China Crisis – Tuning Fork, December 10, 2022

China Crisis hit this country for the first time, on their 40^th Anniversary Tour no less, and finally get to fire up the passions of their fans in person. Their album from 1985, Flaunt the Imperfection, gained gold record status first in New Zealand.

Gary Daly, lead singer, and Eddie Lundon guitar, both come from Liverpool. They are the heart of the band, with various other band members coming as long-term of short stays. Daly was originally the synth player. Tonight, two young blokes take the keyboard chair and the saxophone.

They rose above the waves of post-punk and new wave, in that exciting time when electronic indie dance music from the UK dominated.

They took influence from Brian Eno and ambient music initially, but soon changed direction towards indie pop. The Mersey Sound at that time was led by yer crucial three, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and Wah Pete Wylie. Along with the likes of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. China Crisis went down a more upbeat pop path, albeit with a political bent.

They begin with The Soul Awakening. I believe in everything/ I believe in everyone. A tasteful piano part, and what looks like a syn-trumpet carry this tune whilst the singer seems curiously reticient and subdued.

That changes the minute he takes off his jacket and introduces the show for the evening. He is a natural raconteur and wit. This is the final gig of their tour, and he means to make it a special event for everyone.

Can be as caustic and self-deprecatingly honest as John Lennon. Slags off those other bands as dour, grim bastards fookin’ hell. They’re all mates though and they all piss in each other’s pockets, I’m sure.

The songs tonight take us on a journey from cocky adolescents to cocky young adults to irascible old bastards. I don’t believe in anything/ I don’t believe in anyone. The music stays the same, though.

Tim Allen

Tim Allen and the band are in full swing when I arrive. He’s a New Zealand-based singer-songwriter who is originally from Preston in Lancashire and retains a broad accent. From the little information I can glean, he’s an experienced journeyman who has played everywhere, including the Cavern Club of Liverpool and Beatle fame.

He has played in two local bands, Stormporter, and more recently Hangar 18 on several international tours.

He plays solid indie rock. The style you would have heard at the Gluepot in the early Eighties.

My Heart Belongs on a Different Shore is a rough around the edges new wave pub rocker with the singer intonating in a nice Mark E. Smith Fall fashion.

Initially they sound like a good pub-rock band. Later, with So Where, they can sound nervy and unsettling like Wire.

Love Is a Pill being his current single, and they close on classy rock’n’roll. Great double guitar entry and the singer gets to belt one out Gary Glitter style.

Which makes for an interesting band worth catching again.

China Crisis

Arizona Sky has a great hook to open the song. The saxophone is played for the first time and plays distinctive pop soul riffs all night.

Some People I Know Lead Fantastic Lives. Off their first album and relentlessly upbeat. Eighties pop with a Two-Tone rhythmic push. There is a little Morrissey in the phrasing, and it does sound like a typical Smith’s song title. Both groups were working in parallel worlds at the same time then.

They go full reggae on Strength of Character. Louche post-Marley music, with the saxophone adding a Skatalites flavour.

Daly is generous in sharing his influences with us, and one of their most distinctive was tribal funk era Talking Heads.

Feel to be Driven Away and he gets to imitate those white-and-uptight dance moves. Busy tribal funk rhythms are matched to melodic pop on the keyboards. Brings a smile as it weirdly morphs into prog rock. The Heads did have that about them at their core.

African and White is one of their best in this fashion. World music from the time it was breaking out. Afro-tastic rhythms with great synth sounds.

Being from Liverpool, there is a great deal of soul in their music. They own up to liking the Motown records of their older sisters. More specifically it is the Philly Soul sound that you hear on Best Kept Secret.

Black Man Ray is one of my personal favourites. Why should I pretend/ God only knows in the end. Fab song which draws a little from Brian Wilson and Prince. One from their gold New Zealand disc. Daly reminisces on how they secured Walter Becker from Steely Dan to produce the album. And how he became a band-member for that project.

King in a Catholic Style (Wake Up) is also off that. An interesting, busy popcorn rhythm that sounds post-Remain in Light. It has a lightness of touch and ends up at prog rock in the end. The guiding touch of Becker?

Working With Fire and Steel is bigger popcorn, or pop funk. More David Byrne-channeling. Two-tone saxophone. A bit of Lene Lovich’s Lucky Number finishes it.

My Sweet Delight is their most recent song, from 2018, and they close with it. There have been a couple of folky pop songs tonight, but this has a Celtic swing, especially with the big piano chords. Wonderful, wonderful burning desire/ Naked flames dancing in the fire.

China Crisis delivered with a lot of soul and passion tonight. Daly lost his composure with a heckler late in the set. His mate Lundon calmed things down. No one was turfed out. The magic of the show was enhanced.

Rev Orange Peel                                     

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