‘Careering’ – Public Image Limited, 1979
Johnny Rotten/John Lydon is a bit of a tool, really. Isn’t he? I mean, look at this interview with Tom Snyder, and this nasty little PR junket. While he might have had a bad experience with the Sex Pistols, he’s since shown a bad habit of firing his band while at a creative peak. That said, he did have Malcolm MacLaren for a mentor. Must have been hard.
But I digress. He’s made some brilliant music, from ‘Anarchy in the UK’ and ‘No Feelings’ with the Sex Pistols, and also with Public Image Limited (known as PiL). In fact, PiL are criminally underrated, when in my opinion they put out some of the best music in the post-punk years, up there with Joy Division, Gang of Four, The Jam and whoever else.
While their first album exorcised the demon of the Pistols, via the excellent ‘Public Image’ single, second album Metal Box is an altogether darker and weirder affair. Whatever drugs these people were on at the time (large quantities of speed, LSD and heroin by all accounts), this album is brilliant. And ‘Careering’ is a definite highlight on this album.
Over a steady drumbeat and Jah Wobble’s how-can-that-go-so-low bassline, Lydon intones a tale of tragedy and ugly ambition, most likely set against the background of the Troubles in Northern Ireland:
A face is raining
Across the border
The pride of history
The same as murder
Keith Levene, one of my favourite guitar players (and a huge influence on The Edge), cuts across the rhythm section with his guitar and synth, veering from echoey guitar chops to drilling, headache-inducing noise. Over a sparse rhythm, Levene adds space like a painter works on a canvas, and creates an unique soundscape here.
Here’s a great performance of the song on The Old Grey Whistle Test: John Lydon, bulge-eyed and vigilant, fronts the only post-punk supergroup.
