Eve Libertine & Eva Leblanc – Live at the Horse Hospital
(Caliban Sounds)
CD
Out 14 Nov
Caliban Sounds through One Little Independent release a recording of Crass singer Eve Libertine and Chilean guitarist Eve Leblanc during a Crass installation.
In April 2024, Gee Vaucher’s original artwork, along with backdrops and other Crass artifacts were displayed at The Horse Hospital in London, an arts space that champions outsider art – very punk rock! Alongside the gallery installation, there were screenings, Q&A sessions and performances. Among them, Eve Libertine performed songs with experimental Chilean guitarist Eva Leblanc. According to the press release, this album is “a showcase of how it should be. Gloriously void of rock’n’roll pretensions and personality hype, it stands as a rousing call for freedom. Listen at your own peril!”. I’m not a fan of rock’n’roll pretensions, but you can’t deny the value of a good tune. Discuss.
Eve Libertine’s voice, when not deftly impersonating Maggie Thatcher, was strident and confrontational, making the album Penis Envy one of Crass’ finest moments. It was not just style and posture, the lyrics were confronting a society based around gender stereotypes and sexism, alienation and sexualisation. The haunting What The Fuck and eviscerating Bata Motel were highlights of that album and are among the 9 tracks presented here. Others you may have heard include Savage Utopia by Crass Agenda, I Too by Corpus Mei (the Penny Rimbaud and Youth collaboration) and Rocky Eyes from the Crass album Yes Sir I Will. These are not “must have” versions of those songs, unless you are a Crass completist or have a penchant for avant garde.
Crass as a record label, and Penny Rimbaud in particular, have always played around with avant garde sounds and I think this needs to be heard with that in mind. It will not be to everyone’s liking. If you want to hear a close rendition of Crass as they were, then Steve Ignorant Band are doing a fine job. If you are looking for the logical conclusion of the evolution of a band that split in 1984, then perhaps this is it.
I’ll confess I’ll not be coming back to this, but far be it from me to tell you how you will feel when you hear it. Take a listen to the single Rocky Eyes and make your own mind up. There is no musical authority but yourself.
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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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