Nothing To Lose – Taxi Violence

Taxi Violence- Taxi Violence

Taxi Violence hailed from Cape Town and formed in 2004. They named themselves after a newspaper billboard which said ‘Taxi Violence rocks the Western Cape’. The father of lead songer, Greg van der Spuy was stationed at the Wynberg Military Base and he organised a bunker for the band to practice in. In 2005 they released their debut 3-track EP which was eponymously titled and contained the track ‘Nothing To Lose’.

The track immediately showcased the band’s hard rocking nature and not only that, it was an accomplished debut, with slick production and polished sounds. It does not sound like a band just starting out in the rock world. There are roaring guitars, thundering drums and hardcore vocals that assault the senses from the get go. But they never lose control and go over the top with self-indulgent noise. This is a carefully crafted song that establish acts like Springbok Nude Girls would have been proud of. There is none of the desperateness one would expect from someone with nothing left to lose.

The band would go from strength to strength and with a debut like this, it is no surprise. They would release their first full length album, ‘Untie Yourself’, in 2006 to critical acclaim and continued to release material with their latest offering (at the time of writing) being 2015’s ‘Tenfold’.

The late 90’s and 00’s saw a plethora of hard rocking bands trying to make a mark on the SA Rock scene. Spearheaded by the success of the aforementioned Springbok Nude Girls and Just Jinger, many were imitators who didn’t really cut it, either being too caught up in just making a racket or being too rough around the edges. With ‘Nothing Left To Lose’, Taxi Violence, not only rocked the Western Cape, but rocked the country.

Where to find it:
Taxi Violence (EP) – Taxi Violence (2005), No label

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Little – Springbok Nude Girls

Afterlifesatisfaction – Springbok Nude Girls

It takes nearly a minute for the drums to kick in on the Springbok Nude Girls’ ‘Little’, but you don’t really notice that to start with as you are completely mesmerised by the slightly scuzzy electric guitar for the first 30 seconds and then Arno’s voice, accompanied by a harmonised vocal, which sings of ‘Little, little Daisy’ who drives him crazy. There is an edginess to the vocals and that not surprising as, soon after the opening scene with Daisy with whom ‘the garden of my brain is green’, Arno sings ‘When the devil comes along’ and his voice becomes more sinister.

After this, the drums kick in and the trademark trumpet soars along with Arno’s voice and we are into classic SNG territory. This is one of their less manic tracks, but it rocks along at a fine pace, building to a climax of drums, guitar, trumpet and voice all vying for a place to assault your senses.

‘Little’ is probably not the most well-known Nude Girls’ track, although it did make the 2002 ‘The Fat Lady Sings’ best of compilation. It is one that is well worth checking out again to marvel at what the band were capable of when they controlled their urge to tumble headlong into a noisefest. ‘Little’ has a great tune, it rocks and soars in all the right places. Contrary to its title, it is a big song

Where to find it:
Afterlifesatisfaction – Springbok Nude Girls (1996), Epic, CDEPC5287

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Jou Oe – Kobus!

Kobus! – Kobus!

What is it about eyes and Springbok Nude Girls? Have a listen to their ‘Bue Eyes’ if you haven’t done so. It is a beautiful track and rather at odds with most of their other material. Then move on a few years to a time when Theo Crous started up his side project, Kobus! with Voice Of Destruction member, Francois Blom. On their debut eponymously titled album, they also sing about eyes on the track ‘Jou Oe’ (your eyes) and again one has a quite beautiful track.

There is something ethereal about this song. In part this is due to the other-worldly and somewhat mournful guitar that opens the track. The effect is amplified by the gently plucked guitar and is completed by the slightly falsetto voice that comes in. The voice sings about someone forgetting a woman’s smile, her name, the sound of her voice and even her hands, but the singer cannot shake the image of her eyes. And as he sings about the eyes, his voice soars in a kind of reverence to them. And like the effect the eyes have on the singer, so the song has a similar hypnotic effect on the listener.

There is also a feeling of brittle vulnerability in the voice, particularly in the refrains where the confusion and ache of the singer becomes tangible. He is confused about why these eyes have such an effect, but longs for another glimpse of them. It is almost an addiction and the music adds to this in a kind of trippy and psychedelic way.

