Suicide: ‘American Psycho’ and mojo of the nation

Ready for a putsch, if not a full-blown revolution? Suicide are back and they, as always have, mean business; of all the bands that reform, this is the most serious, creditable, compelling, it storms your senses like tide a sand castle. ‘American Supreme’ is the legendary New York duo Suicide of Alan Vega and Martin Rev’s first LP for 10 years; ‘worth the wait’ has never rung truer.

Alas, it is the duo’s only fifth studio album in a career dating back to 1976 and a long awaited supplant to the ‘92’s ‘Y B Blue’. ‘American Supreme’ features 11 new tracks recorded over the last 12 months in New York. The album carries the distinctive Suicide sound without being retro and is without doubt one of the finest albums of their long-but-fissures-filled career. New ‘old order’ is restored: psyche-disco, Krautrock-meets-electrofunk, machine-R’n’B, sci-fi panoramique, this is a happy asylum!

It kicks off with the funky-sketch-cum-cyber-dub, ‘Television Executions’, that sets the tone for the album as diverse and, often sonically abstract, to make it a jewel among the year’s releases. Minimally orchestrated with echoy vocal is ‘Misery Train’, a haunting and subliminally funky cut, as is ‘Child, It’s A New World’ that beats with electro-pace that quickens your pulse. Utter cyber-funkiness is driven by Marty Rev on tracks such as ‘Beggin’ For Miracles’, ‘Wrong Decisions’ and ‘Power Au Go-Go’.

Electro-disco welcomes you in ‘American Mean’ although it is ‘Death Machine’ that is the techno-killer here; the claustrophobically beautiful and mesmerising soundclash of ‘Dachau, Disney, Disco’ simply takes you by the hand and loses you in your own emotional jungle. ‘American Supreme’ appropriately ends with a song ‘I Don’t Know’… Vega’s lyrics are pointed, this is not glorification of America but its condemnation, examination of its self-righteous belief, its ‘Made-in-America-is-the-only-way’ stance, its blinkered dealings with the rest of the world… Nationalism can be a drug of the nation to induce the ‘American Psycho’ state.

Emerging at CBGB’s, the heart of the New York punk scene, they released the truly original self-titled debut album in 1977 that they toured in the UK for the first time as special guests of The Clash. Punk audiences were just not ready for their electro-punk, as mellow as a mallet, and most live shows ended after 10 minutes in near riots. The follow up ‘The Second Suicide album’, also known as ‘Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne’, was released in 1980, again to critical acclaim. Vega and Rev went on to record solo albums until ‘A Way Of Life’ in 1988 and ‘Y B Blue’. And then nought until ’97 when Mute approached the band to reform and play live in London to coincide with a re-release of the first two Suicide albums on the label. They played four sold out nights at The Garage in the spring of 1998 and the shows were one of those you proudly say, “Yeah, I was there and it was da bomb!”

Despite being accepted by many as one of the most innovative and influential acts ever – inspiring as varied people as Soft Cell, Yello, The Young Gods and Echoboy – Vega and Rev are the typical pioneers masses have criminally been unaware of. Suicide are the prime originators who should be more famous than all the ‘F**k Idols’ combined and then multiplied by sixty-niner!

An ace reputation isn’t an option anymore…

9/10

* Suicide play one-off show on 02 November 2002 at Mean Fiddler, London