Urged

In the last couple of days I went back to listen to Norm Rejection's first album: Deconform. I've been familiar with this album since 1997 or 1998, when soon after it was recorded, I got a tape copy of the album from the band's drummer Mike. How the tape is still in one piece is quite a mystery. It's one of those tapes that I used to listen to over and over, and over and over. It's a great album, although it may sound a bit dated today. Still some tracks are classics. 6479, Caged and Urged were, in my opinion the stand out tracks of the album.

The reason I'm writing today is to pay tribute to one of the said songs: Urged. As I was listening to it again yesterday it hit me once more why Norm Rejection were one of the most important bands ever to be part of the local scene. The musicianship on the song is nothing but great. The mood is haunting, moving and emotional. It makes you feel the misery of oppression yet simultaneously fills one with hope. A hope of a different world order. Not to mention those Che Guevera samples that fit in the song just perfectly (kudos to David Vella). The song is so captivating that it was only yesterday that I realised that the song is actually close to the 7 min mark. My ignorance probably stems from the fact that the song never gets boring and every note within it serves a definite purpose. Every note is like a sonic unreported bit of news that just found a release from the bondage of corporate media.

Listening to Norm Rejection brought back some nostalgia. Norm, as they were known by their followers, are sorely missed. They were a very influential band in the 90's local scene, not least on yours truly who was a dedicated fan. They were revolutionary in all senses of the word. Lyric-wise they were a fist in the face of structural oppression and musically they stretched the boundaries of local music, paving the way for many acts that sprung out in the new millennium.

Today most of the members of what was Norm Rejection are busy with their other projects. Mike has Dripht who will be releasing a 5 track ep in the coming months; Jo Kerr is busy touring Europe with Slit and Sean is full of activity with his various musical endeavors (Forsaken, Stonefall and others). I wish good luck to all of them. But still, maybe a one-off Norm Rejection reunion concert wouldn't be such a bad idea. In fact, it's a pretty good one methinks. What say you Norm?