"Dirty Stop Out"
"Dirty Stop Out"
Hometown: London.
The lineup: Joe Corre (vocals), Mick Jones (guitar), Luca Mainardi (electronics).
The background: Dirty Stop Out are one of those new bands with some familiar members. Really familiar: one of them used to be in an early punk outfit London SS, then he joined another bunch of wannabes who didn't amount to much called the Clash. Have you guessed who it is yet? No, not Terry Chimes – Mick Jones. The other member of Dirty Stop Out whose name you might not recognise but whose work you'll be aware of is Joe Corre, and by "work" we mean "frilly knickers" because he is the brains behind the Agent Provocateur lingerie brand, as worn by Paris Hilton and Kate Moss. Oh, and his mum is Vivienne Westwood and his dad is Malcolm McLaren, who together apparently used to run a fairly racy clothing emporium somewhere in west London.
Luca Mainardi – Filthy to his friends – is perhaps less well-known although he did, as a classically trained musician and singer in an Italian choir, once keep the pope waiting (true story). It is he, as DSO's keyboards whiz, who brings the electronic element to their electro-rockabilly party. He also handles the visuals and stage theatrics that accompany the music, helping to make them less of a band and more of a rock'n'roll revue – equal parts rock gig, Wild West burlesque, music hall and Las Vegas extravaganza. Because of their fluid lineup and multimedia approach, they are likely at any point, on record, onstage or on DVD, to be joined by any number of directors, musicians, actors and dancers, and already names as stellar and varied as Chris Spedding (guitar legend, ex-Shark, former Womble and producer of the first Sex Pistols demos), Bobby Gillespie, Nina Hagen, Dot Allison, Rhys Ifans and Sienna Miller have been drawn into DSO's world.
It's a world of fetishistic fun – sex'n'basques'n'rock'n'roll, or something – fitting for a band with a saucy vaudevillian bent who formed out of a club night based at London's notorious Raymond Revue Bar. They've got songs called Tie Me Up, Sin City, Stick 'Em Up, Foxy and Kinky Melody, and their debut album is called Cuntro Classics Volume 1, its title deliberately putting pudenda on the agenda and conflating two of their favourite types of music: the twang of country and the throb of electro. Basically, they're Sigue Sigue Sputnik if they were more obsessed with shagging than sci-fi ultraviolence, and they're a bloody good laugh, even if they do regularly perform a cover version of Gary Glitter's I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock'N'Roll), their justification being that "it's one of the best chat-up lines ever." Make that "because they regularly perform"…
The buzz: "Dirty Stop Out are a colourful band of vagabonds on a mission to revive the forgotten world of sexy, sweaty entertainment."
The truth: You haven't lived till you've seen Mick Jones in red long johns and a Napoleon hat.
Most likely to: Make original diehard Clash fans apoplectic with rage.
Least likely to: See Mick Jones do a strip tease.
What to buy: Cuntro Classics Volume 1 is available now from Rough Trade or www.agentprovocateur.com. The single Tie Me Up is released on 25 May.
File next to: Bo Diddley, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Primal Scream, Generation X.
Links: http://open.spotify.com/search/dirty+stop+out
Tomorrow's new band: Lissy Trulle.