Entomology, the first North American release for Edinburgh funky post-punks Josef K, not only compiles the band's original singles and selections from the aborted debut album, Sorry For Laughing, and the debut album, Only Fun In Town, but exhibits the true essence of a band playing music for fun and artistic ideals, rather than commercial appeal. Josef K only lasted as long as the band members, Paul Haig, Malcolm Ross, David Weddell, and Ronnie Torrance, had their fun fusing funky rhythms, clipped guitar, and the occasional well placed synth. Once they began to drift apart, stopped socializing, and the once "frenzied and boisterous" live shows lost their sparkle they knew it was time to split. As Haig puts it, "we were not a band to carry around to make bucks." Indeed, they were nothing close to a commercial success with 30,000 total sold copies of their debut album, but they were an iconoclast for a whole new generation of young talent from the C-86 movement to the current post-punk scene who learned to play music for fun, no matter how long the band would last. JK was not around much longer than two years, but their ideal endures.
JK began in Edinburgh as the school mates' affinity for the American punk stylings of Talking Heads and Television inspired them to rejuvenate a scene mired by a hangover of destructive UK punk. The name, taken from Franz Kafka's The Trial, was seen by some as pretentious and a little too intelligent for a rock 'n' roll band, but as Haig points out, "Franz Kafka's Josef K didn't really fit in the confines of society, and we, outsiders in our music scene, felt that this character accurately described the band." Even Haig's songwriting emphasizes this image in JK's second single, "It's Kinda Funny": "You may be done, but the passage of time can change anything like the feelings we find/So I'll disappear in the cracks in the wall/And the memories I leave will be nothing at all." One of Haig's most introspective songs, "It's Kinda Funny" explores the fragility of existence and the recognition that everyone may not remembered. A blunt reality, but one which JK had to bear as they fell into obscurity.
The Postcard era of Scots Josef K, Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, and Australians The Go-Betweens was a time when music was carefree, and was about more than success and acclaim. JK above all epitomizes this ideal of music for the sake of music. They had an ideal to create new and interesting music, and have fun doing it. It was their mantra, and they were steadfast. The abortion of the original debut album emphasizes the band's desire to sound real and different. Haig remembers hearing the original mastering of Sorry For Laughing and feeling that its "polished and slick" tone poorly represented the "frenzied and boisterous" sound that personified JK's image. Listen to the single version of "Sorry For Laughing" on Entomology and then, if you can, the album mastering of the song and you will hear the difference. Only Fun In Town, however, strove for an opposite approach. Haig wanted a more true representation of the band; one that reflected the "Fun 'n' Frenzy" (the new rock 'n' roll) of the band. He wanted a more live sound, not a fine tuned, slick studio recording, to reflect the excitement of the band.
JK only lasted a short time, but the creativity of the band members did not. Malcolm Ross went on to play guitar on Orange Juice's proper debut You Can't Hide Your Love Forever and then joined David Weddell in Nick Currie's Happy Family. Haig, however, went on to a much different career, experimenting with synthesizer on the Alan Rankine produced ambient electronica album The Warp of Pure Funand with electronic soundscapes in the Cinematique trilogy. Haig especially enjoys the artistic license to experiment with his eclectic interests, as he continues his career with the upcoming solo album, Electronic Audience, and new band, The Cathode Ray. JK's imprint on subsequent generations makes it more than just an influential band, but an ideal about how and why music should be played. Josef K above all epitomizes that it's not how long the band is together, but what it does while together that matters most.
~ Wes Barker
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http://www.josefk.net
http://www.dominorecordco.us
JOSEF K's ENTOMOLOGY album is out now on Domino Records.
Buy Album from CD Universe
