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Sunday 1st June 2008

Anyone who missed The Observer click here to read the full article

Mark Kermode: skiffle is the greatest genre

The broadcaster, critic and musician on his enduring love and enthusiasm for an often overlooked and maligned musical form

May 30, 2008 10:00 AM

The Dodge Brothers at The Fly near Tottenham Court Road. Photograph: Alicia Canter

To many people, particularly in the UK, the word 'skiffle' is something of a joke, conjuring up images of Lonnie Donegan's gor-blimey-trousered old man being a dustman, and chewing gum losing its flavour on the bestpost overnight.

Yet for the last 20 years I've been proudly flying the flag for this most unfashionable form of music, championing its anti-elitist ethos, and attempting to reclaim it as the true predecessor of punk. For two decades I've plied my trade in bands like The Railtown Bottlers and The Dodge Brothers, from the streets of Edinburgh to the concert halls of London, playing cat-gut slap bass to washboard accompaniment with raucous results.

To me, skiffle is the greatest and most enduring of all musical genres. And I am not alone in this belief - no lesser musical deity than the great Billy Bragg himself concurs wholeheartedly about the timeless appeal of skiffle, of which he says; "It's viral - three chords and the truth!"

Far from being a mere fleeting British novelty, the roots of skiffle date back to turn-of-the-century jug and string band traditions of the American South. Its galvanising 'you hum it I'll play it' ethos has echoed throughout twentieth century popular music, encouraging the likes of Jimmy Page and Lennon and McCartney to pick up guitars and play, and giving birth to modern rock and roll.

You can read about my washboard-based adventures in this most indestructible musical genre in Observer Review this Sunday.

Anyone who missed The Observer click here to read the full article

The Dodge Brothers play The Borderline in London on Friday 3rd October 2008. Click here for tickets.

SPRING 2007 EDITION NO 4   Mark Kermode Interview

The Dodge Brothers: Aly, Mike & Mark

Dr Mark Kermode will be known to most of you as the refreshingly acerbic yet consistently correct film critic. A regular on Friday afternoons Radio 5 Live (Simon Mayo Show) and regular contributor to the BBC’s Culture Show, Mark is also the unparalleled authority on cult horror movie The Exorcist. His talents however are not restricted to cinematic counsel, he plays bass in rockabilly trio The Dodge Brothers supporting vocalist Mike and guitarist Aly.

First of all how are you?

Still in mourning for the death of Elvis, but otherwise chipper, thanks for asking.

The Dodge Brothers are described as a rockabilly/blues band. Are you more heavily influenced by earlier performers like Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran or revivalist artists such as Bruce Springsteen?

I’ve never been a Springsteen fan, although I’m assured (by Simon Mayo) that the Seeger Sessions stuff is great. I’ll take his word for it. My own background is in skiffle – I used to play in the Railtown Bottlers with a washboard player named Alison Armstrong-Lee, and we became quite militant about reclaiming the genre’s good name. The Dodge Brothers line-up is guitars, banjo, slap bass, harmonica – and no drums, which is essentially a hillbilly/skiffle set-up. The music we play definitely leans toward rockabilly, but the choice of material is somewhat older (our set includes Washboard Sam’s ‘Who Pumped the Wind in My Doughnut’, which remains one of the greatest - and rudest - songs ever written). I think the best way of describing what we do is to say that we play songs about transport and homicide – with occasional episodes of drunkenness.

Rockabilly isn't a typically British music genre. Does this help or hinder the band when you try and attract an audience?

Rockabilly not typically British? What about The Polecats? Although Tim Polecat did once admit to me that “actually, we’re just a glam-rock band with a double bass.” And our frontman, Mike, is a yank from Alabama. So maybe you have a point. But it’s never been a problem.

The Dodge Brothers are playing the Larmer Tree Festival near Salisbury, there is quite an impressive line-up of bands featuring. Will you and the rest of the band be attending any of the other gigs?

I haven’t seen the rest of the line-up yet, but the Larmer Tree’s always great value – everything from bouncy blues bands to esoteric Mongolian nose-flute noodling. Although I’ll probably end up spending most of my spare time in the kids’ clay crafts and face-painting tents, for obvious reasons.

