TheFuture Shape Of Sound are set to release the single ‘JOY’ from the album ‘Shakedown Gospel’ this Friday and a special one-off release show this coming Saturday. It’s a different version with a new lead vocal by our Lead singer Suri Sumatra.
The Future Shape Of Sound are back with their hand clappin’,foot stompin’ new side “Joy”. Backed by The Blues Kitchen Gospel Choir, it’s a tale of goings-on down at The Church of Rock’n’Roll and a perfect example of their signature “Shakedown Gospel, Rock’n’Roll” sound. “Joy” features new lead vocals from Suri Sumatra, a slide guitar
solo by The Urban Voodoo Machine’s Paul-Ronney Angel and on top of that there’s a boss video, a London release party at The Underdog Gallery (14.09.19) followed by a performance at the legendary, always sold out club night Gypsy Hotel at Nambucca (11.10.19) (“If you have 12 hours to live, spend it at Gypsy Hotel!” – Time Out).
The song is taken from their long player “Shakedown Gospel” (which received radioactive reviews including a 9 out of 10 in Vive Le Rock Magazine) and features contributions from Jim Jones (Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind), one-man Blues explosion Son of Dave and more. Following hot on the heels of “Joy” is “Help Me Jesus”
The Future Shape Of Sound’s rollicking contribution to The Urban Voodoo Machine’s upcoming “Friends and Family Vol 1” cover versions album. The Future Shape Of Sound are a 10-piece outfit based in East London, spearheaded by music producer Alex McGowan aka “Captain Future” and sax player Stu “Lodekka” Dace. Visualise a bunch of Rock’n’Roll, blues musicians and gospel singers coming together to rock it out in a disused circus tent! They have picked up plays on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, been playlisted in major retail stores, and currently form part of British Airways in-flight entertainment “Empowerment” playlist. The band has put their spectacle on the stages of many smooth niteries and major outdoor congregations such as Bestival, Shambala, Secret Garden Party, Hipsville, Grillstock, Wilderness, and The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club, converting believers with shimmering choir harmonies, Hammond organ grooves, soul sax riffs, and Rock’n’Roll guitars. The stage can barely contain their spirit of freedom, equality and the sheer joy of it all!
Release date is the joyous Friday 13th September…
Also, there’s a release party at the Underdog Gallery/London Bridge on Sat 14th, which you’re warmly invited to.
Just like buses, you wait almost two decades for one then two turn up, no wait that’s not quite right, fuck it, it’ll do. What we do have is a couple of new tracks and some totally fucked up shenanigans Their return to the studio was rightly greeted with applause in certain quarters (round here it was a breath of fresh air). The chemistry between Jennifer Herrema (vocals, Moog, guitar, melodica) and Neil Hagerty (vocals, guitar) is alive and well regardless of how they choose to write and record in the modern age.
Just like Jon Spencer they get down with the rap kids and mix it up with their ragged assed Rock and Roll. ‘Get used To This’ will get inside your head and all of a sudden you’ll be wearing plenty of bling chains and a baseball cap, some hightops and dropping the mic. Strangely enticing and addictive and much like a car crash you just can’t help yourself slowing down and taking a look. I still maintain that Keif Richards himself would be proud of some of the shapes Hagerty throws down on ‘White Stuff’ top Choon sir (and madam) dirty rock and roll played with swagger and 1000% of cool.
So you were sensible enough to pick up a copy of ‘White Stuff’ then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t dash off to your mother’s purse and order a copy of this bad boy. Jack White would have given his left nut to come up with ‘Whopper Dave’ . I’ll keep it short and sweet seeing as its only half an album’s worth but it is limited and it is Royal Trux. Get on it quickly.
Reinvention? Second chances? Preconceived notions? Musicians often seem to get pigeon holed by us as we want them to continue doing what we loved in the first place. When the approach or genre changes, we can feel abandoned, wronged, believe the artist is selling out, start complaining on social media, etc., it takes self-confidence, belief, and an ability to not give a rat’s ass what others think for artists to really do something new. I entered this album very familiar with a couple of Shane’s earlier projects and am not going to recount his history here as this is a fresh start. I am interested to see how others feel who also know this history. This isn’t the typical project that gets reviewed here at RPMOnline, but that has never stopped us. I do want to add that this album goes through metamorphosis with repeated listens where the rock elements become more and more pronounced.
