Urban Creep have been called an ‘African REM’. Can they live up to it? Luke Alfred reports
THERE’S nothing to stop Urban Creep becoming the best band in South Africa. They have a high standard of musicianship, stage presence, some great epic songs and an uncommonly well-articulated vision for the future. They also have a unique sense of their place in the scheme of things, seeing themselves as heirs to an alternative canon which includes The Genuines, James Phillips and Jennifer Ferguson.
What’s new, the cynic might ask? What’s to distinguish them from any other white guitar band with attitude? Well, their sound is different, for one. Their heady blend of maskanda riffs and indie rhythms gives them a welcome and at times edgy originality. “I see our music as being distinctly South African,” says Brendan Jury, viola and keyboard player and the band’s spokesman.
With the exception of guitarist Chris Letchner, the band’s members — bassist Didier Noblia and drummer Ross Campbell bring the complement to four — hail from Durban. Although they complain about the negative influence of cheap dope and beach culture, Durban forms an integral part of their identity, reinforced by a healthy dislike of Johannesburg and its bands.
“In Johannesburg you can go on any given night and see eight or nine so-called original bands that will sound very much like bands coming out of either Seattle or Los Angeles,” says Jury. “Often I think of Johannesburg as a small suburb of America. Natal doesn’t have that. There are bands there — and in Cape Town, to an extent — where there simply isn’t that reverence for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
The occasional note of self-righteousness seems forgivable, given the imaginative poverty endemic to the local record industry. Unsurprisingly, the industry, and how to approach it, is a major bone of contention for the fab four.
“We decided from the very beginning to go the route taken by those great South Africans we mentioned before,” says Jury. “We’re recording with Lloyd Ross (of Shifty Records) at the moment. We have not signed to any record company on purpose, and we’ve turned down some very good deals — some three-year, two-album contracts, but at the same time contracts that would have tied us into a low-budget, low- promotional set-up, aimed specifically at selling a couple of thousand units to a conservative market.”
While Urban Creep’s desire to keep a watchful eye on the fine print makes a welcome change, there may come a time when they have to surrender their place on the high moral ground. Then we’ll see whether the band that one overseas record executive has labelled “an African REM” has what it takes to become more than four white niggers with attitude.
Urban Creep will perform at Wings in Braamfontein tonight (December 2) and on Friday December 9, and at Mojo’s on Wednesday December 7