ALL GATES OPEN. THE STORY OF CAN by Rob Young (Faber & Faber, 2018)
This is a long overdue, but slightly disappointing, study of the career and legacy of a remarkable and unique Krautrock band.
Author Rob Young’s approach is workmanlike although perhaps a little too much in awe of his subject matter. That said, he is well qualified for the task of writing the band’s biography since as he has written articles and conducted interviews over the years, mostly for The Wire magazine.
Gaining access to the inner sanctum of Can’s rehearsal /recording spaces gave him some insights into how their sound was created but despite his thorough research and analysis, the band remain wonderfully enigmatic.
Between 1970 and 1973, ex-busker Damo Suzuki’s astonishing vocals were a key element for the trio of albums that are widely acknowledged as the German group’s finest creations.The fact that Suzuki showed no interest in being interviewed for this book means that the perspective of this golden era is based heavily on reminiscences of Irmin Schmidt.
Schmidt’s Can Kiosk is flatteringly listed as ‘Book Two’ but really amounts to a rough and rambling collage of specially arranged interviews with dedicated admirers and notebook extracts.
Since founder members Holger Czukay and Irmin Schmidt were influenced more by the electronic experiments of Karlheinz Stockhausen than the rock music of the time, the free-flowing Can sound was unlike anything else at the time and their finest work still sounds remarkably contemporary. Their music has influenced innovative artists such as Julian Cope, The Fall, Sonic Youth, Portishead, Radiohead and PIL.
As Suzuki’s command of English was so limited, he sang words not lyrics and even Young admits defeat when trying to draw any meaning from the songs. Suzuki didn’t pretend that he was articulating anything profound or poetic: “I’m not much interested in anything. That’s why I’m singing nothing”, he once said. This rejection of music with a message is reaffirmed by guitarist Michael Karoli : “Music for us was not a means of expressing anything; it was just applied mathematics”.
Whether playing live in the studio or in concert, they went with the flow rather than sticking to any tight formula but, crucially, always played as a tight unit. Young notes “Along with The Velvet Underground, Can was one of the first rock groups to make a virtue of anti-virtuosity” and also perceptively highlights “Can’s signature monotony, in which everything appears to be changing over an unchanging same”.
For all its flaws, the band story still makes for essential reading for fans and offers a sound introduction for listeners who want to know what all the fuss is about.
It’s a poor substitute for the music itself, of course, and listening to their back catalogue remains the best entry point. Beware of dodgy compilations and note that the band’s later works are patchy at best. My recommended top ten releases are as follows:
1. Tago Mago (1971)
2. Future Days (1973)
3. Ege Bamyasi (1972)
4. The Lost Tapes (2012) – a fascinating 3 CD box set of unreleased studio & live recordings from 1968 – 1977
5. Soon Over Babluma (1974)
6. Monster Movie (1969) – the band’s official debut
7. Can Soundtracks (1970)
8. Landed (1975)
9. Can Delay 1968 (1981) – older tracks that finally saw the light of day long after being recorded
10. Rite Time (1989) – a so-so reunion album with Malcolm Mooney back on vocal duties after being awol for two decades.
