Looking back at his time in These Animal Men, Julian
Hewings – then trading under the inviting-ridicule nickname, Hooligan –
claims the band decided early on their venture wasn’t to become a business or a
career but would be an “artistic moment to express our defence of rock and roll
and the ordinary kid”. There might be some revisionism going on there but
there’s no denying his assertion that they “were doomed but we just fucking
went out and blazed it.”
Flawed Is Beautiful
is a film by Adam Foley and tells the story of These Animal Men and S*M*A*S*H;
two bands the weekly music press dubbed leaders of 1994’s genre-of-the-moment,
New Wave of the New Wave. Ultimately NWOTNW didn’t leave much of an impression
but it did – for good or bad – do much of the spadework for Brit Pop to
flourish the following year. Through archive footage and interviews with band
members, journalists and music biz people two quite separate stories emerge.
These Animal Men wanted to exist in a world where rock ‘n’
roll was king. Three minute blasts of adrenaline-driven pop, dressing up, wearing eyeliner, dying your hair, making a noise, star-jumping
on stage, pulling poses practiced in the mirror in front of an audience, getting
under people’s skin, taking cheap drugs and having huge heaps of fun; where
being in a band was the best possible thing one could wish for and being on Top of the Pops the ultimate
achievement. They did it. They lived it and revelled in it. “If someone was
gonna do something it had to be someone ordinary, and pathetic, and snidey, and
a bit of a prick. And that was me,” says Hewings, his pride obvious. Hewings/Hooligan
is the star of this film with his interview segments capturing all that is
wonderful about being in a band, balanced with an underlying appreciation of
the ridiculousness and transitory nature of the beast.
They courted controversy from the start which is always a
double-edged sword; gets attention but invites suspicion which is inevitably
impossible to shake. If the lyrics, title and spelling of debut single ‘Speeed
King’ weren’t enough, they somehow managed to persuade Virgin Records to throw
in a These Animal Men branded (empty) wrap of speed with each copy and have a
sleeve depicting a huge bowl of (fake) amphetamines with four straws. And if
that wasn’t enough, attempt to play live in schools around the country, with
obvious results. To this day, it is a constant source of embarrassment and
anxiety for bassist Patrick Murray but sums up the band in one episode.
While These Animal Men had a swashbuckling attitude,
blurring punk rock with modish glamour (incidentally, ‘This Is The Sound of Youth’ is
the best Mod Revival sounding record ever made, amalgamating Secret Affair and
The Chords into something greater than the sum of its parts) and an endless
stream of quotable soundbites looking and sounding like a bunch of cut-price
Richey Manics, S*M*A*S*H were darker, angrier and grubbier. The Men had style
but arguably S*M*A*S*H had more substance. Drummer Rob Hague comes across as a
salt of the earth kinda geezer but their story involves suicide and smack
addiction, political benefit gigs, awkward punctuation, singles called ‘LadyLoveYourCunt’ and ‘(I
Want To) Kill Somebody’ with lyrics about murdering members of the tory
government and a video showing John Major having his cock bitten off. That last
achievement is without doubt impressive but which band would you sooner have
been in? Very little about their tale sounds like much fun.
Flawed But
Beautiful is a labour of love for Adam Foley and even if you’re unfamiliar with
the bands – or not particular a fan of either – a terrific film capturing
dreams, youthful spirit, energy, excitement and white-hot rock and roll. It didn't last long but they did it. More should try it.
Flawed Is Beautiful is out now on DVD.
