BANDS who have been together for more than three decades are something of a rarity. Bands who have been together for more than three decades yet have managed to survive despite flying under the mainstream radar are even more uncommon.
Last year New Model Army – named after Oliver Cromwell’s revolutionary forces – celebrated 30 years together. They started life in Bradford and built up a loyal following attracted to their hard-edged, intelligently written blend of folk, punk and rock.
And while they never made it huge in a chart sense, they have stayed true to their roots and remain a vocal underground force to be reckoned with.
It can be argued that they kick-started a trend of bands such as The Levellers who, bunched together, became known as ‘crusties’ or ‘crusty-punks’.
Their earnest and often politically motivated songs and a belief system of ‘us against the world’ made the bands and their followers easy targets for anyone who didn’t share their mindset.
They were lazily stereotyped as being hygienically challenged, wearing dreadlocks and never without a dog on a rope.
“I think that’s a bit harsh,” complains New Model Army founder and lead vocalist Justin Sullivan, mildly. “I’m all for what Groucho Marx said – I refuse to be in a club that would have us for members.
“I don’t know what we are really. Last summer we played at a goth festival, a hippy festival, a folk festival, a metal festival and people still listened to us. I think that what happens is we play all these different festivals and our audience tends to be the sort of people who are prepared to go their own way and look for something different.
“Yes, we have written political songs but they aren’t the only songs we sing.”
New Model Army last visited the county earlier this summer when they took part in the Endorse it in Dorset festival.
“It was a good event, a bit strange but it had a certain vibe and seemed to be concentrating on the old punk stuff,” said Justin. “We weren’t there long – we arrived, played and left pretty much – but I do like those smaller festivals because they’re more user-friendly.
“With the Bridport gig we are really playing just for the pleasure of playing so I think we’ll be doing a mix of stuff from different eras as well as stuff we don’t usually play.”
2011 has been a quiet one for NMA, with fewer live dates than usual. The band is currently working on the next album and there is a television documentary in the pipeline.
“The last couple of albums have been pretty straight rock ones, but this one will be a bit different,” said Justin.
“The documentary is a labour of love by the guy who’s making it but there’s no real rush for it. Ideally, it would be good to get it released when the next album comes out, sometime next year. We have been talking to people in America and Brazil about the band and getting it together.”
New Model Army has always defied convention and stereotyping and to a certain extent this has been the band’s salvation and the key to its longevity.
“Some bands sing about human dignity and love saving the day, with others it’s all about sex and death and rock and roll but we just veer violently between the two,” said Justin.
“That gives us a freedom to play what we want. We can sing an angry political song or we can sing a romantic ballad to the sea. When Vengeance came out it became bigger than the band and I didn’t like it – or the songs 51st State and Vagabonds. We didn’t play Vengeance for four years and that freed us in a way.
“I don’t think there are many bands that have been together for 30 years and that can ignore parts of their back catalogue if they want to. Also, everybody in the band likes different music. We have tried to identify one album that we all rate as the best and we can never do it – that’s pretty rare in a band.
“Neil Young once said that if you have no definitive style, people will learn about you, like you and follow you because they trust you. We don’t belong to any one genre, we just go on making the music that we love.”
New Model Army are at the Electric Palace, Bridport on October 15. Call 01308 424901 for tickets and full details.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here