Calling all fans of classic U.K. post-punk and John Peel-approved, left-of-center pop!
One of our favorite DC-based monthly dj nights, We Fought the Big One, is presenting a special live show tonight at CD Cellar in Arlington with legendary U.K. post-punk iconoclast Jowe Head from Swell Maps/TV Personalities!
Early incarnations of Swell Maps, which centered around brothers Nikki Sudden (guitar/vocals) and Epic Soundtracks (drums/piano), existed as early as 1972 (!!!) with Jowe Head joining the band just before the U.K. punk revolution took hold.
The band’s skewed and unabashedly chaotic approach to garage-punk resulted in two classic albums and a string of incendiary singles that were a big influence on Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., Big Black, and the Jesus and Mary Chain.
Even Blur were fans. Damon Albarn has never been shy about professing his love of Swell Maps. Is it just coincidence that “Song 2,” aka the “Woo-hoo!” song, sounds A LOT like the Jowe Head-penned Swell Maps number “Harmony in Your Bathroom”?
And Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore put pen to paper to express his admiration of the band when he wrote liner notes for the Swell Maps 1989 Mute Records compilation, Collision Time Revisited. Listen to the 1 min 15 second garage-punk scorcher “Vertical Slum” (written by Jowe Head) and it’s easy to see why Thurston said, “Swell Maps had a lot to do with my upbringing!”
And there’s also this fellow Kurt Cobain you may have heard of. Cobain was a fan of both Swell Maps and TV Personalities. He handpicked the TVPs to open for Nirvana when they played London in the early ’90s.
And when Jowe played with the TVPs at Wetlands in 1993, there was Kurt in the audience! Check out the octave-leaping, Can-inspired “Full Moon in My Pocket” (one of Jowe’s finest compositions for Swell Maps).
For a little more history on Swell Maps and the early days of the U.K. punk scene, check out this charming HD interview clip with Jowe and We Fought the Big One DJ Rick Taylor and multi-instrumentalist John Howard (who plays in Jowe’s band):
For tonight’s show, Jowe will be backed by The Fleeting Glimpses, consisting of DC underground music veterans Martha Hamilton (The Plums/Nice Breeze) on bass; John Howard (The Plums/Nice Breeze) on drums; and John Masters (Harness Flux/America Hearts) on guitar. Expect an incendiary mix of Swell Maps favorites and Jowe’s solo material!
Supporting Jowe will be Arlington’s finest garage-noise mavericks Foul Swoops and punk-fuzz wunderkind Luke Reddick (Dudes/Post Nasal Drip). DJ Paul Krolian (Baltimore Pop Fest) will be spinning choice DIY nuggets before the show and in-between band sets.
TONIGHT! Thursday, April 17
We Fought the Big One presents
Jowe Head and the Fleeting Glimpses
Foul Swoops
Luke Reddick
+ DJ Paul Krolian
