Secret History of Rock. The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard by Roni Sarig
Authors: Roni Sarig
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of old organs, and this cool, edgy, clipped guitar sound, with beautiful female vocals soaring overtop. But the songs were really short and compact. From the first time I heard them it just absolutely made sense to me. It sounded like this perfect music in a small scale.
They were a small band with a small sound. And having existed for only three years – with only a single album to show for it – the Young Marble Giants barely registered a blip on the screen of pop music history. Somehow, though, they cast reverberations that are still heard today – in the simplicity of indie pop bands like Beat Happening , the evocative synths of Magnetic Fields, the beat minimalism of Luscious Jackson, and the spare folk of Frente! and Billy Bragg.
The Young Marble Giants formed in 1978, just as Britain’s indie punk movement had spread across the U.K. and reached their remote hometown of Cardiff, Wales. Empowered by the “do-it-yourself” ideas of post-punkers like Swell Maps and Desperate Bicycles, the trio of two brothers and their female friend helped put together a local music compilation, Is the War over Yet? , which featured two of their songs. One listen to the curvy melody of the Young Marble Giants’ Searching for Mr. Right , though, and it was clear: They may have been D-I-Y, but they were closer to pop than punk. While they were miles away from the Bee Gees or anything else on the pop charts in 1979, they somehow possessed all the essential elements of pop: a steady and simple rhythm, a pure and beautiful melody. And like all the best pop, the Young Marble Giants’ music was easy to understand, right away. The elements were clearly defined and stripped to their bare essentials: Stuart Moxham’s muted guitar stabs or warbly organ, Philip Moxham’s tuneful bass, Alison Station’s lilting voice, and, at times, a pulsating electronic beat.
Tracy Thorn, Everything but the Girl:
[The Marine Girls, Thorn’s first band] didn’t know anyone who could play drums... so we decided to take our cue from the young Marble Giants and play minimalist quiet music. Colossal Youth was our favorite record. [from EBTG website]
Colossal Youth , the group’s 1980 debut, sounded like nothing else before it. A hushed, ghostly shell of a record on the surface, it proved surprisingly deep on closer inspection. While remaining coolly restrained and consistent, the album covered a wide enough range that no songs sounded the same: from playful and fluid ( Colossal Youth ) to intense and abrupt ( Include Me out ), and from melancholic ( Salad Days ) to menacing ( Credit in the Straight World , which was later covered by Hole). All 15 songs (written mostly by Stuart) are memorable, though none conformed in any way to accepted formulas.
Dean Wareham, Luna:
We used to do Final Day in Galaxie 500 [Wareham’& first band]. Colossal Youth is a unique and special record, and there’s never been anything like it. The sounds, the instrumentation. It was really spare and quiet, but really powerful. Being in a trio, it showed you could get away with sparseness.
Colossal Youth was not to have a follow-up. The Giants made the U.K.’s indie charts in 1981 with an instrumental EP called Testcard , but amicably disbanded that year, before another record was ever produced. Following the Giants’ break-up, Stuart and Philip Moxham formed the Gist, which released one album in 1983. Sporadically, Stuart also produced bands such as Beat Happening and the Marine Girls (which featured Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl). For most of the ‘80s, though, Stuart worked as an animator, contributing to films including Who Killed Roger Rabbit? In the ‘90s, Stuart, Philip, and a third Moxham brother formed the Original Artists and released three albums (the first containing Stuart’s duet with Alison of the Giants). A 1995 Stuart Moxham solo album featured acoustic guitar versions of older material, including some from Colossal Youth .
Alison Station
They were a small band with a small sound. And having existed for only three years – with only a single album to show for it – the Young Marble Giants barely registered a blip on the screen of pop music history. Somehow, though, they cast reverberations that are still heard today – in the simplicity of indie pop bands like Beat Happening , the evocative synths of Magnetic Fields, the beat minimalism of Luscious Jackson, and the spare folk of Frente! and Billy Bragg.
The Young Marble Giants formed in 1978, just as Britain’s indie punk movement had spread across the U.K. and reached their remote hometown of Cardiff, Wales. Empowered by the “do-it-yourself” ideas of post-punkers like Swell Maps and Desperate Bicycles, the trio of two brothers and their female friend helped put together a local music compilation, Is the War over Yet? , which featured two of their songs. One listen to the curvy melody of the Young Marble Giants’ Searching for Mr. Right , though, and it was clear: They may have been D-I-Y, but they were closer to pop than punk. While they were miles away from the Bee Gees or anything else on the pop charts in 1979, they somehow possessed all the essential elements of pop: a steady and simple rhythm, a pure and beautiful melody. And like all the best pop, the Young Marble Giants’ music was easy to understand, right away. The elements were clearly defined and stripped to their bare essentials: Stuart Moxham’s muted guitar stabs or warbly organ, Philip Moxham’s tuneful bass, Alison Station’s lilting voice, and, at times, a pulsating electronic beat.
Tracy Thorn, Everything but the Girl:
[The Marine Girls, Thorn’s first band] didn’t know anyone who could play drums... so we decided to take our cue from the young Marble Giants and play minimalist quiet music. Colossal Youth was our favorite record. [from EBTG website]
Colossal Youth , the group’s 1980 debut, sounded like nothing else before it. A hushed, ghostly shell of a record on the surface, it proved surprisingly deep on closer inspection. While remaining coolly restrained and consistent, the album covered a wide enough range that no songs sounded the same: from playful and fluid ( Colossal Youth ) to intense and abrupt ( Include Me out ), and from melancholic ( Salad Days ) to menacing ( Credit in the Straight World , which was later covered by Hole). All 15 songs (written mostly by Stuart) are memorable, though none conformed in any way to accepted formulas.
Dean Wareham, Luna:
We used to do Final Day in Galaxie 500 [Wareham’& first band]. Colossal Youth is a unique and special record, and there’s never been anything like it. The sounds, the instrumentation. It was really spare and quiet, but really powerful. Being in a trio, it showed you could get away with sparseness.
Colossal Youth was not to have a follow-up. The Giants made the U.K.’s indie charts in 1981 with an instrumental EP called Testcard , but amicably disbanded that year, before another record was ever produced. Following the Giants’ break-up, Stuart and Philip Moxham formed the Gist, which released one album in 1983. Sporadically, Stuart also produced bands such as Beat Happening and the Marine Girls (which featured Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl). For most of the ‘80s, though, Stuart worked as an animator, contributing to films including Who Killed Roger Rabbit? In the ‘90s, Stuart, Philip, and a third Moxham brother formed the Original Artists and released three albums (the first containing Stuart’s duet with Alison of the Giants). A 1995 Stuart Moxham solo album featured acoustic guitar versions of older material, including some from Colossal Youth .
Alison Station
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