(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

The singer and guitarist Nikki Sudden (Nicholas Godfrey), after being a central figure in the eccentric era of the Swell Maps, embarked on a prolific solo career.

Waiting On Egypt (Abstract, 1982), an album of raw garage-rock numbers—violent and dissonant, in the vein of Neil Young and the Rolling Stones (Channel Steamer, Fashion Cult, New York)—and The Bible Belt (Flicknife, 1983), less vitriolic and imbued with a sardonic mood (English Girls, Bethlehem Castle, Six Hip Princes), still bear the imprint of his former band but highlight a strong personality of a rocker maudit. What is lacking, if anything, is technical skill. Both albums were reissued as Waiting in Egypt/Bible Belt (Secretly Canadian, 2001).

To overcome that limitation, Sudden formed the Jacobites, a band that also included his brother Epic Soundtracks on drums, as well as Dave Kusworth on vocals and guitar. With them, his personality matured and his punk edge softened. Gradually, Sudden became a melancholic, decadent dandy, often echoing Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

His albums are often filled with ramshackle, poorly played ballads, but when the band locks into a boogie or rock and roll with the right rebellious spirit, Sudden manages to forge small generational anthems. Shame For The Angels on Jacobites (Glass, 1984), Fortune Of Fame and Where The Rivers End on the second album Robespierre's Velvet Basement (Glass, 1985), and Pin Your Heart and When the Rain Comes Down (on the eponymous EPs) are mostly acoustic ballads that echo Keith Richards, Johnny Thunders, Marc Bolan, and many others.

Abandoning his punk mantle, Sudden took on the role of introspective singer-songwriter, though he retained a passionate streak and occasionally indulged in moments of showmanship.

Having lost Kusworth but recruited Rowland Howard (ex-Birthday Party and Crime And City Solution), Sudden recorded Texas (Creation, 1986), an album marking another period of crisis. The music became even more Spartan and austere, oscillating between the tender Leonard Cohen (Jangle Town, Death Is Hanging Over Me) and the neurotic Neil Young (Such A Little Girl, Wedding Dress). From the same period comes the EP featuring The Last Bandit (1986).

Sudden temporarily abandoned the Jacobites name, but the sound remained the same. When I Cross The Line and Girl With A Wooden Leg on the subsequent Dead Men Tell No Tales (1987) and Crossroads on Kiss Your Kidnapped Charabanc (Relativity, 1988), also credited to Howard, are masterpieces of the period defined by Delta blues in its purest form. At the same time, the band faced a sharp arrangement crisis (the drums are almost absent).

Both albums (and the contemporaneous EPs) were reissued as Texas/Dead Men Tell No Tales (Secretly Canadian, 2001).

Sudden, however, tended to repeat the same song endlessly, with a stubbornness that could only come from a punk. See My Rider on Groove (Creation, 1989; Giant, 1990), Hotel Blues on Jewel Thief (UFO, 1991), and the live Crown Of Thorns (Crazy Mannequin, 1989) thus increasingly sound less sincere.

The Jacobites were reborn just when Sudden's career seemed to have hit rock bottom. Don't You Ever Leave Me, however, is one of the few notable tracks on Howling Good Times (Regency, 1993).

Aside from the Spanish album Hearts of Hearts (Por Caridad, 1994), the live album Kiss Of Life (Swamp Room, 1995), and the unreleased tracks on Hawks Get Religion (Regency, 1996), it is mainly Old Scarlett (Glitterhouse, 1995) and God Save Us Poor Sinners (Glitterhouse, 1998)—a tribute to his brother Epic Soundtracks—that revived the careers of Sudden and his companions, emphasizing visceral rock and roll (part New York Dolls, part Rolling Stones). On the latter, Sudden perhaps regained the magical spark he had lost after the Swell Maps: at least Teenage Christmas is worthy of being counted among his classics.

Cellar Door continues in that vein on Seven Lives Later (Idiot Savant, 1999), an album credited solely to Sudden, as had not happened for many years.