There are shades of ‘Blue Eyes’ in this track, and also some shades of Pink Floyd’s ‘Goodbye Blue Skies’ with the guitar having that sad, yet lovely and gentle sound. Maybe we should try and persuade Theo and Francois to team up with Arno (from Springbok Nude Girls) and David Gilmour from Pink Floyd to write a song called ‘Goodbye Blue Oe’.

Where to find it:
Kobus! – Kobus! (2002), ENT Entertainment, CDENT001

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Muur – Chris Chameleon

Kyk Hou Lyk Ons Nou – Chris Chameleon

By the time Chris Chameleon released his album ‘Kyk Hoe Lyk Ons Nou’, he had made a name for himself as a solo artist. Gone are the quirky punky sounds from his Boo! days (except for the cheeky ‘Apie’) and we now find a maturing musician who is performing some of the most polished work of his career. Having Springbok Nude Girls’ Adriaan Brand and Theo Crous help out on the album with Crous producing it, certainly helps.

‘Muur’ (which translates as ‘Wall’) is probably the stand out track on the album. It features orchestral sounds over which Chameleon stretches his vocal range, moving comfortably between the mid-range verses to the soaring higher-register chorus which helps the song soar. It does not, however, visit the outer reaches of his amazing range, but the song doesn’t call for this. It is a serious song and has an aching longing feel to it made more pertinent by lines like ‘en soms verbeel ek my dat ek dit met eimand deel’ (and sometimes I imagine that I share this with somebody).

There is a melancholic feel to the track, something you would not have found in his work with Boo! but can be seen in some of the Nude Girls’ work like ‘Blue Eyes’. But where the Nude Girls would generally have been more hard hitting, Chameleon keeps this on the pop level. It is a song to float along gently with, perhaps thinking about life and all it means, or just losing oneself in the beauty of the music.

Walls can keep things in or keep things out and this song gives you the option be introspective and use it as a soundtrack to your thoughts, or you can look outward to the vastness of the world that is out there and let the song take you into those spaces beyond. Either way you use the song, one has to acknowledge that it is another brick in the wall of hits that Chris Chameleon has brought us. It is a track to check out, however, if you have already heard ‘Muur’, then I guess you don’t need no education.

Where to find it:
Kyk Hou Lyk Ons Nou – Chris Chameleon (2009) Rhyhtm Records, RR98

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Dimmer – Springbok Nude Girls

The Fat Lady Sings – Springbok Nude Girls

By 2004, the Springbok Nude Girls had been going nearly 10 years with their light shining brightly. But in 2004, things got ‘Dimmer’ as this previously unreleased track appeared on their best of compilation ‘The Fat Lady Sings’. And there were possibly some fans of the band who thought, when hearing this that the light that shone so bright, might have starter to dim as its not as noisy or dense as some of their earlier stuff.

There is none of the raw freneticness of ‘Bubblegum On My Boots’ or the scuzzy sound of ‘Spaceman’ or the grittiness of ‘I Love You’. Neither does it have the quieter relectiveness of ‘Blue Eyes’. Rather it is more (dare I say it) a pop rock track with an orchestral sound swirling around a catchy refrain of ‘dimmer, dimmer, dimmer’. But there is sufficient of the old SNG’s sound to keep us interested and it would also make a gentler introduction to the band for those who had not yet heard ‘Blue Eyes’ and were not quite ready to dive into the full on sounds of some of their earlier material. It also showed the versatility of the band, revealing a more tune driven side to their repertoire.

And for those hardcore fans there are still parts of the song that recall that sound they loved with Arno Carstens’ soaring and growling vocals along with the warm trumpet of Adriaan Brand still popping into the track every now and then.

‘Dimmer’ may not be every Springbok Nude Girls fans’ cup of witblitz, but it is a great rock tune which is certainly worth a listen. And for those hardcore fans who were worried this this track was a sign of out with  the old, in with the Nude, they only had to wait a couple of years for the opening track to their 2006 offering, ‘Peace Breaker’ (a song called ‘Gang Gang’) to be reassured as they return to their roots with an almost metal guitar intro.

