Curve
Did you noticed Curve's "Hell Above Water" on the trailer to this summer's Iron Man film? Apparently the trailer was so wildly popular from San Diego Comicon 2007, that even the hilarious The Onion took a stab at making fun of it.
Sadly, their song will not be made available on the official Iron Man Soundtrack from Lions Gate Records.
Since I've been a fan of Curve since their 1992 video of "Faît Accompli" and "Horror Head" on 120 Minutes, I thought it would be nice to do a tribute article on this forgotten band. If you're a fan of Garbage, you should really pay attention to early Curve.
Early Curve seems to be more shoegazing, with a fusion of goth rock, trip-hop, however their music shifted to more more industrial and dance - navigated by the two core band members, singer/songwriter Toni Halliday and guitarist/bassist Dean Garcia.
So let's take a look at some all the Curve releases throughout the years:
|
DOPPLEGANGER (1992) This Curve's debut album, and my favorite album. It contains some really great rock music driving music such as "Faît Accompli", but also has its moment with the slower, but heavenly lush, sound of "Horror Head". Doppelgänger went on to become Curve's best selling and highest charting (#11 on the UK charts) and established Curve as a well-known alternative group, at least in 1992. It should be noted that the US version of this album contain an extra track, "Clipped". |
PUBIC FRUIT (1992) Often mistaken as "Public Fruit", this album compiles the band's first three EPs (The Blindfold EP, The Frozen EP, and The Cherry EP) with a bonus song from The Faît EP. Depending on US regional locations, their EPs were often hard to find (especially since this was pre-adoption of the internet), so their record label, Anxious Records, made a smart move by releasing this US-only release shortly after Doppelgänger. Fortunately, I found Pubic Fruit used at Rasputin's in Berkeley in 2005, even though I had already owned Frozen and Cherry. |
|
CUCKOO (1993) By this time, Curve was already famous, and their sophomore album shifted gears to more industrial / non- traditional sounds and experiment. It still contain some of Halliday's trademark sugarsweet vocals, but this time backed by even more aggressive layers of guitars. For the first time, you started to hear and see more of the other band members, notably Debbie Smith (who would later go on to join Echobelly[W♥M] and drummer Monti. The album did not perform very well, and was practically ignored in the US - which lead the band to take a temporary break a year later. |
COME CLEAN (1998) I remember when Curve returned as just Toni & Dean. Wow, they had gone compeletly electronica "dance" with their lead single of "Chinese Burn". It was completely different, yet still retain that familar Curve sound. Absolutely a favorite of mine from this time period. "Chinese Burn" was later picked up by Joss Whedon to appear on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer[W♥M], featuring sexy vixen Faith (Eliza Dushku) and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) dancing to this song at a rave. |
|
OPEN DAY AT THE HATE FEST (2001) Universal Records, at the time, had decided to not release Curve's fourth album, Gift, due to the comercial failure of Come Clean. What's a band to do? Toni & Dean decided they were going to compile some of their best new tracks as well as early rare tracks on this internet-only release called Open Day at the Hate Fest. Seeing that there were still fans buying up Open Day at the Hate Fest directly from the band, despite absolutely no advertisements other than word of mouth, Universal went back and decided to release Gift. |
GIFT (2001) I picked up Gift for $3 at Down in the Valley Record Store, and I have to admit, after listening to it in my car I can see why Universal initially didn't want to release this album. It is my least favorite album, mostly because it was all techno and industrial driven. It is, what it is, and when it comes down to it, I thought it was just a bland album with nothing really standing out. The only light on this album is probably that "Hell Above Water" that was used in the Iron Man trailer. Apparently this song was also used in PS3's MotorStorm, so obviously someone out there must love Gift (just not me)! |
|
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF CURVE (2002) I'm pretty sure by this time, Universal had dropped the band. They decided one last hurrah and release The New Adventures of Curve which had a mish-mash of songs they've made available for free download as well as exclusive tracks. Once again, the album was only available directly from the band with absolutely no marketing or advertisements. |
THE WAY OF CURVE (2004) What a horribly awful name for a Curve's greatest hits album, right? Only 10,000 copies were printed and includes one CD of their best hits and the other containing rare and unreleased material. The real gem in this set is "In Disguised" was was never made available anywhere. Although you would think that this is the final installment, apparently there is another "Greatest Hits" in the works. |
According to a message from Halliday, she is no longer part of Curve:
Before I start I would just like to thank all of you for your loyalty and commitment to Curve over the years, it has been a lifesaver on many a dark night. Unfortunately after much thought and consideration I have come to the realisation that I can no longer continue with Curve on a musical level and have therefore decided to pursue other avenues. I won’t go into details but a few things happened to me last year that really drained me of any confidence I had and made me realise it was time to move on or be in danger of becoming bitter and twisted and losing my love for music. I have also felt less and less fulfilled with my position in Curve over the last few years and seemed to be no longer enjoying my work as much as I have in the past. I do intend to do small one off projects in the future but nothing that needs the time and commitment of a full time band. I hope that you understand my feelings on this, we have been together a long time and I feel that it has come to it’s natural end with a lot of good work achieved in the last 15 years.
It really wouldn't be Curve without Halliday, so in my mind, Curve are no longer a band... but their music lives on in my heart.
04/27/2008 23:31:08
vu
my♥posts
www.curve.co.uk
Comments
I love Curve musically. Alan Moulder, Flood, Dean Garcia, you know, basically the best sudio wizards Britain has had for the past twenty years are somehow involved. Haliday has a decent voice, even if the lyrics get a bit tired. But, really, I'd love to hear instrumental mixes. I wonder if they'll ever do that. Incidentally, I think this is why Curve shows up as soundtrack music so often (Spider Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc).
I was never a huge fan of Garbage. They sound a bit too much like a compromise, to me. But Curve were a lot of fun. Put it this way: apart from Helena Bonham Carter at least partially basing her "Marla" character in fight club on Haliday, Curve would've made a great contribution to Fight Club. Like, imagine if they'd put in "Dirty High' from Come Clean on there, somehow....
Lovely assessment of an underappreciated band!
Curve were pure genius. True killer stuff. Never have I seen a group before or since be able to rape and fuse so many different genres and have the sum of these parts become something so completely original. I still remember where I was the first time I heard Fait Accompli. I turned the radio way up and begun to once again have hope for alternative music and the death of grunge. Icy glamour had slinked back into music and her name was Toni. Garcia and Halliday
They do still get used alot on soundtracks. Instrumental tracks seem to get used more often because, with all music, royalties are more expensive with vocals. Also I totally disagree with the post on one point. Come Clean was much more electronic than Gift. Gift was more songwriter driven and even featured tracks with Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine. Come Clean to me was much more lackluter, not because of the industrial vibe though. The writing just wasn't as inspired. Fans should know they each have separate projects now. Dean's working on a bunch. Toni's project is Chatellaine. Downloads on MySpace.