Right out of the box, first song ‘Boom’ will defy your expectations with it feeling at times like one of INXS’ more dance oriented numbers with Shane’s vocals sounding as great as ever. I love the use of the horns later in the track. Something that immediately becomes apparent to me is these songs in a live setting could feel much more rock oriented if you stripped them down to the core. The hook here is extremely simple and insidious. ‘Crosstown Train’ comes next with a dance beat leading into some layered vocals that lead into a verse that really puts the emphasis on the vocal. The combination of vocals and how they are blended in the mix of the chorus is excellent and takes the song to another level. The drum work by Frank Sass is outstanding here. Without my previous experience with Shane’s previous music, I am not sure if I would have given this much of a listen due to my own listening preferences. The cognitive dissonance actually starts to feel pretty good as I can feel myself pushing and pulling to figure out what is happening in these songs as there are many layers.
‘Don’t Wanna Cry’ similarly starts with the easy going beat before the other instruments join for a mellow feeling with some tasteful guitar notes added for good measure. At five minutes, this one takes its time and the effects on the vocals are noticeable, and I would say not needed as it just distracts from his natural voice for my tastes. The chorus is another lush filled hook that utilizes several voices. With the previous projects that I am not mentioning, Shane often sang with lyrics of sarcasm, irony, and a twist on expectations. These songs play it more straight forward but in a clever way. ‘Love Thing’ brings forward a groove and a different feel to the music with Shane’s vocals being front and center. There are elements here where I can feel the rocker side creeping out with this being another song that could really be a rock song live. Wrapping up the first half of the album is the somewhat jazzy ‘Shine Your Star’ where the extended musical intro includes some fine guitar work before the first verse slides into place. I find myself pulled in much more by the guitar throughout the song than the chorus with each listen. Coming at the genre from a different angle, I would have not put so many effects in the chorus; there is a certain rush that comes from the transition of the end of the chorus to the next musical interlude each time thanks to the guitar notes.
The second half of the album kicks off with ‘Winter’s Gone’ feeling like it has more musical weight than some of the other songs with the vocals pushed to the forefront. It really wouldn’t feel out of place on a coming of age soundtrack. The chorus gets a little catchier with each play of the album. ‘Gravitys Callin’’ opens with a lighter dreamier touch that highlights one of the areas where I have found this album excels. Throw on some headphones, turn out the lights, and allow your mind to drift away with each song. I find it odd that I do the same thing with the likes of Kyuss but then also allow myself to do the same with a lot of Tyla Pallas’ solo material as well. Some music just takes on a life of its own when everything else is pushed aside.
‘Saint Anthony’ has proven to be a tricky one for me and tends to get lost at time when I play the album. Part of the reason is I don’t have anything grabbing me consistently in the mix here yet. I will spend some time with this song as part of my late night approach to see what pops out at me then. ‘Sugar’ immediately connected with me with the electric guitar getting a chance to make more of an impact and several vocal hooks embedded into the song as well. This is another one that could have clearly been made into a rock song with a slightly different approach. It still hits harder than everything else on the album and probably stands as my favorite currently. Closing down the album in fine style is ‘Sunday Night.’ Shane incorporates some awesome dynamics in his vocals that showcase what an amazing vocalist he is. The middle section adds even more diversity to the song where the beat increases before falling off to close the song in a way that reminds me of slowly waking up from a dream.
While not every player will get a shout out here, it is important to mention that Chris Feinstein plays bass and contributes on the guitar across these songs. Additional guitar work was done by Doug Lancio who has worked with a variety of artists such as John Hiatt, Patty Griffin, and Nanci Griffith. ‘Boom’ and ‘Love Thing’ were recorded and produced in New York by Michael Tudor and Feinstein. I also want to think Jonathan Daniel who helped get this released so we could enjoy these 10 songs and tell Shane that we need to hear more from him.
Musically, this album brings forward a Shane that most have not seen. He spoke to me about being a chameleon where he can transition from one project to another and is currently working on finalizing details for his next project which will be another curveball that most will not see coming which I look forward to hearing. The vocals here sound amazing, even when the effects are added, and I think this is a key point that makes this release stand out versus what we often see in the mainstream. Shane is a killer singer who doesn’t need effects; he could stand on a corner and sing these songs as amazingly well. If you are familiar with his older work, I encourage you to give this a few listens and approach it with a fresh slate. The Unbelievable Truth? This album needs to be in your collection, just like the other albums with Shane’s singing.
