– Method Actors – in session for John Peel – July 18, 1981 -BBC Radio 1 –
Method Actors, in session for John Peel in 1981 tonight. Further evidence there must’ve been something in the water in Athens Georgia in the late 70s, because there was no doubt that this little burg in the South was a hot bed of talent and bands poised to create indelible impressions on the musical world.
Essentially, Method Actors consists of Vic Varney and David Gamble, who formed the band in 1979. Sadly, the band only lasted a little over three years before dissolving and going in different directions. They made their concert debut on Halloween, 1979. Like Pylon, they dealt in minimalist dance/trance rock. They also made a lot of noise for just two guys. The seven-track 10-inch Rhythms of You is a crisp, aggressive capsulization of the Actors’ act, a danceable Wire in the stark contrast between David Gamble’s thundering drums and Vic Varney’s perky chicken-scratch guitar (and bass). “No Condition” is particularly riveting, its psycho-Ramones drive heightened by Varney’s choogling guitar and the pair’s vocals, one a droll singspeak and the other a madhouse wail.
In England, where the Method Actors received ecstatic press, Little Figures was originally released as a double album. Songs like “Commotion,” a locomotive number with a catchy bass figure and quasi-Eastern guitar interjections (… la Keith Levene), and “Bleeding,” with clipped-bass funk rhythm and dub vocal effects, reinforce the PIL comparison. But the Actors add the exotic clang of steel drums to “Halloween”; “I’m in the Mood for Love” (a Varney original) has an eerie poppish melody underlined only by bass guitar before breaking into a hammy “Volga Boatmen” chorus. The American version of Little Figures, a one-record distillation with ten of the original 17 cuts, is recommended for the slightly less adventurous. (This version, to complicate discographical matters, was subsequently released in the UK as well.)
Although the Actors first made their reputation as live performers, Live in a Room! — recorded at Atlanta’s 688 Club — is a disappointing documentary of them on stage. (It must be noted that this is not the original band: Gamble had been replaced by ex-Swimming Pool Q Robert Schmid.) The addition of saxman Stan Satin and occasional guitarist/bassist Michael Richmond (on loan from Love Tractor) fills out their sound without weighing it down. Unfortunately, bootleg-style sound quality dulls the group’s manic edge.
This session comes around the time of the release of their debut album, Little Figures. The album was first released as a 17 track double LP by UK label Armageddon Records in 1981. It was released as a single, 10-track LP on the US label Press Records the following year.
Crank it up and enjoy.
