Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Grey Cell Green
COLUMBIA RECORDS 1991
Ned's Atomic Dustbin is certainly an unusual bandname, apparently it was nicked from an episode of a British radio programme. The band itself has some unusual and interesting traits as well, like having two bass players and having belonging to a genre/scene that seems to have been completely forgotten by now: grebo. Though more a subculture and scene than an actually well-defined sound, grebo was a quite popular fashion-term for a few years (around the turn of the 90s). It had a garage-rock feel to it, but inflicted with a typical British flavor, with its bands taking cues from both the recent post-punk and jangle pop trends that ruled the alternative side of the 80s in the UK. It's influence and existence was ultimately killed by the onset of grunge.
Though a lot of the bands that are usually associated with the genre enjoyed huge chart success (The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself, Carter USM, etc.) they seem mostly forgotten and apparently not worth digging up for future generations. But it did play at least a minor role in the music history. While most of the popular bands at that time were either indulging in acid house or dreamy shoegaze, they were the ones holding up the pop tradition, and perhaps passing it on to the Britpop-generation.
Returning to the song at hand, Grey Cell Green is to me by far their most lasting testament, a punctual and gripping three-minute-pop song with quite a bit of sting. Though the attention often goes to their twin-basslines, it's really the drums that take the cake here. The guitar is hypnotic and repetitive, especially during the bridge that slows the song down for it's inavoidable climax, getting back to the chorus again. If you look at videos of their gigs at the start of their career, the song's motto "Desire, it has been found" seems appropriate. There's a lot of passion and energy in the crowds there. Truth be told, if I ever saw them live (I don't expect that to happen, not living in the UK) I'd probably go mad on this. It's just got that teenage adrenaline rush that only the best pop songs have.
