Unhome - by Tom House
This from TOM HOUSE
unhome's first gig blew my sixteen-year-old mind. they opened with "paddle steamer". tucker sang that one, so hancock (the other singer) just stood there while tucker lurched and gesticulated. when hancock sang the next song ("voyeur"), tucker played a detuned radio. i'd been a fan of jason and jim's previous band, joeyfat. i was gutted they'd broken up. this was something else though. i was tugging on my hair. i had seen jon around, climbing up and down to and from the gantry, looking like a badass in white shirt and black trousers, but i didn't know he played guitar. man, he played guitar. later, months (years?) later, he taught me some things. phil had a see-through perspex axe and made two notes sound like an orchestra.
another time i saw unhome was at a photo exhibition. tucker was away in america so only hancock sang. they played a beautiful song that was never recorded and is forever lost. hancock was majestic, barely moving. he left the band soon after. someone told me he burst into tears onstage at the bull and gate, one of the few unhome shows i didn't get to. and he quit, like that.
brighton, the prince albert. tucker fills jim's china cymbal with lighter fluid and torches it during "inland". the venue lights go out. flaming liquid splatters the stage. the band, locked into a holding pattern that can only be broken by utter collapse, play on.
they evolved. some of us held our breath for the album. when it arrived, it only deepened the intrigue. the release gig would be their last