The Jazz Butcher's Creation label debut came after band regulars Max Eider and David J. of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets fame had departed for other projects. With Pat Fish (aka the Jazz Butcher) having already proven himself to be the driving force of the band songwriting-wise, this 1988 album fits right in with the top-notch records the band had already cut during the decade. It certainly features Fish's patented mix of cinematic pop melancholy and minimal pub rock. And while not as stellar as earlier efforts, the disc does deliver two of Fish's most realized bits of forlorn whimsy in "Susie" and "Keeping the Curtains Closed." Guitarist Kizzy O'Callaghan makes some fine contributions as well, while Butcher's guest alumni — like saxophonist Alex Green, bassist Greenwood Goulding, and drummer Dave Morgan — provide some loose and tasty backing. And for Spacemen 3 fans, there's Sonic Boom working his feedback alchemy on "Susie." Fishcoteque might not be the best of starting points for newcomers, but it still is a record that Jazz Butcher fans will eventually want to pick up.
The Butcher Says...
Having ended up on Creation Records, which I took as a bit of a validation, I was keen to get as far away from all those "w" words that had followed my group around, and to make it as clear as I could that this was a rock & roll thing, not some "eccentricity". I had my shades and I had my fringed suede jacket and I had the Weather Prophets rhythm section.
In the last flickering days before Marriage and Acid House would change the world Kizzy and I hung out in his dealer's flat in Islington and WALKED to the studio in Waterloo everyday. The sessions were chaotic and funny. At one stage Kizzy arrived 56 hours late for a mix, having been held by the Police under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
David has this down right as a sort of self-justificatory thing. What disappoints me is that it came out sounding so SMOOTH and tidy. I'd hoped it would be more harsh and mad. I guess perhaps it's the saxes, which, I recall, enraged some reviewers. Sonic Boom does good things on Susie (that's 4 of them big ballads at least, now), that was more the idea. Still, not to slag O'Higgins, who began a lengthy association with the JBC on this recording.
This sold rather well, which was pleasing, and seems widely liked. I can't fuck with that, but I had hoped that it would be more a "change of direction" than it was. But I like Fishcotheque; I wish there more records as good as it.