'SPERGEBIED'
- BRIXTON MOORD EN ROOF ORKES
Every now and then (quite often, actually) I get tired of listening to
songs about Nashville, Tennessee, New York, New York, Route 66 and the
Vietnam war. Loud applause greets Bruce Springsteen everytime he sings
about his Jersey Girl and being Born in the USA. But these (and other)
songs mean very little to a born and bred South African like myself. Where
are the songs written from the South African perspective about life and
living in South Africa?
Well, actually there are plenty. A few recent English-speaking (or should
that be singing and rapping) artists, like Moodphase 5ive and Syd Kitchen,
sing about life as it really is in South Africa, but if you really want
songs about Jeffreys Bay, driving through the Karoo, Port St Johns, buying
drugs in Stellenbosch and picking up girls from the Strand, listen to the
Afrikaans rock poets. There are far too many to name here, but one of the
newest Afrikaans rock bands to sing about real life in South Africa are
the Brixton Moord en Roof Orkes (Brixton Murder and Robbery Band).
To quote their website: "Brixton" here does not refer to the
Brixton in London, but to a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. The name
of the band refers to a notorious police unit (now disbanded), that was
stationed in the suburb. Their website, which is both in English and
Afrikaans, has no flash (thankfully), but plenty of info. So many artists
seem to think that only the fans with the fastest computers, lastest
software and lots of time on their hands can visit their websites. The
message they are sending is: "sorry, but you're not cool enough to be
a fan of our band". Fortunately BRMO seem to know what their fans
want; up-to-date info on new releases and gigs and some history. But I
digress...
On their debut album 'Spergebied' (Restricted Area) they sing about the
dark side of South Africa, based on their own very real experiences. There
are songs about living and jolling in Brixton and Melville (Brixton-Dae),
the merits of getting drunk on your own (Dronk op jou eie), road rage
(err, Road Rage) and a song for those that leave SA for greener pastures
(Geen Land). And I love those little soundbites that link the songs:
"this is the final call for passengers Barnard, Greef and
Bezuidenhout delaying British Airways flight to London..." and
"you have no new messages".
'Geraamtes in jou kas' is about the nightmares that are suffered by the
soldiers that had to go into the townships to "maintain the
peace". "Jy onthou die vure/ en die wiele van 'n Casspir/ en die
reuk van brandende rubber/ deur die neus van jou gasmasker".
This is not a very cheerful album on the lyrical side, but the music
really rocks. So, to mis-quote Syd (Kitchen, not Barrett), this CD is not
for sissies, but the brave listener who ventures into this Restricted Area
will be rewarded with some very unrestricted Afrikaans Rock.
