The Comedy of Errors: Jules Verne - Misadventure [Peel Session] (13 June 1992)

Jules Verne were a Liverpool-based band whose claim to musical fame is that they were the vehicle through which Daniel Hunt made his first recordings prior to founding Ladytron at the end of the 90s.
Their Discogs page shows one self-released 7-inch single and an appearance on the North-West bands compilation album, The Dark Side of the Pool.  Between these recordings, the band recorded a Peel Session on 17 May 1992, which was broadcast on this programme.

I found the session a curious beast, the best description I have for it is electro-shoegaze with C-86 vocals.  Some tracks sounded absolutely colossal, especially session opener, Awake - Celebrity Twister.  The band were musically tight and sounded as though they had been playing for years, belying their young ages (Hunt was 17 when the session was recorded).  Their tunes were full of ideas and they worked in spoken word samples for added atmosphere.  They were much further ahead of me at my advanced age of 43.  I could see the brilliance and inventiveness in what they did, but it overwhelmed and occasionally bored me to a point where I was metaphorically waving a white flag to signal my surrender in the hope that, having made their point,  they would go away.  I consider this an admirable quality of Jules Verne, but if I’d been making a mix tape back then it would have only been the session closer, Misadventure, that I would have been keen to hear again.  One other session track, Hollow Tomorrow, was in contention, but was let down by poor vocals.

In contrast to this programme’s other session guests, Luna, Misadventure catches Jules Verne in the very act of making all the mistakes that Luna’s songs looked back on with the benefit of hindsight and experience.  In place of Luna’s resolve,  Misadventure finds its protagonist tearing his hair out with frustration about the unpredictable behaviour of his other half.  “What have I done, what have I said/To make you feel worthless once again?”  But the distance between Luna and Jules Verne isn’t so far apart and the refrain of “I shouldn’t suffer/for the sake of another.” suggests that his patience is running short and freedom is looking appealing.  The only question is will he claim freedom by shutting the door or by guiding his lover to a more permanent form of parting?



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