This September, The Cult‘s 1989 album Sonic Temple turns 30 and for its birthday those lovely people at Beggars Arkive are giving it a 5 CD, 53 – track deluxe makeover, along with a couple of rather special vinyl editions to boot.
Across the 5 CDs you get the original album on disc 1, alternate edits, mixes, extended versions and acoustic versions on disc 2, limited-release demos on discs 3 & 4 and Live at Wembley recorded by the BBC on disc 5. Six of the live tracks are previously unreleased.
So lets take it one disc at a time….
Disc 1 contains the Bob Rock, Sonic Temple album, complete with its 3 UK top 40 hit singles (Fire Woman, Edie (Ciao Baby), Sun King). You know the score with this one, the follow-up to the Rick Rubin produced mega-album Electric, that took The Cult into the arenas and stadiums of America. Listen back to it, it has the late MTV eighties sheen and while not quite up there withit’s predecessor (at least for me), it’s still a damn fine album, that certainly did the business, shifting in excess of 1.5 million copies in the USA alone. The album catapulted The Cult into superstar status, job done!
Disc 2 is more a luxury than a necessity. You get short, long and very very long versions of the album’s singles, along with a very unnecessary radio advert for the album. Though amongst the chaff there are some jewels. Single b-sides Messin’ Up The Blues, Medicine Train, The River and most notably Bleeding Heart Graffiti are fine reminders of those great singles tucked safely up in the attic.
Now onto the really interesting stuff, the Sonic Temple demos. During 1988, The band recorded the first (14-track) demo version of this album with soon to be KISS drummer, Eric Singer. Then, a further 15-track demo version of the record with Bob Rock’s drummer, Chris Taylor. Twenty of those 29 tracks are presented here across 2-discs, a fine treat they are.
Disc 3 presents 6 of the 10 tracks that made it to the final album (New York City, American Horse, Sun King, Automatic Blues, Fire and Wake Up Time For Freedom), along with future B-sides (Medicine Train and The River) and a couple of also-rans ( Yes Man and Citadel ). Even at this early stage you can hear why Fire was a chorus short and a drum more than the classic Fire Woman hit single it became and why Yes Man got dropped. This disc is a great listen, sounding really stripped down and raw. Sure, Billy over-plays it throughout, chucking in what seems like every lick he knows and Ian’s vocals are rough but that’s cool, very cool.
Disc 4 is bursting with another 10 demo tunes and along with the previous disc make this package an essential purchase for any self respecting Cult fan. This time only Edie (Ciao Baby), New York City, Medicine Train and Fire (Woman) feature from the final album, with another largely lost 6 tunes (The Crystal Ocean, Cashmere, Bleeding Hearts Revival, My Love, Star Child and Spanish Gold) making up the numbers. While the content is a little more sketchy than on Disc 3, it’s a great listen. The whole CD is pretty much a Zep-out, not only from the obvious lift of Cashmere but the general stripped down vibe of the whole thing. Billy’s playing is a little more restrained and Ian’s vocals a little more hesitant and thoughtful but, the jam demo of Spanish Gold is a real gem.
Disc 5 pulls together 9 tracks from a BBC recorded Wembley live show. While 3 of the 9 tunes (American Horse, Soul Asylum and Sweet Soul Sister ) have previously appeared as B-sides, 6 of them are previously unreleased. It’s a decent listen but nothing particularly exciting. Just your standard soundboard kind of recording. Astbury sounds like an out of breath yank, Duffy riffs like a muther fucker and even Jamie Stewart gets a bit of a bass solo…. it’s cool but nothing earth shattering and hardly the pick of the vaults. Much like Disc 2, this isn’t a disc you’ll rush back to time-and-again.
All this loveliness comes packaged in book form with rare photographs and interviews with the band by journalist James Brown, though I’ll have to wait until the official release to check that all out.
There are also another vinyl two editions of this bad boy to seperate you from your hard earned cash. Firstly, there’s a double re-vamped 16 track reissue of the original album, spread across 2 discs and adding 6 B-sides to the original 10-track LP. Secondly, there’s a mouth watering limited (to 3000) mega box set containing three slabs of vinyl (featuring the original album, B-sides and live tracks), along with a cassette of demos plus tour memorabilia and other goodies (replica of original laminate, backstage pass, original press releases and label copy and more). Not sure why the hell anyone would want the demos on a cassette to be honest as they are the highlight of the package so why shoove them on a hipster format you can’t listen to…. unless of course it comes with a download code.
