The Fallen Leaves + The Cathode Ray + Sound Reaction @ The Westgarth, Middlesbrough
THE FALLEN LEAVES
Their long-held belief that a good idea played badly is better than a bad idea played well, spurred them into action. "That's right", they confirm.
From defining Subway Sect to first & last word in garage punk Rob Symmons is back with The Fallen Leaves. London’s very own group THE FALLEN LEAVES was formed in 2004 by Rob Green (Rob built himself a reputation singing at Bernie Rhodes’ “Club Left” and by performing with Vic Godard’s Subway Sect, notably supporting Siouxsie & The Banshees at the Music Machine in ’80), and by original ’76-’78 Subway Sect guitarist/founding member Rob Symmons whose distinctive discordant, stinging guitar sound was one of the defining features of the original Subway Sect which he formed with best friend Godard.
Memorably Subway Sect’s debut gig was at the now historic “100 Club Punk Rock Festival” in Sept ‘76 where they kicked off the first night, followed by their heroes the Sex Pistols, and The Clash. Subway Sect turned out to be one of the most original and innovative bands to emerge from the festival. Their first single “Nobody’s Scared” was released in Mar ’78, but unfortunately for Symmons by the time second single “Ambition” came out (Dec ’78) Bernie Rhodes (manager of both Subway Sect and The Clash) had persuaded Vic Godard to sack the rest of band, and then somehow lost the band’s original album recordings. “Ambition” went straight to the top of the indie charts selling 20,000 copies in a week and stayed there for nine weeks. Symmons’ amazingly didn’t play guitar again until he and long time friend Green formed The Fallen Leaves. Symmons & Green share a love of 60’s garage music, and ever-so stylish vintage suits.
THE FALLEN LEAVES’ recordings are alive, heated and humming - preferring as they do to use vintage valve amps & mics, and recording live with no overdubs and minimal technology. They hark back to DIY punk days and concentrate on delivering impressive songs and performances.
“Rob Symmons, The Fallen Leaves guitarist looks impossibly sharp. Thirty years ago he held a Fender Jaguar high on his chest and helped Subway Sect become one of the few groups from the Punk era to make good on the promise of artistically challenging the Rock hegemony. Now, after so long away from the stage, he again wields his guitar like Jimmy Cagney shooting off his Tommy Gun. He’s mesmerising; particularly so since the sound he creates is just as it once was; a confrontational cacophony of clashing rock’n’roll destroyed and reassembled with strange and awkward angles. The same, but different.” Plan B
The Fallen Leaves hatred of one another is intense. But it is out of this creative conflict that pop music played with passion rather than precision is born.
