Frites Modern
Biography
Frites Modern were a Dutch punk band from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, active from 1982 to 1985, although they occasionally reformed for a gig or two in later years, for example in 2008. The band was formed as Duphar in late 1981 by singer and guitarist Arjan Boonacker, shortly after he had quit the earliest line-up of Tröckener Kecks. The Kecks' van driver, Jos Belt, and former Nitwitz roadie, Martin Ex, joined Boonacker. In February 1982 Duphar changed their name into Frites Modern, after a b...
Frites Modern were a Dutch punk band from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, active from 1982 to 1985, although they occasionally reformed for a gig or two in later years, for example in 2008.
The band was formed as Duphar in late 1981 by singer and guitarist Arjan Boonacker, shortly after he had quit the earliest line-up of Tröckener Kecks. The Kecks' van driver, Jos Belt, and former Nitwitz roadie, Martin Ex, joined Boonacker. In February 1982 Duphar changed their name into Frites Modern, after a burnt-out fries stand along a Belgian motorway, which had a scorched sign saying 'Friterie Moderne' on it.
Frites Modern's début recordings were two songs on a somewhat legendary Dutch punk compilation LP called Als je haar maar goed zit (March 1982). Martin Ex quit the group in 1983 (joining the Last Few) and was replaced by 14-year-old (!) drummer, Barend van der Meer, whom Frites Modern 'borrowed' from the Outlawz.
Frites Modern stood out of the crown in the Dutch punk landscape because they sang in Dutch, which was not exactly the usual thing Dutch punk bands would do at the time. Musically the band were different as well: hardcore and oi! were the trends of the day, but Frites Modern's sound more akin to melodic punk pop in the vein of Buzzcocks and The Jam, although they sped up considerably with young Barend on drums.
The band's first own release was a six-song cassette on their own label. Its title is hard to translate: 6 Met translates as 'Six with', which is the way a Dutchman would order six portions of fries with mayonaise (the word 'mayonaise' will usually remain implicit: "Six wíth, please"). Many of the band's early gigs and recordings took place at their hang-out, the Amsterdam youth centre Oktopus, which was a popular hangout for punks at the time.
1984 saw the release of a fully-fledged début album: Veel, vet, goor en duur ('A lot, greasy, filthy and expensive'). Frites Modern went on tour with the Nitwitz, performing throughout The Netherlands and Germany. The band later toured Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy and Spain on their own.
In 1985 Boonacker gets acquainted with Frans de Wit of the infamous Belly Bende. Avid fans of the Dutch garage and beat scenes of the 1960s they decide to start a side project: Frenz Fried & The Frimo's. They release the album Vernieuwd nu nog beter! (1985), which contains ten cover versions of Dutch beat classics from the sixties.
Frites Modern have been inactive for years, but the band have never officially split up. Nor did Frenz Fried & The Frimo's, for that matter. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
