A.R. Kane
Rudy Tambala of pioneering dreampop act A.R. Kane is teasing rare live dates in London and elsewhere in the U.K. this spring, promising “A.R. Kane Songs dreampop shows 2022” — though it’s not clear whether he’ll do that under the A.R. Kane banner or with his newer group Jübl.
Tambala, who briefly reformed A.R. Kane about five years ago without his original musical partner Alex Ayuli, manages the A.R. Kane Facebook page, which posted “live dates this spirrrrng” a little over a week ago. In follow-up posts and comments, he said the shows would feature “songs of A.R. Kane,” and that one gig is in place.
“So far London, but we hope to have more offers to play cozy little venues all over,” Tambala wrote.
Ayuli and Tambala made music under the A.R. Kane moniker from 1986 to 1994, including the albums 69 in 1988 and “i” the following year, coining the term “dreampop” and serving as a proto-shoegaze act. They also made their biggest commercial splash in an entirely different genre, teaming up with Colourbox under the name M|A|R|R|S to record the dance hit “Pump Up the Volume.”
In 2015, Tambala announced he was reforming A.R. Kane, though without the participation of Ayuli. Tambala enlisted his sister Maggie Tambala and Colin Cairns, who’d both played in the band during its initial run, for a series of live dates starting in 2016. Tambala eventually stripped the reformed group back to a three-piece, including his sisters and guitarist Andy Taylor, and in 2018 they changed their name to Jübl.
Only gig I ever walked out of – AR Kane at the West Indian Club in Southampton in either ’86 or (more likely) ’87. Recommended by a friend but not to my liking. Left before the first song ended, never gone near them again.
muppet