MAY THE GALE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

"Yeah... what we're headed for is
maximum heaviosity, no doubt about
it". Andy Bell, golden-haired
fallen angel and one-time disciple
of all things mod as guitarist with
Ride, is sitting in a pub on
Primrose Hill figuring out how to
explain the greatness of his new
band - HURRICANE - to the world. 

It can't be easy. Having recruited
bassist Will Pepper from the
remnants of legendary
sleaze-junkoes Thee Hypnotics,
singer Alex from the wrong end of
Glasgow (according to the biog,
anyway) and cherubic drummer Gareth
Farmer from the crowd at his last
solo gig at the Borderline, he's
all set for supporting 3 Colours
Red. "We've got to do a few
rock'n'roll tours, because we've
hit an amazing chemistry, and we've
got to build on that. I mean heavy
rock is a blind alley, because
before you know it you're doing
20-minute guitar solos. The way we
sound now it's punchy." 

"We've known from the very first
rehearsal that everything's clicked
straight into place. We don't even
bother rehearsing, we just don't
need to. What happens is, we go on
one by one and start playing the
riffs. We just hang on to one chord
until Alex feels like coming
onstage and singing. It's all in
the feel of things..." "Yeah," adds
Will, "we're still in that
honeymoon period, y'know, we're
still on that instinctive level of
just enjoying playing live..." 

Before we can sample such pleasures
for ourselves comes the single
'Step Into My World'. Guitars
chime, a belting Rod-esque vocal
gets supplied by Alex, Andy gets a
solo. The overall effect is much
like a heavyweight Ride pulverising
'Live Forever'. 

Will the deluge of bands using the
same influences not make
Hurricane's life just a little more
difficult? 

"No, not at all. People are born to
do what they do and I was born to
do this, to be in this band, to be
a guitar player. We just want it
too badly. I want the mansion, I
want the Rolls-Royce, I want the
helicopter pad, but that's not my
motivation. I just want to be in a
great band, and when people hear us
they'll know that we are, they
won't have to think about it..." 

"We're not a rock'n'roll band,"
corrects Andy, "we're the
rock'n'roll band." 

        Paul Moody 

'Step Into My World' is out next
month on Creation. Hurricane play
Bristol Fleece & Firkin (March 6),
Wolverhampton Varsity (7), Dublin
Varsity (8), Belfast Limelight (9),
Glasgow Cathouse (10), Newcastle
Riverside (11), Leeds Duchess Of
York (13), Manchester University
(14), Nottingham Rock City (15),
Norwich Arts Centre (17), Cardiff
Club Ifor Bach (18), Portsmouth
Wedgewood Rooms (19) and London LA2
(21). All dates are supporting 3
Colours Red.