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Hail Britannia! Dodgy on fax by MIREILLE SILCOTT
The Mirror pestered Mathew Dodgy with "loads of pages" faxed to his home in London. Name: Mathew Dodgy Age: 27 Titles: Sir Cocker Chumpy Profession: Drummy In 1994, NME called you the "best band in Britain." Do you accept the title? Back then, it probably applied. But now we're better than that. Who do you think is the best band in Britain? Prodigy, Primal Scream, Dodgy. If Gary Numan is a "Tory rocker," what are you? A Liverpool docker supporter. Britpopplease expand: No, I think it's best if it doesn't. Please come up with a better label for British pop: Gay folk-blues. Please write a short mock-dialogue between Liam Gallagher from Oasis and Blur's Damon Albarn, right before a fist-fight. Liam: I don't care if you're fuckin' pregnant. Damon: But I love you and I want to keep it! Liam: Fuck off! (Smack!) Do you use the same barber as those two? No, but our album Free Peace Sweet is great value for money, clocking in at 14 well-cut tracks. Please compose a jaunty little rhyme about your barber. Barber, barber cut my hair/Use panache and use your flair/But don't take too long/I don't wanna farce/Or I'll shove those scissors/Right up your arse. Please explain your last big night out in point form: There was no point. If you were put in jail, and could take only three records with you, what would they be? Stevie Wonder, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan. What were you doing five years ago? Playing Hyde Park Corner and getting arrested for protesting against the poll tax. What do you want to be doing in five years? What I'm doing now. Who is the crappiest band you have ever played with and why? The Cranberries because they made it seem like a job. Who is the best band you have ever played with and why? The Who: heroes who didn't disappoint; Gold Blade: 'cause they rock; The Lightning Seeds: 'cause they're mates. WORD ASSOCIATION: Short answers please. Mad bovines: Babes in Toyland Jane Austen: Frustrated, needs a shag Conceptual art: Pint of Guinness American Indie: Blur's new album Manson: "Sucking Satan's cock"Bill Hicks Porn: See above Silicon: Elastica in 20 years Electric violins: See above Easy listening clubs: Dodgy in five years Vanilla Ice on tour: Can't wait! You have been captured by pirates. They've got you on a plank. What are your last words to humanity? Don't trust a fucking pirate! Dodgy play with Wide Mouth Mason on Friday, May 2 at Club Soda. Admission is a ridiculously cheap $0.97 |
Now that British pop's fetishized obsession with itself has spawned a slew of pro-grunge statements about Pavement's influences and the beauty of a lo-fi non-polish, one could think that the shiny era of Britpop is over. But Dodgy, voted the best band in Britain by NME in BP's zenith year 1994, are still working their haircuts. Still playing the self-debasing lads. Still going on about debauchery at rock festivals and Guinness-as-lifesyle and brandishing a new-ish album Free Peace Sweet, full of radio-friendly songs that Steve Malkmus would probably despise. Not that these artful Dodgys would care anyway.