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 The Story Of Anvil
Steve Kudlow, Robb Reiner
(Bantam Press)
First things first, we come to praise Anvil not to rubbish them, their tenacity of spirit, their belief in the redemptive power of rock and if you have yet to see the film do yourself a favour and do so immediately. That said, whether you would actually want to spend any time in the company of Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner or not would be entirely down to whether you enjoy the company of adolescent boys (albeit middle aged adolescent boys in this case) because the Anvil world is a very straightforward one where the majority of women are there for shagging (although to be fair Girlschool do get honourable ‘they rock’ style mentions), guitars are played with dildos (snigger) and other bands are there to be blown off the stage by our heroes. Indeed it is this delusional, if rather endearing, adolescent state of mind that makes both this book and the film so entertaining. And lest we forget without their uber-heavy 1982 album Metal On Metal Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer may have sounded very different indeed. You probably wouldn’t want them in your house, or even your local vicinity, but you can’t help but applaud their lunatic perseverance. Now available in paperback.
Ray Harper
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 Damon Albarn:
Blur, The Gorillaz & Other Fables
Martin Roach & David Nolan (IMP)
Never entirely sure how two people write a book (who holds the pen? And whoever it was should really have checked more often for spelling mistakes) but this, unauthorised, biography charting the rise, stall, rise again and subsequent arrival in the grown up musical big leagues of Britpop poster boy Damon Albarn manages to rattle along at a very readable pace and isn’t afraid to call a duff album a duff album. It’s all here from the stage school years, the Britpop bust ups with Suede and the Gallagher louts the magnificent re-invention via the Gorillaz, the thoughtful dalliances with World Music, the idiotically monikered The Good The Bad & The Queen and the hugely over-ambitious but, remarkably, largely successful Monkey opera. Anyone hoping for acres of prurient dirt from the Justine Frischman/ Brett Anderson days will be sadly disappointed – Alex James Bit Of A Blur deals with the bands more hedonistic aspects rather more successfully – but this enjoyable study paints Albarn as a very driven, hugely ambitious man, a genuine music lover with a good deal more talent than most of his peers and an open minded approach to his craft that should ensure he’s around for the long haul.
Drew Bass
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