Where to find it:
The Fat Lady Sings – Springbok Nude Girls (2001), Epic, CDEPC8190

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Always – Gangs of Ballet

Always – Gangs of Ballet

When one hears the word ‘gangs’, one thinks of rap music, knives, tattoos, motorbikes, drugs and such like. When one hears the word ‘ballet’ one thinks of tutus, grace, beauty and ‘boy those guys are muscular’. So, Gangs of Ballet must surely be tattooed muscular guys in tutus pirouetting on their motorbike while rapping and taking drugs. Well, the answer to that is no, Gangs of Ballet are a bunch of clean cut guys who make catchy rock tunes and there is not a tat in sight (well not on any of the photos I saw of the band on the internet).

‘Always’ is a strong rock track with a rousing chorus. There are shades of Springbok Nude Girls in this, but it a is somewhat cleaner sound. Where the Nude Girls have a scuzzy sort of edge to their music, Gangs Of Ballet live up to their name and have a kind of gracefulness to their sound. Based in Durban, the band bring a bit of sun and surf to keep the song feeling bright despite the video depicting a guy parting from his girl to go and explore the big wide world. The girl is left somewhere in the Cape (judging by the dramatic mountain scenery) while he wonders around London looking a little lost without his girl. However, when he sings, ‘Always, always, always I’ll be waiting here for you’ and, although the video suggests that she will be the one waiting for him, you feel that his heart is always there for her.

They may have a strange name with ballet juxtaposition-ed with gangs, but they made some great music and despite calling it quits as a band in 2018, the song will be around for, well maybe not always, but certainly for a while to come (but ‘a while to come’ does scan as well for song lyrics as ‘always’ does).

Where to find it:
Form & Function Part 1 (EP) – Gangs of Ballet, (2015), Universal Music Group, UMGCD 131

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Another Universe – Arno Carstens

Another Universe – Arno Carstens

So, what do you do when you’ve been the lead singer of one of the biggest bands in the country and you decide to break up the band (again). Do you twiddle your thumbs and live off the royalties of past glories, or do you go and make another album, the title track of which is as brilliant and memorable as anything you did in a group?

Few lead singers of major bands have really gone on to forge a successful solo career – Sting and to a lesser degree Freddie Mercury come to mind – but to that list we can add Arno Carstens who, after one of the many final Springbok Nude Girl final gigs ever, decided to make the rather magnificent ‘Another Universe’ album with its rather magnificent title track.

Starting off with a delicate guitar intro during which Arno comes in with his ‘made to rock’ vocals, the song builds to a soaring chorus which is perfectly suited to Arno’s voice. Maybe not quite as noisy as some of the Nude Girls stuff – this one sits closer to their ‘Blue Eyes’ than perhaps their ‘Smiley Skull Of Faith’ – it could easily have ended up on a Nude Girl’s album except that it lacks that warm trumpet sound that Adriaan Brand brought to their sound.

‘Another Universe’ is a laid back rock track that is certainly not from another universe, it is firmly grounded in the solid rock traditions of Earth, and that’s what one wants from your music don’t you?

Where to find it:
Another Universe – Arno Carstens, 2003, Epic, CDEPC8256

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Sondagmiddag – Kobus!

Kobus! – Kobus!

A few years after the Springbok Nude Girls split for the first time, the band’s guitarist Theo Crous hooked up with Voice of Destruction’s Francois Breyenbach and formed a band called Kobus! (or sometimes K.O.B.U.S.!). Their debut album ‘Kobus!’ opened with the track ‘Wie Is Kobus!’ which fades out with the question ‘Wie is Kobus!’ being asked over and over again in a whispered, slightly menacing way. And many of us did ask that question because there was something weird yet strangely alluring about what one was hearing.

