Sydney Morning Herald (Sept. 20th 1996)

Secret Doubt

California has a hidden ska ... No Doubt, reports Barry Divola.

In the beginning, they went there all the time. They were kids. They lived in Anaheim, California. It was just down the road.

"But you get pretty much burnt out on it after you realise all the little secrets," says No Doubt bass player Tony Kanal. Welcome to Disneyland, the not-so-magic kingdom.

"It's really polished on the outside, and then you take a closer look and it's just like everything else. It's not as clean on the inside. It's a little bit more rotten. Just like the record industry."

Ouch! As with most overnight successes, No Doubt have been around for a long time. In 1987, they were purely a 2-tone ska band - kids from Southern California who were obsessed with The Specials and Madness. Originally they had two singers - Gwen Stefani, their current front person, and John Spence, who committed suicide a year after the band started.

No Doubt's current album, Tragic Kingdom, is the band's second. Their self-titled debut was released in 1991 but their ska/new wave sound didn't set the world alight in the year that grunge broke. The long gap between albums was because they "flew into some ups and downs". Kanal hints at both trouble with their record company and an unwillingness on the band's part to adopt some compromises.

Also, 10 months before the album's release, Eric Stefani left the band. He is Gwen's brother, and was the band's keyboard player and major songwriter. Apparently he was disillusioned with the music industry and decided to devote more time to his day job as an animator on The Simpsons.

Suicide, the machinations of big business, siblings falling out - No Doubt is starting to sound a little like the Melrose Place of music. The final confirmation? Kanal and Gwen were romantically involved for seven years, breaking up a couple of years ago.

"All I can say is that we're still good friends and it makes for some very interesting social situations sometimes," Kanal says. "I don't recommend it to anybody, if you're planning on starting a band with your girlfriend. But we want to keep things going because we've invested 91/2 years of our lives in this band."

Now No Doubt are dealing with the reception to their hit single, Just A Girl. An ironic pop song or the scourge of feminism? Kanal laughs.

"Obviously it's a very sarcastic song and nobody in their right mind could believe that it's meant to be serious."

Well, some people think exactly that, Tony.

"Wow," he says. "Those would be tough people to talk to."