So where does that leave us? While not as essential as 2013 Electric/Peace Train re-issue, £35 for the CD box-set is a great deal. The double LP at £22 is an attractive proposition too, though weighing in at a hefty £85, the box-set may be for the hardcore only.
The Cult bring there Sonic Temple anniversary tour to the UK this coming October. Dig deep and check it out, it’ll be a hell of a night out !!!
Arizona in the early 90’s generally is known for jangly rock along the lines of the Gin Blossoms, Refreshments, Dead Hot Workshop, Piersons, and Pistoleros. That wasn’t all Arizona had to offer though as the Meat Puppets would see a surge in popularity after being covered by Nirvana, and other bands like Jesus Chrysler Supercar brought in the grunge and 90’s rock elements in their own ways. In addition, N17 (November 17) found themselves signed to Slip Disc Records. Amidst this musical garden of excellence, the Beat Angels incorporated glam, rock, punk, and a ton of fun in their music that equally set them apart from the “popular” Arizona sound. People often say that timing is everything, and I believe that is very much the case of what went wrong for these guys. If they had been on either coast playing these songs in the mid to late 80’s, I believe they would have been signed and done very well on a national level. They had the songs, the live show, the image, and the charisma to find stardom. Check out the writing credits for ‘Sideshow’ on Alice Cooper’s ‘The Last Temptation’ album, and you will find a Beat Angels connection. Much the same could be said for DGeneration at the time who embraced more punk than glam but found themselves marketed all wrong in my opinion since punk was becoming all the rage at the time. Let’s get this back on the Beat Angels though, and the legacy they left through their two official albums of the time and the songs that snuck out afterwards.
The Beat Angels likely came to my attention via a co-worker who was a huge fan of the band, and we shared a lot of favorite bands so it was only natural that I would find my way to shows by the Beat Angels. The live shows were nothing short of amazing with the raw edge of the band always present along with the vocal harmonies that made every song a ‘raise your glass and sing along’ song. I saw them at many places in the Phoenix area with Hollywood Alley in Mesa probably being my favorite venue to see them. As a side note, I was always extremely partial to Hollywood Alley as the sound there was amazing, and I saw the likes of Tyla (Dogs D’amour), Electric Frankenstein, and plenty of other bands there too. Back to our topic though, the Beat Angels were a blend of visual styles with each member bringing their own identity to the band. The photo from Brian Smith (vocals) Facebook page providers an idea of what you would see when they took the stage each night.
The band released two albums independently on the Arizona based Epiphany Records, who I will note also released tremendous albums by the Refreshments and the Piersons that continue to be played by me. Both of the Beat Angels’ albums were produced by Gilby Clarke who should really need no introduction from his time with Candy, Kill for Thrills, GN’R, and solo work amongst others. The debut ‘Unhappy Hour’ has some rougher edges overall in the production which serves the band well, even if it does not get to the rawness of their live show. The straight ahead power pop rock of ‘Hung Over With Jenny’ serves as a great introduction. Brian Smith’s vocals have an identity all their own and fit the music perfectly. They are immediately accessible, easy to understand, and make you think you can sing as well as him…. until you try and fail miserably. This song also lets the listener know something else right away; these songs are going to tell stories that paint the picture and deliver a narrative. It is a gift Smith has continued to use today as an author. Consider the bridge which goes ‘Work is always the curse of the drinkin classes she said. Midnight and it’s the end of the ball. Little Cinderella’s gotta crawl back in her bottle.’ Where awesome bands like the Dogs D’amour/ Tyla might lyrically feel grittier and more Bukowski influenced, Smith had a more romantic and sentimental tone, even when everything might be going wrong for the character in the song.
