The Strange World Of... Shit And Shine
We're really made up that one of our favourite sonic entities, Shit And Shine, has recorded an epic Singularity track for our Sound & Vision subscribers. Here JR Moores talks to Craig Clouse in order to offer a ten track guide to his epic S&S back catalogue
It is sometimes off-putting when a band flaunts a naughty word, from the outset, in their very name. It can suggest they are vying a little too hard for attention and infamy, like desperate punkers Fuckshovel, the appropriate response being that meme of David Brent going, "Ooh, you're hard." And yet, every now and then, there comes an act that can truly back up the use of a good old expletive. They prove themselves the real deal, if you like. Early Butthole Surfers, for instance, whose name was taken by the great John Peel to be a reassuring badge of integrity. As Peel wrote in a 1987 Observer column, the noise-rockers' bawdy moniker suggested they were "not one of those bands hoping for a fun-run on the underground scene before exploding into big pop". Peel did not anticipate the Buttholes' Beck-ish hit single 'Pepper'. We are still awaiting Shit And Shine's equivalent ditty. As Craig Clouse tells us, it's not for want of trying that his project has never scored a lucrative crossover smash. "Shit, are you kidding?! I've been trying my whole life. I just don't have it in me. I would fucking love to write something that sold more than 500 copies on vinyl. Butthole Surfers are smart. I play in a band with one of them [King Coffey] here in Austin, Texas, called USA/MEXICO. He’s as sharp as sharp can be. They simply decided it was time to write a hit, and did just that. I'm too stupid to make that happen."...
Read the full piece here: The Quietus
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