Turning Over A New Reef

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Despite selling truckloads of albums, and the omnipresence of "Place Your Hands" on Shine and Best Anthems In The World . . . Ever compilations, Reef have never earned huge kudos. Perhaps it's because they sound so distinctly un-British, peddling a retro surf-blues that can be easily sneered at for its derivative elements. Mind you, enough people thought otherwise to put them top of the hit parade with their last album Glow.

Reef are far more about six-pack stomachs than six-packs of lager, tanned torsos rather than sniffling noses and sea, sand and surf rather than sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Most notably, what separates them from most of their contemporaries is that they pen song after song brimming with wide-eyed enthusiasm and a lust for life that is a little out of sync with any artist deemed to be culturally significant at the moment. Reef love life far too much to write anthems for the disenchanted and the only defining attitude you'd find in Reef's lyrics is "party on, dude!"

Indeed, it could be argued that Chris Evans trotting out a cringe-worthy snippet of VT of your band hollering "It's your letters, it's your let-ters!" on a weekly basis doesn't do much for one's credibility. Allegedly, Reef requested Evans to stop using the piece, but this only prompted the ginger twat to use it more than ever.

"Originally, we only thought it'd be on for one week, so after a while we mentioned to him that we'd prefer if he didn't play it anymore," explains founder member and bass guitarist Jack Bessant. "Initially it was cool, a bit of a laugh and a joke. But it got more and more plays and he said on the show that he wanted to keep using it because it was being sung at all our gigs. Which wasn't really true. Sometimes people might sing it in Australia or somewhere to show that they were British. This 'hey, we're Brits and watch TFI Friday' and all that. He still uses it, but at this stage we don't give a toss. It gets funny at times when you are chatting to a cabby who asks you, 'What band are you in mate?' 'Uh, we're called Reef'. 'I've never heard of you'. 'Do you watch TFI Friday, It's Your Letters?' 'Yeah, oh you're that band are you?'"

So, not surprisingly, Reef have never been cool. To most ears Gary Stringer's histrionic vocals are not unlike what one critic famously described as "the braying of a ruptured elk". A biting bit of invective that Bessant admits did rattle the long-haired one a little.

"Gary does take in people's criticisms a little bit. I suppose we all do. We had a lot more time with this record and a lot of it was written on acoustic guitar. It's quite varied and nice, some songs are full-on rocks and there are a few ballads as well. We wrote it in East London and recorded it in Ocean Way studios in LA. Ocean Way has a really good live room where we recorded most of the stuff. All the people were really good to work with and we developed a great relationship with George Drakulias who's previously worked with The Beastie Boys and Primal Scream."

The same live room has witnessed more masterpieces coming into fruition than there are in the Louvre: The Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'", Michael Jackson's Thriller and none other than 24-carat classic Pet Sounds to name just a few. Yet the West Country rockers were in no way intimidated by the studio's impressive roll-call of legends.

"I think we're a bit too experienced for that. Things like that you tend to accept a bit more and not get all star-struck and 'oh, wow' about it. We are working with George again on more or less equal terms."

A number of interesting luminaries pop up on Reef albums. Their last effort, Glow, featured contributions from Sly Stone's sister Rose and Beck's dad was involved on Rides.

"His name is David Campbell. He does orchestration and stuff on 'Funny Feeling' and string arrangements on 'Love Feeder'. He was really into it and completely getting off on the music. Really friendly and laid-back," Jack says. "I'd love to meet his son to see if he's the same. If he is anything like his old man he must be a nice bloke."

Every band has their own little warm-up rituals for performance and recording, and not surprisingly Reef's is a lot more athletic than most. "We'd get up at five in the morning, watch the sun come up and surf. It was great for gaining energy and vitality before a day in the studio. Sure, we'll be knackered later in the day, but it is always worth it. If you're doing a three-minute take and have that energetic emotion in you then it turns out really good."

The lifestyle and the tunes make it far too easy to slag off Reef. Indeed, in Stuart Clark's memorable words Gary Stringer is akin to "Crispian Mills with a surfboard" (incidentally Gary was briefly in a band called No Smoke with current Kula Shaker drummer Paul Winterhart).

"Whaaat?!!? What are all these surfing clichés about? Look, we are just a band who surfs because we love it. The guys in the band love football, but no-one ever talks about a 'football cliché'."

Fair enough. But some of Reef's more dubious lyrics add a little fuel to the argument. For example, take Gary repeatedly howling "I want a new bird" on the imaginatively titled "New Bird", accompanied by Led Zep rawk riffs. Some might say that Reef's oeuvre amounts to nothing more than dumb surf rock. Beavis and Butt-Head meets a Pepsi Max adventure sports advert.

"No, no, no! I know we get a bit of that all right. It's because our lyrics are quite simple. 'New Bird' is about a new flight, travel and fresh air and that. It is not about 'I want a new shag' or anything like that. We are self-assured and confident enough at this stage just to let any silly criticism pass by. We really don't give a toss about it anymore."

Do you ever feel that you are undervalued compared to the gushing hyperbole that greets new releases from other British acts?

"Well, I think bands like Blur are coming a little closer to where we are coming from. They are getting a bit more musical and adding a bit more depth to what they do. But for us, there are so many people out there who are genuinely into us, and I think with this record we are going to bring even more people aboard. There is a guy in Melody Maker who slated the first few records and absolutely loves this one. I think he finally sees the real side to us, rather than the misconception that people might have had. Even this current image of us as a sporty band. On our first tour, we were hyped as some beer-swilling, bird-shagging bunch of lads. We are just honest people who like an odd drink. I'm delighted with our level of success. I'd hate to be big or massive instantly and be a band of the moment and only for that moment. It's a bit more underground, despite the fact we sell so many albums, so that is something I'm very comfortable with. I feel very lucky to be in that position."

The artwork for this album and the promotional campaign hints at a very different image. Each poster and sleeve feature huge Reef billboards located on a lake or up in the mountains.

"The idea came from a company called Yacht and Associates who did the design," Jack reveals. "They actually did physical letters made out of ice and fire; it wasn't just using snazzy computer graphics. Then they went and physically placed these billboards in the countryside."

Reef embark on another globe-trotting tour taking in the usual festival biggies this summer. The last time Reef toured with Glow, rumour had it that there were regular bouts of fisticuffs.

"Nah, it wasn't that hectic. We'd just had enough of each other's company. It just became tiring. I think we are really good at getting things out in the open. It was like 'fuck it, come on! Let's clear the air!' We might have had a scuffle or two, but we're not a violent band by nature. It happens everywhere. Families, people who work, and all that. It doesn't matter what situation you are in, working in a shop or whatever. It really wasn't anything serious, but we might bring a boxing ring out on tour with us this time!"

Jack is eagerly anticipating Reef's return visit to the Olympia on May 1st.

"Dublin's definitely got a good spirit about it. The last time we were in Dublin we were hanging out with guys who ran a surf shop. We sat up chatting to them, having a few beers and a laugh, telling stories. Just wicked."

So Reef are neither rock 'n' roll hell-raisers or surf freaks, but fall somewhere in between. They are not going to charter any new adventures in hi-fi or set the world on fire, but whenever they play the local teenage population congregates to snog, drink and be merry. It just has to be said: "Fuck art. Let's party."

Reef play the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on Saturday May 1st as part of the Heineken Green Energy Festival. Rides is out now on the Sony S2 label.