‘Grow Up’ breaks down the door while never losing its pop edge in the chorus where you suspect it could have been used in an edgy Saturday morning cartoon back in the day. The sentiment of all the realities of being a grown up leave us wanting to retain our youth and the joys that come with it. Smith again paints a character portrait on ‘The Most Beautiful Loser in Town’ which features an addictive pre-chorus that unloads into a massive hook in the chorus. I always thought this should have been the song featured on a local compilation album (‘Buzz’) back around that time as it is simply perfect. The band kept the adrenalin up with ‘Idiot Train’ being one of my live favorites. Jon Norwood’s (RIP) drums give way to a beautiful melody that combines a quiet verse with an upbeat tempo and a slightly jagged chorus. They then completely turned the tables with the acoustic rock based ‘Too Much Jazz’ being one of those songs that, for me, hits as hard as ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ does for many Manic Street Preachers’ fans. Smith again paints the scene with his lyrics perfectly with the opening line of ‘shopping malls only bring you down; they’re the last cathedrals in town’ highlighting how much has changed over the years with the shopping malls slowly fading into memory as people shift to staying home and buying everything through the glow of their phones and tablets.
Getting past the halfway point of the album with the glam infused ‘Scaredy Cat’ keeping the album in classic territory with the tasteful backing vocals taking the chorus to a different level. Another song that would have made a great single follows in ‘I Love You Sometimes.’ The guitar work of Keith Jackson and Michael Brooks is awesome across the albums as they give each song everything it needs without going overboard. This song can inspire some air guitar workouts where you find yourself also providing karaoke backing vocals at the same time. ‘Name Your Trash’ might not hit me quite the same way all these years later as I seem to remember it was an early favorite from the album. It is a very nice mash up of power infused pop and glam.
I would consider ‘She’s a Setting Sun’ an exceptional ballad that really doesn’t hit any of the formulas of the day. The guitar at the beginning almost finds a bit of a twang as everything comes down to acoustic guitar and vocals for the first verse before everyone comes back through the chorus. They stay far wide of the power ballad label with this one really feeling more like a mellower song with a really nice brief guitar solo. The driving beat of ‘Jaded’ increases the tempo again but doesn’t connect with me nearly as much as the rest of the album. Closing song on the debut ‘Don’t Kiss Me’ holds the distinction of being the song that was featured on the local compilation I mentioned earlier, which has always been odd to me. At under two minutes, the song carries a bit more swagger and punk attitude. I don’t think the studio version hits nearly the same as it did live though. The chorus is really simple which I thought put it at odds with a lot of the other songs they could have used. It works fairly well as the album closer and is not one to be skipped even if it is not at the standard of the live show.
The band stayed with Epiphany Records (who would soon fade away) for album number two which simply continued the magic. The rocking ‘Snot’ carries with it a bit more venom than their debut album. The album carries a slightly more live feel than the debut, and the release party for this album was an incredible show. Ironically, the opener is probably the one I skip if I am pressed for time. The staccato guitar that opens ‘You’re a Wreck’ gives way to another catchy song that does a fine job of setting the stage for the album and everything that follows. Something funny happens when you listen to this album the first few times, there is a good chance that you will really love the first two songs and think the band has done a great job of building on their debut. What you don’t realize yet though is that this album is only getting ready to explode into one of the most wonderful things you will ever hear.
‘My Glum Sugar-Plum’ starts the trip into the stratosphere with the opening line being ‘She looked like Marianne Faithful in 1965; a pop-tart all gin and cigarettes, lips and heaven.’ The chorus here is huge and gets everyone quickly singing along. In some universe, this song is as huge as other power pop masterpieces. The brief acoustic guitar outro takes us into ‘Glitter Girl’ where the band again find the perfect sweet spot to maximize the melody and give it some rock at the same time. The rhythm work of Tommy Caradonna (bass) and Frankie Hanyak (drums) is simply magical. The chorus slices deep into your memory with each listen. They then follow it up with the incredible ‘Saturday Punks’ which hits hard and again comes with a monster chorus that in part features this opening line ‘Saturday punks, dumber than junk, don’t even know about Strummer and Jones.’ The guitar work of Jackson and Brooks again getting plenty of space to shine. It ends the first half of the album on an incredible high.
Remarkably, the band continue to push the envelope even higher with the classic ‘Crashing Back to Her.’ This is catchier than the plague in the dark ages and a magical elixir that immediately puts a smile on your face as you sing every word. The tempo is quick but still contains a poppiness that shines on the album. ‘Keep It Up’ is an interesting one for me as I remember someone telling me that it would be their huge breakthrough hit. I am thankful that it didn’t as I don’t know if I would appreciate it as much today if it had been played nonstop back in 1997. The hook is simple and designed for everyone to sing which runs the risk of it feeling repetitive. Within the space of the album though, it feels magical and one I look forward to hearing. I’m sure everyone has similar experiences with songs that they initially loved before it was oversaturated on the radio and television. One of mine would be ‘No Rain’ by Blind Melon which I loved within the context of their debut, but I struggle to play it much now.
