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They didn't set out to write commercial songs, but they were happy when they found out their earning power.
After forming in Colchester in 1979 from the remnants of The Lepers, Modern English’s effects-pedalled post-punk futurism soon brought them to the attention of label 4AD. Originally selfidentifying as serious artists, the quintet discovered a talent for creating succinct pop, and in ’82 I Melt With You, the second single from their album After The Snow, charted in the US and latterly proved to have significant legs (featuring in Valley Girl, Grand Theft Auto, Glee, Stranger Things et al). To mark the release of the band’s ninth album, 1 2 3 4, we caught up with vocalist Robbie Grey at his home in Thailand.
Nine albums in, most bands would deem it time to stretch out, go a bit proggy, but 1 2 3 4 is packed with short, sharp, snappy bangers.
When I wrote Long In The Tooth, the first song on the album, I was trying to say everything I needed to say in two and a half minutes. Something in the spirit of The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry, Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve). Trying to get back to our roots, I suppose.
Long In The Tooth, Robbie? Surely not an admission of, God forbid, getting older?
Yeah, getting older and getting bolder. I wanted to make it full of life rather than a down-tempo thing, so it’s really fast, with lots of basic chords and things changing quickly. Very 1982. But the album’s not all like that. Voices, the last track, is psychedelic and trippy. Mick [Conroy, bass] and I had a lot to do with this album, but Gary’s [McDowell] guitar’s still incredibly distinctive – you’re always going to hear his f langer and phaser f lying around. And with Steve’s [Walker] old keyboards – Korg
MS-10 and MS-20 analog synths – it’s classic Modern English.
The title and sentiment of Not
