‘Days and Days: A story about Sunderland’s Leatherface and the Ties That Bind’, to give this volume it’s full title, is the second book by Chris MacDonald. I’ve not read the first one he wrote, which is called ‘The Things I Came Here With’, which is another memoir of his which was nominated for the Toronto Heritage Award. I must say that I am keen to do so after thoroughly enjoying this book.
Part travelogue, part anecdotal memoir, part coming of age drama ( I do love an origin story, me), part collection of word of mouth accounts from members of the UK’s greatest punk rock band (Leatherface, no duh…) as well as a selection of people that were “there” at varying particular times. It’s quite the line-up: Chris Wollard and Chuck Ragan(Hot Water Music); Sergie Loobkoff (Samiam / Ways Away etc.); Duncan Redmonds and Simon Wells (Snuff); Davey Quinn (Tiltwheel / Come Closer etc.); Hugo Mudie (The Sainte Catherines). You get the fuckin’ picture. It’s a selection of the people that you’d actually WANT to hear these kind of anecdotal accounts from.
Leatherface are one of those bands that you either get or you don’t. If you get ‘em, it’s an ongoing ever-deepening love affair. If you don’t, well, you just don’t. Melancholic and poetic tales of hard lives against one of the bleakest of working class back drops in the UK aren’t for everyone. But a lot of us out there draw parallels, here. We see ourselves and people like us in these songs, and that’s part of why we relate. We also see the strange rays of hope that cut through the miasmi of most miserable weather, dark and dingy pubs, grotty industrial settings and working class malaise, and that’s what hooks us in for good; for better or worse. And the stark reminders that not everyone makes it through somehow help to hammer it home.
MacDonald’s journey, both metaphorical, emotional and physical is captured here. From first teasing exposures to The Boat through dubbed cassette tapes at the hands of friends to a backpacking trip through Europe culminating in a tour of sections of England, Scotland and Ireland at the arse-end of the 1990s. It’s all interspersed with anecdotal snapshots of later (and earlier) events in MacDonald’s life that have bearing on the wider story. To paraphrase Dave Hause (The Loved Ones), it’s been soaring highs, crushing lows and grinding in the jaw. It’s as fitting a way as any to describe how MacDonald’s relationship with his friend Jason plays out on their trip to “discover” Leatherface. Perhaps it’s more a tale of self-discovery and self-actualisation. As with any good book, there’s many layers to the proverbial onion. This tome is beautifully written, and even if it skirts close to overly purple prose in places, it’s somehow appropriate to both discussing Leatherface and the deep and meaningfuls of this life.
There’s tons of background information in here and interesting facts and asides that I had absolutely no clue about. It all adds to the verbal tapestry being woven here, adding both additional context and a pleasing texture. I’ll draw some kind of parallel here to total neck-beards discussing craft brew in terms of “dankness” and mouth-feel. But, you know, like not for proper knob heads. Or maybe sad songs reverberating from speakers via Gordon Smith guitars and a big cup of honeyed wasp and meths soup.
You can pick this up in the UK from Little Rocket Records
In the EU from Sounds of Subterranea
In Canada and the US you can get this from either Hugo Mudie’s webstore or from ECW Press in Canada / USA.
If you find yourself in Toronto, Chris MacDonlad is an accomplished tattoo artist, too. So go along to Under My Thumb Tattoos and get him to permanently inscribe something into your flesh that you may later come to regret. Although you’ll probably need to book in advance…