‘Crashing Back to Her’ might be my favorite song by the Beat Angels which probably means I don’t need to say much about it based on the praise I have heaped on the other songs. It has seemingly collected every nuance of the band and created this amazing 4 minute flawless burst. Another live favorite follows with ‘Hey Little Peep-Show’ keeping the rock swaggering with a pre-chorus that could have been the hook leading into an even bigger chorus. ‘Cinnamon Says’ is the last listed track on the album and would have been an awesome closer on its own as it features a catchy guitar riff with the song only getting more and more addictive as it goes. The band then threw in an unlisted cover of ‘Celebrate Summer’ by T.Rex, which fits the album perfectly.
That was sadly where things disappeared in terms of releases, outside of ‘Liquor Pig Boyfriend’ appearing on one of the ‘Ultra Under Trash on Demand’ compilations put together by Jeff Dahl. I highly suggest you track down those compilations by the way as there are some amazing artists that need to be heard. There was a third Beat Angels album though that was recorded and fell into the darkness of time. Some of these songs were released on the limited edition best of ‘Holy Mother of Christ! It’s the Beat Angels.’ This third album called ‘Let It Beat’ found the group continuing to evolve musically with the opening ‘Girl Walking Backwards’ feeling contemporary and classic at the same time. It could have likely earned a lot of college radio play with its melodic chorus begging to be sung and the guitar popping out of the speaker. The pace increases with ‘She Shoots Starlight’ feeling like something from ‘Unhappy Hour’ with its catchy chorus and guitar licks both leaving their hooks in the listener.
Brian Smith kept spinning creative lyrics that allowed the likes of ‘She Shoots Starlight’ to sit comfortably next to ’24 Hour Porn Star Shine.’ The melodies remained huge with the band maintaining a rocking vibe that still recalled the influences from their debut while perhaps not being quite as gritty at times. Please make no mistake though, this would have in no way been a sell-out album. This was a band that was fully realizing the diversity they could offer while always still sounding like the Beat Angels. With that in mind, ‘Liquor Pig Boyfriend’ could have been written and recorded at any point in the band’s life. The rocking gutter glitter glam giving way to an easy to sing hook and beat that will make you want to hop around the room. ‘Gutter Snobs’ ends the first half of the album with a guitar hook that reminds me of something Andy McCoy might have done post Hanoi Rocks in the 80’s. The chorus here relaxes the backing vocals with the guitar lick being the hook that stays with me after repeated listens.
Kicking off the back half of the album is the politely titled ‘Whorehouse Priest,’ which is another of my favorites by the band. Some tasty backing vocals in the background provide the song even more texture and really showcase that the mainstream could have started phasing in the Beat Angels alongside the Marvelous 3 and other turn of the century rockers. ‘Misery Becomes You’ starts gently before exploding into a straight forward rocker that is an enjoyable album track for me but has not been one I seek out to play on its own.
The acoustic based ‘Little One’ again highlights that the band was not interested in writing straight forward ballads. This feels much more like an acoustic based song from the 70’s with its melodies flying out of the speakers and lifting birds into the air. The band then crank the amps back up for ‘Stay With Me.’ The band lay down an addictive chorus that you want to hear again and again. This remains one of the songs that sadly will never be heard by people and quite honestly feels like discovering a diamond in a mine that was closed. Wrapping up the album is a cover of ‘Terminal Love’ which fits perfectly on the album. I might have made another song the closer, but that seems like useless complaining when this album was never officially released.
Three albums by a band that never had an opportunity to release an album for a major or well known independent record company that should have catapulted them into the spotlight. The packaging on ‘Unhappy Hour’ and ‘Red Badge of Discourage’ are top notch as well so I highly recommend tracking down physical copies of those albums. These albums have remained in my rotation for over 20 years, and I do not see that changing anytime soon. The release of the best of and discovering the third album several years ago were a blessing as I got to hear even more by these guys. If you know these albums, spend some time spinning them and enjoying these songs all over again. If you don’t know them, start searching for them and enjoy some sonic pleasure that needs to be experienced.
