The Durutti Column :: The Return Of The Durutti Column
There is no doubt that certain sounds, sonic signatures, and critical chord structures have effortlessly embedded themselves into society’s subconscious over the last half-century. With such notable acts as The Beatles, The Smiths, Grateful Dead, and The Cars, to name a few, connecting those cultural dots like some poetic puzzle for The Times, the iconic influence of certain critically acclaimed artists on the zeitgeist of the human experience is, in all honesty, a mind-boggling phenomenon. One could find it nearly impossible not to give credit where credit is due when referring to English rock groups, specifically, in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s, when some of the most genre-defining outfits were beginning to take shape in their iconic skins. From the melodically macabre streets of Manchester, where post-punk pioneers such as Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, and New Order once dwelled, a relatively unknown label, Factory Records, began to leave its majestic mark on the captivating culture that was ready for anything to happen, as the psych-rock movement that swept the entirety of the globe in the previous years was beginning to recede into the oscillating ocean where it would lie dormant waiting for its revival. There’s one group, though, that doesn’t seem to get enough revolutionary recognition for its electrifying efforts and instrumental intensity, and that’s The Durutti Column.
A brilliant and uniquely unsung unit amongst the giants of their generation, the group initially came from the bones of Fast Breeder after they had dissolved, and quickly became this fierce flame of calm, calculated textures, rhythms, and gentle guitar melodies from the great mind of Vini Reilly, formerly of Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds. Named after an anarchist military unit from the Spanish Civil War (Buenaventura Durruti), the band’s name was also inspired by a short comic strip entitled "Le Retour de la Colonne Durruti" ("The Return Of The Durruti Column"). A similar subject of interest to bands like Warsaw/Joy Division, Reilly’s tonal talent, and reverberating range is both spiritually sophisticated and sonically seductive, which can be heard at its poetic peak on the band’s highly influential debut album, “The Return of the Durutti Column.” Recorded in the summer of 1979 and released in the New Year of 1980, the trio, consisting of members Pete Crooks and Toby Troman on bass and drums, carefully captured something melodically monumental as well as fiercely original right out the gate. Bravely blending the cold waves of British brilliance with the starch sounds of punk rock, the band collaborated with renowned producer and original director at Tony Wilson’s Factory Records, Martin Hannett, to help bridge the gaps between dream pop and the ambiance of bands like the Soft Machine and the UK’s early electronic landscape.
Photo: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
While building lush and intimate guitar pieces over Hannett’s electric ecosystem of experimental sounds, which he made in the studio, Reilly layered those efforts by shattering the stratosphere with transcendental timing and atmospheric accuracy like no one else before him. The unparalleled universe found within his playing is poetically precious as he sonically surfs across the cold grey skies of England, while simultaneously coloring in its rain clouds with pure blues, and the humbling harmonies found within the Durutti Column’s chilling climate of cosmic correspondence.
