Pitchfork

If recent comments from New Order's rhythm section-- bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris-- are to be believed, the legendary quartet might be hanging it up for good.

In an interview published in the November 20 edition of Buenos Aires newspaper Página/12-- and posted the following day in rough translation on New Order fansite NewOrderOnline.com-- Hook told reporters that a November 18 festival gig in Buenos Aires "might be our last show ever."

Hook also shrugged off the band's impending 30-year anniversary, saying "We've been together for 29 years, [and] I don't believe another year would be of importance, truthfully." When asked how the band was getting along, he joked, "We still hate each other. It's a question of love-hate."

Continued Hook, "Sometimes when you're lucky enough to have it all, you don't appreciate it as you should. So you need a reminder of how things were when you didn't have it all. In this moment we do have it all, so perhaps it's time that we lose it, perhaps to begin anew. That's how I feel."

Hook, however, seems generally playful throughout the interview, so it's unclear how much weight these remarks carry.

Morris had plenty to say as well: "This is a strange time to be New Order...It was good a couple of years ago when everyone was saying we were "Godlike Geniuses" [in reference to the NME distinction of that name] and the fans recognized the band. In a certain sense there are now many New Orders around and we're the old guys in the neighborhood..."

The drummer skirted the question about the band's future, however. "I could say there won't be New Order for a couple of years, but...we're bad at planning things, so let's see what happens."

What's more, Hook expressed his distaste for director Anton Corbijn's handling of the forthcoming Ian Curtis biopic, Control. The issue, naturally: control, of the creative variety.

"I'm angry about the movie right now," Hook told Página/12, "because Anton Corbijn seems to be getting too much control, precisely. I would have preferred that he showed more repect for us. That's what he should do...Anton is very passionate about the movie, but I think he should have a wider view."

For one, Hook doesn't like Corbijn meddling with the soundtrack, which New Order is scoring. "The problem is that he's telling us what to do. And if we don't tell him how to direct, why is he telling us how to make music? [Vocalist] Bernard [Sumner] and Stephen seem to be okay about it, but it bothers me a lot."

At least Hook's got control over his new bassist supergroup, Freebass, which also includes ex-Smiths four-stringer Andy Rourke and Primal Scream/ex-Stone Roses low-end man Mani (aka Gary Mounfield).

"We've already written 17 tracks and it's coming along very well," said Hook. "We hope to finish it soon."

And the Freebass haters can suck it. "The reason we decided to do it was because everyone laughed at our face when we suggested the idea. So we thought, 'Fuck them! We're gonna show them.'"