Nips: ain't that a Shane? Source: unknown Date: ?? 1980 Author: Paulo Hewitt Photo: by Janette Beckman. Caption: "Shane" "ROCK 'n' roll is just a load of boring old rubbish. The people who play it think it's so fucking important and it's not, it doesn't mean fuck-all." It must mean something to you. "Doesn't. It used to, but I'm sick to death of it now" Why? "Because I just hate this prevalent attitude of bands these days who say, 'Oh, we're just a good pop band, let the kids have fun, let's all be happy and sing a happy song.' Well, that's got nothing to do with anybody's life. It's got nothing to do with my life, and I'm not going to sing some happy song for people to escape to. It's like watching television, that's not what rock's meant to be about, right? That's why I'm sick of it." And it looked so easy. The Nips, formerly the Nipple Erectors, have been on the fringes of what can loosely be termed the "rock scene" for some three years now. In that period they've lost four drummers, released three singles and caused some minor interest, if only for the exploits of Shane, their singer, who purportedly had half of his ear bitten off at an early L.C.A. Clash gig. Little did I realise, when I saw the gruesome evidence in a music paper three years ago, that the same guy would be singing on one of '79's finest singles, the charming "Gabrielle", with its irresistible "Gab, Gab, Gab, Gabrielle" hook-line and blatant "Louie Louie" riff. Even Capital's Roger Scott could be heard praising its merits on prime-time airwave, while Paul Weller recently named it as his No. 1 single of all time in Smash Hits. SHANE, however, isn't so enamoured, calling his own record "a cynical move to dupe dumb Americans into buying it because all they like is dumb, stupid love-songs, you know? So, we thought everybody else is making money out of dumb, stupid, love-songs, so why shouldn't we?" Don't believe him. The real reason for his venom is that the song, with all its accompanying critical praise, may well turn out to be something of an albatross. Shane: "The point is that we recorded 'Gabrielle' nine months ago, which is like a long time, right? Records haven't got anything to do with what you really want to be on them anyway - until you get a certain amount of control. You start off, you don't know what it's all about, somebody says, 'Make a record', which doesn't come out like you want it to, but people immediately assume that's what you're all about and then you make another record. "In the meantime you've changed, so the record sounds different, it's not in the same bag as your first one was, and then the next one isn't in the same bag as the others, while all the time there are circumstances outside of your control." Such as? "Being rushed into a studio with a load of songs and told to do a single. Even in our situation, with an independent record label where we can work on a friendly basis, it's still like, 'Ah, that's the hit, lads, let's put out the one that sounds the most commercial'." Shane's voice is full of disgust at such blatent but necessary (especially for an independent company such as Soho Records, the Nips' label) manoeuvres. "Anyway, I don't really want to record again just yet, because for a start we want to produce ourselves, and also we want to get the direction sorted out." THIS last statement about direction inevitably leads me into questions concerning what the Nips are really about. Before "Gabrielle", two other Nips songs had surfaced as singles. "King Of The Bop" has a distinct rockabilly feel, at a time when every other band seemed incapable of seeing no further than the last Clash record, while "All The Time In The World" reverted to straightforward, down-the-line R&B. Shane: "We're uncategorisable. We're not part of anything. We just want to do something that doesn't owe anything to anyone, that's all we're trying to do. All these categories are either punk revival, mod revival, ska revival, which have nothing to with now. And I don't like any of it." Whereas the rest of the band - Shanne the bassist, Fritz the guitarist and Mark the drummer - are as affable as possible, Shane is a public ball of confusion. On stage you can see it as he smiles coyly at the applause one minute and then sneers the next, as if disgusted that anybody could be fool enough actually to like his band. Though he'll tell you that rock is only "for old people" (that means anyone over 20), Shane still passionately believes in its promises and uses. Why else would he get so worked up? Whether he knows it or not, because he's constantly shooting for the stars, accepting no compromises and always remaining his own man, he's giving us some fine music, however limited it sounds, and food for thought. "The reason, the only reason for creating something original is having a fucking reason to be alive!" Are you? - PAULO HEWITT.