Have the Arctic Monkeys Been Listening to Richard Hawley?
That’s rhetorical. The answer, presumably, is yes. Richard Hawley is an odd man to be slowly turning into an indie hero, but it appears that this is just what he is doing.
Spells playing guitar with The Longpigs and Pulp add indie heft to his past, but it is definitely as a songwriter that he has slowly but surely made a pretty significant mark on the music world. Mrs. Toad spends a lot of time ferreting about on the Guardian website and she assures me that the Graun writers froth over the man with an enthusiasm bordering on indecency. Micah P. Hinson covered one of his songs on his last UK tour, which I thought was really odd for a tortured Texan troubadour. How on earth had he come across Richard Hawley?
Then here I was listening to an Arctic Monkeys song which popped up on my randomiser and what do I hear but tones of Richard Hawley’s unmistakable 50s guitar sound. The Sheffield scene is buzzing at the moment, with the likes of The Long Blondes, The Arctics and Milburn in recent years all adding to the rock solid cred of legends like The Wedding Present and Pulp. That said, although the indie rock scene is well represented, I was considering doing a bit of a post on the likes of Hawley and the brilliant Monkey Swallows the Universe to highlight the slightly alternative side to this boom in Steel City music. Wrongly, it appears, I got the impression that everyone thought Sheffield was rock and that these more interesting groups were not quite being given their due.
It appears I was a little out with that assumption and, rather wonderfully, there seems to be a growing interest in genuinely eccentric music that makes a real effort to follow its own course. Music that isn’t railroaded into the classic indie 3-4 minute guitar track with as good a hook and as catchy a chorus as you can write. Not that I don’t enjoy a lot of the radio fodder, but it is really nice to see The Arctic Monkeys paying homage to Hawley and not vice versa and reflects well on both bands. Viva iconoclasm!
Arctic Monkeys – The Bakery
Richard Hawley – Just Like the Rain
Monkey Swallows the Universe – Sheffield Shanty
Haven’t heard that Monkeys song before – it’s a corker. Ii’s a that makes that sound isn’t it?
Erm. Shall I try again? It’s a Gretsch guitar that makes that sound isn’t it???
Given that Roy Orbison played one I think that’s very likely, but I honestly am not all that technically knowledgeable.
Moi non plus.
Gosh, you speak Italian too. A real Renaissance Man!
Sorry to be pedantic but the Wedding Present were from Leeds
And of course: Sheffield was the home to Human League and FON records – so it has a history of pop and dance music rather than rock?
So they were. How on earth did I end up thinking otherwise then? Maybe because the chap who introduced me to them is from Sheffield and was trying to claim them, and maybe just because I’m a bloody idiot.
A history of pop and dance indeed, but at the moment it seems to be known very much for indie rock – as far as I can tell anyway. I just don’t listen to enough dance, or even pop really, to know what’s going on anywhere in that particular scene.
I think you have the answer after listening to Teddy Picker single… “Bad Woman” featuring… (who?) Richard Hawley
It’s a mutual appreciation club between Hawley and the Monkeys. He appears on a Teddy Picker b-side and also performed with them at the Manchester Apollo in 2007. He and Alex did a joint interview for the Guardian, if I’m not mistaken.