Le swoon! This album is still incredible, all these years later. The debut album, Ultra Vivid Scene, by the band with the same name, is often forgotten about in the usual indie legends slots. Not here,though. Forgive my little foray into self- indulgence, it’s my birthday tomorrow.
It was 1988, and I was experiencing my first serious pang of heartbreak. The details are superfluous, they involve Andy, my first true love. But the lead singer of UVS, the divine Kurt Ralske, became a sort of repository for my thwarted desires and fantasies. He was softly spoken, eloquent, handsome, 60s chic elegant, and sang with an insouciant purr and not a little dash of sarcasm. The perfect frontman. His lyrics were often deeply perverse, which also appealed- they spoke to things I could only imagine, as a teen who’d fallen in love with someone else, who was now long distance, and as elusive as the moon.
The influences were obvious: Ballard; Velvet Underground, Marquis De Sade, Jungian psychology, etc. , but far from beng pretentious affectations or obvious cultural touchstones, they were illuminated by the featherlight delicacy of the band. The result was hypnotic, occasionally soporific, or bordering on grinding.
When Mercy Seat was released, I was all in. But the entire album is flawless, from start to finish. How can a song called Nausea be so sexy? Why is Whore of God so sweet? The inherent contradictions within are why, after all this time, it still captivates me.
And Andy, my first boyfriend? I still see him at gigs, from time to time. We hung out at a Nightingales gig recently, and had a few laughs. He’s a sweet lad. My art crush, the aforementioned Kurt Ralske from Ultra Vivid Scene, works in visual art, which seems absolutely perfect. This was his first masterpiece, but they never got enough props.
Hit The North 