Warrior Soul
This psychotic art-rock quartet from New York is the brainchild of poetry-reading, one-time video DJ and L7 (the Detroit, rather than all-female Los Angeles version) drummer Kory Clarke. With the help of Pete McClanahan (bass), John Ricco (guitar) and Paul Ferguson (drums), LAST DECADE, DEAD CENTURY was released in 1990, with Clarke leading from the front with vocals and lyrics which took few prisoners: ‘At that time everybody was hooked on Hollywood and the whole vibe of '80s Republican morality. But all that lame ass shit had no content’. Influences as diverse as the Doors, Metallica, the Stooges and Joy Division were combined to produce a dark, intense, angst-ridden debut album. Lyrically it criticised the establishment's inability to solve contemporary social problems, with references to political and police corruption, the homeless and narcotics. Mark Evans took over as drummer on DRUGS, GOD AND THE NEW REPUBLIC, which built on previous themes, but increased the musical intensity of their delivery, honed on US supports to Queensr˙che, whose philosophical angle, if not musical, they echoed. The message for SALUTATIONS FROM THE GHETTO NATION was succinct if not polite: ‘I don't think you have to be particularly intelligent to understand Fuck The Government!’ These works received considerable critical acclaim, but it would be CHILL PILL and SPACE AGE PLAYBOYS which converted this into album sales. If anything CHILL PILL was more resentful and hate-filled than previous offerings, but by SPACE AGE PLAYBOYS the band looked to have exhausted this avenue. What listeners received instead was an ‘up’ record, which maintained Clarke's political allegiances, but allied them to a collage of images and events which eschewed earlier didacticism.