But those who knew who made up the band would have perhaps been a bit puzzled by the sound because it was neither the Slipknot-ish metal of Voice of Destruction nor the grungy sounds of that we knew and loved from the Nude Girls. This is far more relaxed music and with a title like ‘Sondagmiddag’ (Sunday Afternoon), the 4^th track from their debut album, was bound to be laid back. While very different sounding, it sort of captures the same sentiments that Quentin E. Klopjaeger’s ‘Lazy Life’ does, staring with a gentle guitar over the sounds of a family sitting around in the back yard enjoying a braai. It’s relaxed and there is an Ultravox-esque synth sound sailing gently by.

But why would fans of of the Springbok Nude Girls and Voice Of Destruction go for this kind of music. Well, I am not sure that the latter would really like this, but Nude Girl fans would recognise the same feeling in this as there is in some of the quieter moments of the Nude Girl’s songs. Perhaps the most attractive thing for those fans is the half whispered vocals which give the song a slightly disturbing edge. ‘Lazy Life’ was a simple pop tune but, if one wanted to, one could almost imagine that this braai that Kobus! sings about is behind held at Hannibal Lecter’s house but the other guest don’t know what has been used to make the wors.

‘Kobus!’ certainly introduced us to a new sound which had some scratching their heads, some getting it and some just enjoying it. So lay back and enjoy a relaxed ‘Sondagmiddag’, but careful what you eat.

Where to find it:
Kobus! – Kobus! (2002), ENT Entertainment, CDENT001

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Bubblegum On My Boots – Springbok Nude Girls

Neanderthal 1 – Springbok Nude Girls

If, way back in 1995, you had heard about The Springbok Nude Girls, but had never heard their music and, feeling lucky, you went out and bought their debut album, ‘Neanderthal 1’, then ‘Bubblegum On My Boots’ would have been the first SNG song that you heard as it opens the album. And it’s not a bad introduction to the band, although you may have been a little fooled at first by the rather melodic and mellow intro with its coolly plucked guitar while somewhere in the distance a muted trumpet calls out to you.

Then along comes Arno Carstens vocals and you begin to wonder. There is something a little sinister about them, something a little otherworldy. But before you have had much chance to get unsettled, the Neanderthal is let loose, introduced by a ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’-ish guitar snippet before the primal thumping beat assaults you and Arno whoops and shrieks like and man out with his club, trying to bash himself some dinner.

There is something chaotic and yet controlled about this song as it swings between the quieter, warm moments and the grungy thrash out. Having heard this, you were either seduced by these Nude Girls or you hated them. Or it even may have left you feeling a bit confused. However, those who were seduced were numerous and this track kick started one of the biggest stories in South African music in the nineties. When it came to making interesting and invigorating rock, Arno and the boys certainly knew what they were doing and with ‘Bubblegum On My Boots’ they really gave it some stick.

Where to find it:
Neaderthal 1 – Springbok Nude Girls, Bluegum Records (1995), CDSNG1

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Shot – Springbok Nude Girls

Springbok Nude Girls

The Springbok Nude Girls’ ‘Shot’ had the honour of being one of the 20 songs to feature on the very first South African Rock Digest charts which first appeared on 30 July 2000. It sat at 11 that week and then dropped off the chart the following week, so its run on that particular chart was short lived. However, as we all know, chart performance does not necessarily reflect how good a song is. Some great songs never made the Springbok top 20 (Bright Blue’s ‘Weeping’ for example), while some dreadful songs spent weeks at number 1 (The Klaxon’s ‘Clap Clap Sound).

‘Shot’ is a fast-paced rocker with Arno Carstens’ voice soaring over racing drums and rushing guitars in a song that threatens to lose control, but just manages to hold it together in an edgy James Bond-eqsue helter skelter chase down winding mountain roads. But like the James Bond car chase, there is never a loss of the suave swagger.

‘Shot’ appeared on the Nude Girls’ 2000 album ‘Surpass The Powers’ and it just about does what the album title says it should. It’s a powerful tack but does it surpass the power of some of their previous offerings? Well, I’ll leave that for you to debate amongst yourselves, but it is certainly up there in terms of power-rock offerings from a band that certainly surpassed most other SA bands not only of that era, but perhaps of all time.

Where to find it:
The Fat Lady Sings – Springbok Nude Girls (2001), Epic, CDEPC8190
Surpass The Powers – Springbok Nude Girls (2000), Epic, CDEPC8105

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