Flying Nun certainly gets its share of retrospective coverage, but there are chapters in the Kiwi label’s story that are only intermittently skimmed; one such example is Bill Direen. Noted as a poet and novelist in addition to his work as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Direen’s musical rep largely rests on a string of ’80s recordings issued both under his own name and a succession of monikers, most of them variants on Builders. After self-releasing a handful of EPs, Beatin Hearts served as the first full-length album in Flying Nun’s discography, and yet it’s overlooked far too often; Grapefruit’s reissue, available for purchase on LP August 12, underscores that it’s anything but a historical footnote.
Bill Direen was a member of Vacuum, which in Flying Nun terms means he spans way back before the beginning, back to 1977 in fact, in cahoots with Stephen Cogle, Peter Stapleton, Peter Fryer, and Alan Meek. Swiping liberally from ’60s garage, the Velvets and other proto affairs, Vacuum was surely a small speck in the global sonic uprising of the period, but their raw, low fidelity recordings, retroactively released on a pair of 7-inches by Siltbreeze, illuminate them as more than just another punk band.
Once Vacuum dissolved, Cogle, Stapleton, and Meek hooked up with Tony O’Grady to form The Victor Dimisich Band. During this period Stapleton also played a role in the Pin Group alongside Roy Montgomery, and after the Victor Dimisich Band broke up was part of Scorched Earth Policy; later than that he joined The Terminals. Make no mistake, all this subsequent activity is very impressive, but one could easily argue that the strongest post-Vacuum track record belongs to Bill Direen.
A part of the reason is the string of 7-inches he released in ’81-’82. Self-financed and distributed by Flying Nun, these objects; “Soloman’s Ball,” “Six Impossible Things,” “Die Bilder/ Schwimmen in Der See,” and “High Thirties Piano,” offer a remarkable post-punk survey undiluted by marketplace concerns. There was lingering demand, however; the whole lot was reissued in 2012 by the Unwucht label, and it’s all worth tracking down. Just don’t let locating them usurp obtaining a fresh copy of Beatin Hearts.
Status as Flying Nun’s inaugural long player is nifty trivia, but it’s ultimately only a small part of this LP’s allure. Frequently lauded by heavyweight collectors and naturally scarce over the decades, its worthiness essentially comes down to the distinctiveness of Direen’s sound; “1,000,000 Hearts” opens the record in a considerably darker place than what’s familiar from “Dunedin Double” and “Boodle Boodle Boodle,” the bass-heavy thrust and double-tracked vocals (one voice agitated and the other almost blasé, both belonging to Direen reciting the same lyrics) decidedly nearer to The Fall.
A fair percentage of Beatin Hearts’ songs are brief studies in rapid-fire creativity, but just as many stretch out a little, with “Moderation” hitting four minutes as the dark mood gets integrated with a touch of art-pop. It’s a sensibility that will emerge with greater prominence later, but here Direen’s guitar works itself into a sweet tangle as his singing sneaks up on and throttles an exclamation point.
“Bedrock Bay” is a ragged speedy rocker on a record not exactly chock full of them, and “Same Old Story” reinvestigates the post-punky atmosphere of the opener amid snaky guitar figures and shifts in tempo. But it’s during “Heartbeats-a-Go-Go” and “Blue Sand Lonely” that the aforementioned art-pop really flourishes; the former connects more than a bit like the Red Crayola and the latter reverberates like a prime slice of UK DIY. From there, “Dirty & Disgusting,” title, lyrics, and abrupt ending aside, nicely establishes Direen as a bona fine slinger of guitar-pop.
Partly due to the presence of Chris Knox’s keyboards, “Alien” starts out in a zone somewhat comparable to Tall Dwarfs, though things gradually build to a unique clamor. Next is “Accident”; the first side’s closer and one of the album’s standout tracks, it finds Direen relating a tale of vehicular mayhem as his flailing and burning six-string fits the narrative perfectly.
“Wanganui with a White Face” turns the tide back to art-pop, with Mayo Thompson again coming to mind, though in a manner that could be entirely coincidental (much of the similarity simply derives from Direen’s voice and inflection), as “Magpies” latches onto a post-punky groove and rides it for a while. The enduringly attractive stun-pulse-thump-rant of “Outer Date World follows, while “Evidence” brings pop of a more straightforward sort offset with potent Velvets freak-out guitar.
To be sure there are hints of VU all over Beatin Hearts, but also similarities closer to home; “Inquest,” which finds Direen’s vocals multi-tracked to superb effect once again, kinda comes off like Knox beset with glam-angst, while the leisurely keyboard-infused pop of “Magazine” underlines the LP’s relationship to Flying Nun’s melodic core very well.
“Accident” and “Kicks” were both originally a part of Vacuum’s set list, and although each received significant alteration on their way to this album they both continue to register as good fits for the club stage. With this said, “Kicks” possesses a more amiable, almost funky orientation as it widens the record’s overall range.
And “Friend,” which serves as the disc’s impeccably situated finale, increases the breadth even further through guitar prettiness and a restrained but emotive vocal; bowed-string flutter brings splendid counterpoint. It doesn’t take long to understand Bill Direen as a diverse proposition beside what’s generally perceived as the Flying Nun norm, but with a few strategic exceptions he’s not about bowling the listener over; instead, Beatin Hearts’ value unfolds with time spent, which is likely why the LP’s been so consistently underrated.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
