Random cuttings regarding James

James, the enigmatic - Mancunian gang have a most versatile and willing drummer who goes by the name of Gavin. So in love with his art is he that when scoffing away at a Greek restaurant where the traditional band's drummer fell ill, he was more than keen to interrupt his troughing to fill in the vacancy...

JAMES are the highly rated Manchester outfit who, in last week’s NME were named by Morrissey of The Smiths as his “best group” - so it's hardly surprising that they’re supporting The Smiths on their UK tour, starting this Wednesday. Their new single ‘Hymn From A Village’ is out on Factory Records this week.

James are changing so fast these days it's hard to keep touch.

Their set is, by the very nature of who they are, the excitement of chance rather than a sterile pursuit of perfection, but their repertoire of feelings and melodies has expanded since I saw them last.

So has their audience who seem to have laid claim to a natural right to change places with vocalist Tim at the end of the set. As with the early Smiths there's a genuine sense of celebration about James that breaks the structure of the standard concert as they break the structure of the standard song.

Up until now James' records have been relatively calm in comparison with their live set, where melody will cascade into chaotic noise, fragility flip into violence and hysteria. There's never anything easy to cling to, which has flummoxed conservatively-minded critics.

Their language certainly is personal as it was with the peak periods of The Fire Engines or Wire. James use words as sense and nonsense, language as fun and games, but beneath their layers of melodies there's sometimes a stark and striking honesty.

James are a mile ahead of any other band in Britain, unreservedly.

Don Watson