the same dry wit found throughout the album, the narrator condenses life to 'A bowl of cherries / For the fruit machine' and simultaneously shows us the pointlessness to life and our obsession with finding ways to entertain ourselves in order to obscure the emptiness of modern living. But there is no escape from this redundancy, even in death where you trade 'The flat where you live,' and where they 'Rob you of your pension / And ransack your place,' for the 'Big high-rise block in the sky.' The only comfort is found in meeting Jesus 'So you know your in Heaven,' and you get to live forever, but if that existence is as mundane as life was, would you really want to? 'Crimestoppers A Go-Go,' a grand instrumental, is the first of common trend through Carter USM albums. Where many bands would have avoided such an endeavor, or added the track as a filler, CAGG maintains the overall theme of partying whilst the rest of the world is going to hell. 'Good Grief Charlie Brown' is the heartbreaking tale of an estranged Father and Son, via two letters. Written in the epistolary style, which was popular in the nineteenth-century novels such as 'Frankenstein,' the song details the disappointment both characters find in the arrangement, with both being ruled by 'Charlie's' mother. 'There's no time for love Charlie Brown,' the Fathers letter starts, before discussing reasons that he couldn't come round 'But I'll send you ten shillings as we have arranged / I'll take second billing 'cause I'll never change my mind.' 'Midnight On The Murder Mile' is the walking-cousin of TFMFTH, though the narrator has now befallen the injustice of the great scourge of all commuters, the buses. 'Walking towards the flashing smile / Of the Crystal Palace tower,' and 'past an all night chicken takeaway / which was finger-lickin' closed,' the narrator finds that his travelcard had expired and it was 'Midnight on the murder mile / Okay, let's riot.' Caught up in the violence around him, the narrator suffers beatings from various people along his journey, including the Boys Brigade who stitch him up and beat him 'to a pulp,' desperate for help he tries one of the 'telephones on sticks' only to be told '999 calls only.'  The song references many different cultural icons, including Charles Bronson ('My only Death Wish was that I had / A sockful of fifty pence's), and Shakespeare's 'Richard III' ('My Kingdom for a phone box), whilst still remaining contemporary and contemplating the dangers of walking alone down certain streets in London. JimBob shows that he is a deft touch with witty lyrics, subtle humour, and pathos; whilst keeping his punk heart on his sleeve. 'Perfect Day To Drop The Bomb' is heavily influenced by bands such as The Jesus And Mary Chain as it is a heavy-loaded, noisy, and chaotic tune, full of crashing drums, squalling guitars, and apocolyptic aggression. Starting with the distressing sound of high-pitched feedback from what I believe is a computer tape from a Commodore 64 (or a similar 80's computer), the lyrics deal with the last seconds of life before the bomb drops, and details 'Tiny children sniffing glue,' 'losers' and 'a madman cornered by Police / Puts a Smith and Wesson between his teeth.' Much like TTOP that came before it, the song deals with the wastefulness of humanity, and how we are all the 'turkey [that] gets the chop.' The guitars add to the sense of desperation, with high-pitched chords beaten against pounding drums. Both JimBob and Fruitbat plead 'Don't touch me 'cause I'm close to the edge / I'm trying not to lose my head' referencing the Grandmaster Flash song 'The Message' before screaming 'Everybody say war, say radiation / Murder, inner-city deprevation.' The coda that follows the lyrics is a mash of noize, sampled songs, inane chatter by Radio DJ's, and someone who 'Don't dig loud noises,' before ending on a quote from a Kit-Kat advert 'You can't sing, you can't play, you look awful. You'll go a long way.' Whilst some musos would claim that Carter USM were true to the first three statements, (for proof on looks check out some early photos of the duo, punk-rock chic before it became chic) it would only be a few years before they were surveying their Kingdom at the top of the charts.  'GI Blues,' the final statement of 101 Damnations, is a whimsical, yet powerful look at those spoiled by war. Taking the role of an American GI returning from the war stating 'Both my arms and legs are torn to shreds /  . . . I've lost a stone, I'm just skin and bone' it recalls some of the horrific imagery of soldiers and civilians from camps during World War II and Vietnam. JimBob's ability to identify with his characters allows the song to venture in territory usually avoided by guitar-fuelled bands (well, it wasn't common until the late 90's), and the plead to people to 'turn your eyes to the children / I don't want you to see me this way' is not only heartbreaking in its message, but also a warning that this could happen to the very children you are looking upon. 'GI Blues' is, like the narrator of 'The Band Played Waltzing Matilda' - a song written by Eric Bogle about the Australian soldiers killed in Gallipoli during WWI, and covered by The Pogues - showing the face of the soldier forever disfigured and destroyed by the horrors mankind places upon itself. A list of Presidents who have all been involved in wars, as well as GI favourite Bob Hope, are also told to turn away, but it is unclear if this is a sarcastic remark recording what they do, rather than a request for them to do it. The song ends to the tune of 'I Wish I Was In Dixie,' an American favourite, but the passion for Dixieland is replaced by the melancholic vocals of the narrator, who sounds like he is on the brink of death and this is the last image that runs through his mind before the end, to be 'in Dixieland with you.' With JimBob's south-London vocals, and Fruitbat's guitar kicking the music into submission, Carter USM announced themselves to the world with the veracity that would serve them through their 10 year career (and many reunions), and keep their throngs of fans baying for more. The heavy and catchy riffs, sampling of Radio DJ's, kick-o-box drum beat, and lyrics discussing the dismantling of the social state, are found throughout the bands back-catalogue.  Much like The Jam before them, JimBob and Fruitbats' observations were terse and sarcastic, holding a mirror up to English culture and showing it warts and all, but they were always inspired rather than repulsed but what they saw. 101 Damnations was the start of the heroic conquest of Carter USM, the pinnacle being their Number One album 1992: The Love Album, and, in my opinion, one of the greatest debut albums of the 90's. (1) A similar story is found in The Smiths song 'Panic' (Carter USM would later cover the track) which was written in response to the sinking of the Belgrano being reported on Radio One before a WHAM song was cheerfully played by the DJ.