The third video from ‘beauty re-envisioned’. This NEW version of the T. REX classic features the late Marc Bolan’s son, Rolan Bolan on lead vocals along with The Mission UK’s main-man Wayne Hussey.
Rolan Bolan: lead vocals
Wayne Hussey: guitar and harmony vocals
Michael Ciravolo: guitar, vocals
Tish Ciravolo: bass
Michael Rozon: drums
Scarlett Perry: piano
LA-based collective Beauty in Chaos presents their new single ’20th Century Boy’ feat. Rolan Bolan and Wayne Hussey, with a fun-filled retro-inspired video, created by Industrialism Films and directed by Vicente Cordero. Here Bolan onoring the legacy of his father Marc Bolan, along with The Mission’s main-man and Beauty in Chaos mastermind Michael Ciravolo.
This track is off the new Beauty in Chaos album ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’. This rendition definitely sounds more like T.Rex than the industrial-fueled version featuring Ministry’s Al Jourgensen that appears on Beauty In Chaos’s debut ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’.
“Once Rolan (son of Marc Bolan and singer Gloria Jones) agreed to be part of this, I wanted to recut the track with much more of the sultry swagger from the original. We added a growly sax and some cool Mott the Hoople meets New Orleans honkey-tonk piano to enhance the vibe we wanted. I probably would not be playing electric guitar if it was not for Marc Bolan. This is my big thank you … and I have been blessed to be able to enlist some great company to help me say it,” says Michael Ciravolo.
“Getting to record and perform this song with Marc’s son and Wayne Hussey is one of those oft-mentioned surreal moments in BIC.”
Rolan Bolan explains his involvement in the project: “When Michael came to me about Beauty In Chaos and doing ‘20th Century Boy’ , I first thought ‘here we go again, another T. Rex cover, but once I heard the track and talked with him about the love and respect he has for my father’s music it just made sense. It was great timing for me as I was just beginning to get back into making music and we just clicked in the studio. My Dad was so influential to so many, and at times it’s been hard for me to understand what that really means. I’m really proud of what we’ve done here and I believe he would be too.”
“It is, of course, a huge pleasure to be playing guitar and singing on ‘20th Century Boy’, one of Marc Bolan’s best-known songs. And a transcendent honour to be doing so behind Rolan Bolan, Marc’s son. When Michael Ciravolo told me that Rolan was going to be involved I virtually begged Michael to let me be involved in this project. Bless him, despite being more than capable of handling all the guitar parts himself Michael did deign to let me have a strum, and a yodel, along. There’s another one off my bucket list! Cheers, Michael. And Rolan,” says Wayne Hussey.
Hussey’s love for T. Rex and Marc Bolan runs deep, as detailed in his recently released ‘Salad Daze’ autobiography, out now via Omnibus Press.
“I was reborn. It was a Thursday evening, early January 1972, getting on for 8pm. I was 13 going on 14 years old. That evening the course of my life was changed irrevocably forever. I saw my destiny in a blinding flash of glitter, a touch of mascara and dark curls. From that moment I knew I was pre-ordained. I was gonna be a rock star. Well, somebody has to be, don’t they, so why not me?
I had just watched Marc Bolan and T. Rex dazzle the nation on the institutional British TV show, Top Of The Pops. Miming to ‘Telegram Sam’, the new number one single in the charts, Bolan pranced and preened across our TV screens and straight into the hearts of teens, dividing the generations for perhaps the first time since The Beatles had done so almost ten years before.
That was it for me. In one fell swoop I no longer wanted to be Kevin Keegan, I wanted to be Marc Bolan. Bolan had better hair than Keegan and was far prettier. It looked like a really good job to me, playing guitar and singing, being on TV and being screamed at by girls. And even some boys. And a darn sight more agreeable and easier than all the dedication, training and physical exercise required to become a professional footballer.
Switching allegiances as easy as finding sand in a desert, down came my posters of Keegan, Ray Clemence, Tommy Smith (!) et al and up went centre page pull-outs from Jackie and Disco 45 of dear beloved Marc. Marc Bolan was my first and, still to this day, an enduring love.
