In a House With Unlocked Doors… Part twenty-seven
Nothing to do with Green Day
By Sharon Mitchell
It was around this time, when Green Day was having its crisis of confidence over Cigarettes and Valentines and worrying how American Idiot would be received, that they decided to have a little fun.
In 2003, a mysterious band emerged on the Californian music scene – allegedly from Germany, and speaking very little English – although their songs are sung in very definite west coast accents. They called themselves The Network, and fall into a category all of their own, but the music has a strong electro-pop feel to it. They did a series of live performances, around six in total, in small venues and at very short notice, and to add to the mystery, every member wore a disguise.Their names, too, gave no clue to their identities, but funnily enough, none are even vaguely Germanic. An album appeared, on Adeline Records, entitled Money Money 2020, and the title track enjoyed some airplay as an unofficial single.
The bass player, with his faced swathed in bandages, provided the lead vocals on a few of the tracks, and called himself Van Gogh, and the drummer (in a luchador wrestling mask and a black plastic skirt) was The Snoo. The other four members were Z, Captain Underpants, Balducci and the singer/guitarist Fink. This last name was the one that gave the whole game away, if his voice and the unmistakeable harmonies hadn’t sone so already. Billie had written a 34 second song for the compilation “Short Music for Short People”, entitled The Ballad of Wilhelm Fink.
The name also appeared in the thank yous on The Frustrators’ “Bored In The USA”, and Pinhead Gunpowder’s “Shoot The Moon” EP, where he is credited with writing 27. Putting all of those clues together, coupled with the fact that underneath the black and white knitted mask, Fink has the most distinctive green eyes, their true identities soon became obvious.
The link was finally confirmed when the boxed set of 7” records that became available in late 2009 included one by The Network, featuring Joe Robot and the album’s title track on side zero, and Roshambo on side one. The cd was released in two forms – one with a bonus track, Hammer of the Gods, and a cover of The Misfits’ Teenagers From Mars. In the summer of 2011, Adeline released the album on blue vinyl, complete with a limited edition t-shirt.
There was also a dvd, called Disease is Punishment, and this features an interview with The Network, where they declare that they hate Green Day and deny all connection with them. But when I met the band in May 2009, I was wearing a home-made shirt – “I Fink, therefore I am”, with the FINK printed in black and white striped font. Billie walked over to me and said. “Please tell me that shirt has nothing to do with me.”, to which I replied, “It has EVERYTHING to do with you!” He went very red and said “Oh, god…”. I’ll take that as a confession, then.
Sounds great!