Conflict #47 - Feb / Mar 1988

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Nikki Sudden & Rowland S. Howard
Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc (Creation/Relativity LP)

These 2 men are complete misery goats, each of 'em responsible for horrible clothing, wicked bad drug abuse and some of my favorite records ever. In this, their 2nd full-fledged collaboration record (not counting the Jeremy Spencer thing which I still haven't heard), Nikki and Rowland stray even further from the kind of rock I usually associate them with... Kiss You Kidnapped Charabanc is a mostly acoustic affair with a major influence being english lit. and history from the 20's-30's. Nikki's songs have become far more lyrical and mysterious than his usual "I'm drinking alot/my heart is broken" stuff, Rowland's are more clipped, non-specific stuff that reminds me of religion and ill health, but I won't bother trying to know what he's thinking... this time I liked Rowland's songs more, and parts of this record provide a haunting, sparse counterpart to the These Immortal Souls LP, 'tho this is obviously much less of a "rock band" type of item... even if you're not as apt to throw money towards anything with these guy's names on it (like me), this is something you shouldn't miss (187-07 Henderson Ave., Hollis, NY 11423).