For two decades I had a mental block regarding the British band Suede. I liked bits and pieces of their songs, but for some odd reason, I had a problem with their image. All of it seemed borrowed from better sources. Musically it had traces of Bowie/Bolan glam, but with Roxy Music imagery, due that they used the same visual people as Ferry & company, and when one is approached by this post-modern aspect of Suede, is it important? On the plus side, I do like Brett Anderson's mannerist vocals as well as Bernard Butler's (and of course Richard Oakes') guitar sound. Over time, I always found a song here and there, for instance, "Trash." Again, when I hear that title I immediately think of the New York Dolls' "Trash," which of course within a few years later, Roxy Music came out with their song "Trash." It's a good title, but surely Suede could have come up with a more original title? Then again, I don't think Suede is really about originality. That is actually their charm.
Suede's "Trash" is a fantastic chorus. As I sit here writing this sentence, I want to get a lighter and wave it above my head. It's a manifesto set to a melody, and that is something that Suede can do very well. "Filmstar" is the ultimate glam beat, with again a glorious chorus. In fact, their third album (and first with guitarist Oakes, as co-songwriter as well) is extremely catchy. It took me 20 years, but I now appreciate Suede. Anderson struck me as a writer focusing on the darker aspect of British living, and a guy who read too much JG Ballard, but that's me just being overly critical. He's actually a very good observer type of lyricist. An incredibly handsome man, with a good-looking band behind him, Suede is in its essence, a classic pop band that looks behind them as the past's projection, but also re-wiring the Bowie/T-Rex catalog for perhaps their generation.
Blur and Pulp are the superior bands as album makers and songwriters, still, Suede has a strong presence between those two bands. Both Pulp/Blur flirt with electronica and glam, but Suede brings a sense of glamour to the over-all British package. It's like making a map and making sure all the routes are in place, and Suede very much needs to be on that map. I'm not sure if they are a great band, but their love of the decadent imagery of the glam era, but done in their own fashion, is an important aesthetic. There is a tad touch of The Smiths, with respect to their attention to the seedy-eyed imagery of the 1970s, but filtered through the 1990s Soho or East London world. I'm very much interested in reading Anderson's memoir, that just came out in the U.K. I suspect that it's a good read. So now, Suede didn't change, but I changed. I'm happy to be in their world.
