The Beat Surrender

A few articles back I declared Interpol as my favourite band of all time. I stick by that whole heartedly as I ruddy love em. But the title of most important band in my life- well that might go to a surprise choice for someone who has essentially been an indie kid for 99% of his life (the 1% was a rock phase but I don’t like to talk about it- oh go on then…I loved Pantera and Metallica so there!

First of all what do I mean by important? Well I mean a band that at certain crucial times has formed a bit of a soundtrack to your life and when you think of that period you instantly think of a song they may have released at the time or they may have had a tune that was pertinent to a particular situation. That band for me is a bunch of chaps often affiliated with 80’s electro synth based music, the mighty Depeche Mode.

Frighteningly there may be some people reading this who say who are Depeche Mode and I can imagine if you are 21 or under that is a pretty valid question- but I really hope those people are in a vast minority. Depeche Mode first stormed the charts (honestly you could storm the charts back then rather than easily limp in at number 1) in the very early 80’s with songs that, albeit sound dated, have stood the test of time as far as affection from their audiences go. Everything Counts and Stripped are songs that you will have heard but you just can’t place- I don’t think that is a particularly unfair appraisal of Depeche Modes career as a whole to be honest and I don’t think they would mind that one jot.

However it was the late 80’s when they really captured my imagination. I was in musical ecstasy at the time with the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and the whole Madchester movement in its pomp.
However it was the repetitive bass twang and instantly hummable Personal Jesus that I played most on my knackered old cassette player at the time. It was one of those songs that was a true original- take note Marilyn Manson and do not attempt to cover class again.

From that point on I decided I wanted to keep out an eye for the Mode and I was glad I did as their next single remains in my Top 10 of all time. Enjoy the Silence is not only a philosophy of mine but it was a damn fine record too which combined some indie ethics with an undertone of early nineties dance- it also had the greatest video ever made with lead singer Dave Gahan traipsing over hills, mountains and beaches carrying a deck chair dressed like a king. Bizarre- yes, Iconic, for me – definitely.

These songs came from their seminal album “Violater” and were later followed by another couple of belters “World In My Eyes” and “Policy of Truth” which assaulted the charts too. It was a cracking album and critically acclaimed and deservedly so. Depeche Mode were arguably at their most mainstream at this point.

Over the next few years Depeche Mode realeased a lot of solid songs without quite capturing my imaginiation in exactly the same way, “Walking In My Shoes” with its dramatic beginning possibly coming closest.
They then disappeared for a few years. When they returned in 1997 I realised why they had disappeared- through living the rock and role lifestyle Dave Gahan had nearly killed himself (he apparently actually did die for 2 mins in hospital).

The comeback album “Ultra” was his and the bands resurrection- literally if you look at the album sleeve as he has that many tattoos with religious connotations he could be in Cape Fear. However the album was dirty, filthy, it growled at you and in equal amounts it was beautiful.

“Barrel of a Gun” was the comeback single and it screamed pain at you. I was in my last year at Uni having various issues…I felt that pain in my own way!. Now whereas my pain was probably very different to Mr Gahan’s I imagine so is teen emo’s pain in comparison to the suffering of millionaires My Chemical Romance but there you go.

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