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HAVERING

                       (early 90s)

Some friends of mine are in a group called
"The Havering", and have put out a tape
(produced by Bart over at CFY Record's
The House of Faith, if you're into these
things).  

They've got a sound somewhere between the Housemartins and
Stiff Little Fingers, which around the San Francisco area gets
called "Modern Rock" by a lot of people.

There's always been some tension between their two main
singer/song-writers... Jeff Adams is a guy from Virginia who
plays an acoustic 12-string, and sings with a really gentle,
melodic voice.  He tends to focus more on songs about personal
relationships.  For example, "Dysphoria":

     You're just an umbrella that keeps out the sun,
     A mirror that reflects back the rain.
     And the ghost that you made from the time that you cried,
     You sleep with him now, and you'll die by his side.

On the other hand, Yusuf Jaffry is a guy from Glasgow, and he's
more into a classic punk sound, and also more likely to write
political songs. I think one of his best is "Todays Pig", based
on an Edward Albee novel and a Hunter S. Thompson line:
                                                
     She looks across at Henry Lightcap         
     His lights are on, but no one's home,      
     He's got ten wives, but he's not a bad chap,
     He's working too hard and he'll die alone,
     Because --
         He didn't hear what Gonzo was saying: 
        "Today's pig is tomorrow's bacon."

In working it out between them, I think they've managed to
make some music that appeals to a pretty wide range of
people.  Their tape is well done enough that when I put it
on people frequently mistake it for the radio, but on the
other hand you don't get college radio art snobs (like me)
turning up their noses at them for being just another pop
band.

If you'd like to get a copy of their cassette (two sides, 17
songs, reasonable prices) send some email to
chaney@leland.stanford.edu.

One last quote, from "House of Mirrors":

     I'm trapped in this house of mirrors
     A thousand and one copies of myself
     I lost the door when it shut behind me
     Too nice, too nice, to see you again...

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Someone was asking me who the Havering are. 
Ken: giant blond haired guy from LA, plays bass.  
really gets into clowning around on stage, somewhat to the 
annoyance of the rest of the band.  Jeff has taken 
to calling him their "trained bass player." 
 
Yusef: Indian genetics and Glasgow birth.  Confuses the
hell out of people with his accent.  Plays lead guitar,
writes some of the songs, does some singing, does most of
the introductions.  Has an obnoxious punk attitude, that
plays well off of

Jeff: Who comes off as a nice, somewhat shy guy who writes
most of the songs, sings most of the lyrics and plays 12
string guitar.  He's got a very sweet, mod-rock type of
voice that the band is centered around.  Good looking.
(The audience is always packed with women.)

Walt: Drummer.  Gets lost behind Ken on stage.  A KFJC fan, who
answered an on the air ad, and now commutes down from UCSF,
and helps Jeff keep the band popular with women.

Majors, if you care, are Aeroastro, aeroastro, med school, and
english, respectively.  None of them are undergrads. 

(originally posted to rec.music.misc)

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