Music

The Vaselines say Take That are "like a virus"

by Ciaran Thompson

In what seemed like an instant, The Vaselines put out their new record Sex With An X, toured North America and vanished back to their Glasgow home, all within a couple of months. During their visit to Canada a few weeks ago, members Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly chatted with AUX about making their sophomore album (following 1989’s Dum-Dum), their thoughts on the ’90s, and how the city of Toronto holds a special place in their hearts.

“I’ve been in Toronto maybe three times now and I really like it,” Kelly said. “I was walking around the corner and recognized some of the streets. Near Spadina and Queen Street is somewhere I’ve kinda walked up and down a few times.

“I went into a shop I was at a year and a half ago and I was hoping they’d recognize me,” he continued. “I was like ‘Hi there, how’s it going… you sold me a pair of denims a year and a half ago’ and she was like, ‘Who the fuck are you?'”

“Actually it really reminds me of Glasgow, the weather is very similar,” Kelly added. “The feeling, the smell, it does feel like Glasgow.”

Toronto was the second last North American stop for the band in support of Sex With An X, which came out on Sub Pop in September. Although now the hype has subsided and critics have praised the record as a valiant effort and something fans of old will appreciate, the band can now think back to when they were first making it with a smile.

“We weren’t sure if anybody would like it to be honest because when you make a record you get kind of caught up in the bubble of it,” McKee said. “One day you think this is a great record and the next day you go ‘this is rubbish no one will like it!'”

“I went through that,” Kelly joked. “I came home and went ‘what have we done?! This is terrible!'”

For McKee, the main thing is creating a piece of music both her and Kelly really enjoy. Using ’90s Britpop as an example, “If you make music for the sole purpose of pleasing others you’re never going to make something decent, you’ll make a Take That record.”

“(Take That) They’re still about, they’re like a virus,” Kelly added. “Can’t kill them off. They just spread, they’ll probably do a franchise.”

Trashing boy bands aside, The Vaselines remain indebted to the various people over the years who have helped them achieve a certain level of success and notoriety. A former Seattle radio DJ named Calvin Johnson who was at one of their recent shows, is one person in-particular they just found out to be part of their history.

“Calvin’s from the band Beat Happening and he was the person that played our records on his Olympia radio station and then Kurt (Cobain) heard them so there’s a whole connection we only made sense of recently,” Kelly said.

Both McKee and Kelly are uncertain with regards to any future touring or recording, however the time spent on this side of the Atlantic has triggered some joyful feelings and will hopefully lead to their return.

“We haven’t discussed anything like what happens next, but I do like touring, I like going places,” Kelly said. “Once you get on stage and play for that hour and a half or whatever it is, it makes everything else disappear. The shows have been so good that you just don’t think about all the things like sleeping on a tiny bunk that moves at a hundred miles an hour.”