Apri il Web Player
![Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché [DVD] [2021]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91CgmHA6GOL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
There are two significant things that led me to this album; 'Dayglo': The Poly Styrene Story - as pieced together by her daughter Celeste Bell - and 'I Am A Cliche', the excellent film documentary centred around the eventful, yet all too short life of this remarkable person.
Shamefully, it's taken me ten years to take note of 'Generation Indigo', and I'm bloody well annoyed with myself for that. Because Poly and me, we go back a long way and she was a major touchstone for me during the halcyon days of punk. Oh, I don't claim to have known her or even spoken with her for that matter, although spiritually I feel we did. From those unforgettable claustrophobic X-Ray Spex gigs witnessed at my old West London stomping ground { The Red Cow, The Nashville, The Marquee } to the classic solitary album and plethora of classic 45's that spoke to me and soundtracked my life, Marion { aka Poly Styrene } Elliot left a life long impression on me. And I'm not alone; many of her contemporaries were full of respect for her: The Slits, The Raincoats, Chrissie Hynde, Pauline Black, and later Neneh Cherry to name but a few.
Ask Bikini Kill and Le Tigre's Kathleen Hanna who her biggest inspiration was and she won't say The Beatles or The Velvet Underground, she'll say Poly Styrene.
So the roots of Riot Grll it transpires, lie with Poly and X-Ray Spex; a lineage that leads right up to the present day through groups like the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Dream Wife and their ilk.
With the exception of cuts like 'Kitsch', 'L.U.V.' - complete with bursts of squally X-Ray sax - and the pounding 'Thrash City', little on 'Generation Indigo' harks back - musically at least - to Poly's punk heyday.
But lyrically she's astute and satirical as ever here, with songs such as 'Virtual Boyfriend' and 'Thrash City' wryly commentating on the plastic throwaway selfie culture society she foresaw way back in the 1970's.
It's highly unlikely that an 8 year old Greta Thunberg heard the environmentally friendly 'White Gold' back in 2011, but I'd like to think she did. In any case, here's Poly's melodic anthem just for you Greta, with no shortage of warnings concerning climate change and global warming.
Hats off to Youth for his considerable production skills on 'Generation Indigo', not to mention his input of versatile musicianship. Further mentions must also go out to the toasting skills of Brother Culture, who further electrifies the pulsating trip hop of the title track and the insanely catchy pop reggae of 'Colour Blind' and 'No Rockefeller'. And the sumptuous melodies that enhance those aforementioned tracks house some fine social commentary from Poly, as she boots racist bigotry, poverty, child exploitation and slavery into touch, name checking Winnie Mandela and Martin Luther King along her way.
The move by X-Ray Spex to a more tuneful, laid back sound on songs like 'Germ Free Adolescents' and 'Highly Inflammable' is revisited on 'Ghoulish', a sweet goth pop love song that would be a hit in any other universe and features ex-Slit Viv Albertine guesting on guitar.
Poly kicks off this album with the sprightly Hi- NRG of feel good track 'I Luv Ur Sneakers' and rounds it off with her minimalist ode to nature 'Electric Blue Monsoon'. The soaring optimism of the former is tempered by the meditative fashion of the latter, and - although one can only speculate whether or not it was deliberate - one scratch and she's gone....RIP Poly xxx.
Chi ha acquistato questo articolo ha acquistato anche
Pagina 1 di 1 RicominciaPagina 1 di 1
Le recensioni migliori da altri paesi
Kim the incorrigible
All Poly....No Filla.
Recensito nel Regno Unito il 15 aprile 2021
Egon Spengler
"Electroclash" alla Poly Styrene
Recensito in Germania il 12 febbraio 2012Amazon Customer
and I am so glad I finally got my hands on it
Recensito nel Regno Unito il 3 ottobre 2016