Song 72 : Punka

There was a horribly spiteful interview with Lauren Laverne a month or two ago by a journalist called Decca Aitkenhead saying how bland and uninteresting Laverne was, and I thought to myself "Kenickie should get back together and repackage their magnificently spiteful song 'Punka' (P-U-N-K-A) as 'Decca' (D-E-C-C-A), that would be an apposite response about blandness," but of course they didn't.

I happen to think Lauren Laverne on 'Desert Islands Discs' is great - I've listened the show more in the last year than ever before, and several of the interviews have been moving and memorable. But Laverne is definitely, as a default, extremely nice now, and if an interviewer takes that for blandness, so be it. They can't be Kenickie fans.

I've listened to Kenickie's debut album 'At the Club' quite a few times lately. It may be one of the best British albums of the 90s (their second album is also very good, though a bit uneven).

It really deserves reconsideration, though you can tell that Laverne has happily given up on the music for good (and her Kenickie bandmates all seem to have built excellent other careers, according to wikipedia).

I always saw (and still see) Kenickie as counterparts to Ash. Of the bands of the era, these were the two that were my age, that were still doing their A-Levels when they hit the big time, that were a pop-punk three (then later four) piece from "not london" with memorable tunes and great lyrics. Both Tim Wheeler and Laverne's vocals are lightish considering the genre - I never saw Kenickie live but I wonder if they ever got swallowed up a bit in that setting, where they worked really well on record. (both bands also took their name from one of the biggest films of the 70s too)

Kenickie were funnier than Ash, much funnier, but I guess Ash really hit on something with the angels/stars/nostalgia thing. Kenickie's songs were really of the now. 'Punka' is my favourite of their songs, though 'Come Out 2Nite' is also a classic. They really should and could have been massive, if they'd caught the right wave but where Girl from Mars got Ash close to the Top 10, Kenickie never quite got into the Top 20.

Punka should have done it - it's as exhilaratingly dismissive, joyful and knowing now as it was then, a takedown of scenesters and their little concerns. Really, there's a precocity to the quality of their songs that wouldn't be heard again in British music til Arctic Monkeys.

Anyway, that's all. If you've forgotten about Kenickie, give them another listen.