It was rumoured Morrissey was offered a role in The History Boys, great musician but he had the sense to admit he couldn't act. Bowie, Sting, Tom Waits should they have had the same brainwave? Can a singer ever be a truly decent actor?

Actually, Tom Waits is pretty good on screen; think of Ironweed, or Down by Law, or Shortcuts for that matter. Sting is total pants in everything, even Quadrophenia, but then I can’t stand his music either – droning, self important dirge. As for Bowie – it’s all to do with the right role. He was alien androgyne Thomas Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth, but he clearly wasn’t Serbian physicist Nikolai Tessla in The Prestige. It could also be argued that Hazel O’Connor was a better actor than singer, although her pop career was much more successful than her film career.  And Tommy Steele was great on stage and film. So yes, a singer CAN be a truly decent actor … just not that often.

Finally, we run an article on 'crap films with good soundtracks' in every edition. Can you think of any films so excruciatingly poor the only endearing aspect is the music?

Exorcist II: The Heretic. Clearly the worst film ever made – a totally irredeemable pile of stinking celluloid donkey droppings with NOTHING to be said in its favour… EXCEPT that the mad-as-nuts Ennio Morricone soundtrack is actually pretty terrific. I’ve got a battered old vinyl copy of the LP, but it was recently reissued on CD, and still stands up as a great slice of sub-giallo psychedelic demonic weirdness. If you liked the Vampyros Lesbos Sexadelic Dance Party CD (and let’s face it, who doesn’t) then you’ll love this.

The Platform Tavern, Southampton

This gig was a rare appearance of The Dodge Brothers in Southampton, one of few outside Lymington, away from their residency and core fanbase at the Thomas Tripp. And the intimate Platform Tavern on Southampton's Quayside rose to the occasion, filled by an incredibly receptive audience, who at points even flowed onto the pavement outside.

The Dodge Brothers are lead vocalist and guitar/banjo player Mike, double bass and backing vocals man Mark and second guitarist Aly — and surprisingly enough for a rockabilly group so termed, they aren't technically brothers, but appear to borrow their monicker from the siblings who gave birth (and their family name) to one of the great American motor cars. Interesting to some will be the fact that the bassist is infamous film critic and television presenter Mark Kermode, and interesting to others (perhaps most specifically the students in the audience) is that front man is Mike Hammond, a film academic from the local University.

"The band encompass the traditional stylistic range and hybrids of folk musics like blues, country and bluegrass."

The gig flyer stated that the band play "authentic fifties rockabilly", which despite one connotation suggesting that the band have been going a fair while now appears here to identify that the songs performed are old rockabilly classics (although it is indeed possible that the performers are authentic fifties children). This description doesn't do justice to the full range of the group's repertoire, however, as though the rockabilly part is correct — the band encompass the traditional stylistic range and hybrids of folk musics like blues, country and bluegrass — and all the songs were probably played in the fifties, several had origins in previous decades, dating from the early thirties.

Having a desire to steer clear of obvious favourites (ignoring a portion of the crowd's chants for Johnny Cash numbers) The Dodge Brothers showcased their wide knowledge of the music of early to mid twentieth-century America which grew into rock'n'roll proper in the fifties. They did play tunes that some would know though — Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene", Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and other classics like "Stagger Lee" and "Jack O Diamonds". Many of the songs sound recognisable though, due to both the nature of folk music and the 'covering' of songs and adaptations of traditionals etc alongside the obvious style and sound that rockabilly has. The band entertained the audience with a wealth of material, performing about twenty-five songs spread over two sets including "Mystery Train", "Slow Down", "Number Nine", "Freight Train Boogie", "Wild Bill Jones" and "Oh Death".

"The live show retains much of the feel and the tones that give it that "authentic" rockabilly mood."

Although on record they can sound more modern, the live show retains much of the feel and the tones that give it that "authentic" rockabilly mood. With a percussionist joining the band for most of the second set the mood picked up even more and overall, the crowd packed into the small venue engaged with the music and created a great atmosphere to accompany the sounds. Without wanting to get carried away, it almost created that wholesome hootenanny you'd imagine similar folk gatherings including these songs in years previous would have been.

Philip Hoile, ZapBang Magazine 19-06-2006

SPRING 2007 EDITION NO 4 CD Review