Q Magazine (April 1997)
No Doubt
Ska-flavoured Californians fronted by the noo wave Madonna come good after a decade of misfortune
“It was such a feeling of relief, because after you’ve done something for ten years, you start feeling guilty," frets No Doubt vocalist Gwen Stefani. “Like, What I am doing this for? Why for so long? I’m getting old now, I need to get a life... Why did we carry on? Because we loved it.”
Five million sales and frantically counting for their 1995 album Tragic Kingdom, US ska-rock outfit No Doubt are finally in a position to look back with a comfortable feeling of vindication. Like Pulp, their Brit counterparts in longest- overnight-sensation stakes, the Californian quartet are too busy enjoying their current successes to dwell on past frustrations. Frankly, though, their history suggests they could have kept an army of analysts working overtime.
First, co-vocalist John Spence committed suicide in 1987, the year No Doubt initially made good on their collective love of 2Tone (and specifically Madness). Second, their eponymous debut album coincided with the grunge explosion (“We were deemed absolutely illegal,” Stefani recalls). Interscope were reluctant to promote the album, let alone fund another, which eventually took three years, two producers, 10 studios and one prolonged fight to complete.
Meanwhile, Stefani’s elder brother and keyboardist, Eric, departed (he’s now an animator on The Simpsons), while the singer bassist Tony Kanal, separated after a seven-year relationship. No Doubt’s run of bad luck and the proximity of their studio to Disneyland (“It seems so innocent, but there’s gang-banging and sleaze going on down at the other end of the street”) prompted the title Tragic Kingdom.
By the time of the album’s release, Green Day were massive and Rancid had made ska a hip commodity. Perfect for No Doubt, whose reputation for upbeat, celebratory shows kept them going through the wilderness years before MTV jumped on the Just A Girl single. “It makes such a difference having a record company behind you,” says Kanal. “Because it’s such a political game, getting on the radio and TV.”
If Kanal’s attitude betrays a certain cynicism, it’s because No Doubt have been around too long to' have a greenhorn’s rose-coloured vision of the music industry. The sorest point is the media’s treatment of Stefani as the new wave Madonna (she’s a blonde, at least), shoving her solo onto magazine covers in spite of the band’s decade of democracy.
“But what kind of decision do you make after being in a band for so long?” Stefani ponders. “Do you pass such milestones by or do you compromise? But at least these are issues that we’re lucky enough to be able to contemplate. ”