I was T. Rex crazy and, like a million other kids, I would pose in front of the mirror with a tennis racket, pretending to play guitar while singing along to Bolan. The first LP I ever bought was Electric Warrior, maybe a month or two later after saving up enough money from my paper round wages. Electric Warrior is a fantastic album and it’s still high on my list of best albums ever. I love the earthiness of its sound, the funkiness, the otherworldly mystical lyrics, the simplicity of the songs, the instrumentation, the guitar playing, the backing vocals of Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (better known as The Turtles), but most of all, it’s that voice, that extraordinarily fey, quivering, tactile Bolan voice that just oozes sexual exuberance.”
Beauty in Chaos’ also involves numerous other music luminaries, including Simon Gallup (The Cure), Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), producer Tim Palmer, guitar icon Zakk Wylde, Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Paul Wiley (Marilyn Manson), Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), Betsy Martin (Caterwaul / Purr Machine), Marc Danzeisen (The Riverdogs), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine / Kommunity FK), Rudy Matchinga (Red Scare), and Tish Ciravolo (StunGun/ Daisy Rock Guitars).
‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ is available on deluxe CD, limited-edition heavy-weight colored vinyl, and digitally, with a Spotifyversion to appear later. CDs and vinyl can be ordered directly from Beauty in Chaos at www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store. Apart from the 14 core tracks, orders placed via the website also come with 11 bonus remixes.
It’s been nine long years since Fabienne Delsol’s third solo album, ‘On My Mind’, and I had become resigned to the idea that she had left music behind her. Which, considering she had seemed carved from my francophone dreams, was hard to accept. She has graced us with three albums of 60s inspired beat and psyche pop, as if visiting us briefly to improve our dull world.
Mais, non! Monsieur Daley m’a dit qu’elle va sortir un nouveau album. And ‘Four’ is all I could have dreamed of. While maintaining the influence of a young Françoise Hardy, Fabienne’s sound is maturing to slightly darker places. Back again at Toerag Studios, but now co-producing with Luke Oldfield, this is the sound of Fabienne in control of her muse.
‘See How They Run’, with fuzz-guitar melody, brings us back to where she left off. Like a lost, ephemeral classic. ‘Ladder’s acoustic intro gives way to an organ-fuelled groove, which also gives ‘Door Knob’ a more sinister tone, though it still swings. I think Rudi Protrudi would approve.
Another catchy original ‘So Many Could Not’ is followed by the first choice of cover version, ‘When I Awake’. Yes, the Quo tune is pared back but retains its quirky charm. ‘The Face’ by the Human Beinz is an inspired choice, but the standout cover is Françoise Hardy’s ‘J’ai Fait De Lui Un Rêve’. If I still had hairs on the back of my neck, they’d be standing up.
‘I’ll Never Be Lonely Again’ takes a Beatley, meandering path, while ‘Hurtin’ Kind’ ends the album on a groovy note. If, like me, you feel like you were born in the wrong time, and beat-pop-psyche nuggets are your thing, I can’t recommend this album enough. The world is a better place with Fabienne Delsol in it. Merci, Fabienne, mille fois.
Keith John Moon was born in North West London and grew up in Wembley. He was described as a hyperactive child (no shock there) he failed his 11 plus and one teacher described Moon as, “Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects” so there was only one thing for the young lad to do and that was to get behind a drum kit and exert some of that boundless energy and mischief and at least people knew where he was when he was sat behind a drum kit. It would also not come as a surprise to find out that Moon also had a tendency to show off.
He learned the basics of drumming from a shop on the Ealing road in West London.
After knocking about in local bands Moon joined The Who in 1964 just before they recorded their debut single it is also a fact that as the band got older Moons kit expanded like his wasteline and he is also recognized as one of the first to employ a double bass kit.
Its also fair to say that Moon was known for his off stage antics as much as his talents behind the kit as his love of the goons spilled over with his tomfoolery he is remembered for some of his wild man antics that often spilled over and quickly became the stuff of legend.
Moon had a reputation for smashing his kit on stage and pioneered the fine art of redecorating hotel rooms when on tour. He also had a fascination with blowing up toilets with home made cherry bombs or dynamite, and lobbing television sets from his Hotel Room via the nearest window. Its fair to say Moon enjoyed the trappings of success and tour life and became bored and restless when the Who were inactive. His 21st birthday party in Flint, Michigan, is the perfect example of decadence and the stuff of legend.
It wasn’t all fun and games for Moon as he suffered a number of blows during the 1970s, most notably the accidental death of chauffeur Neil Boland and the breakdown of his marriage. He became addicted to alcohol, always seen waving a bottle of brandy or quaffing champagne. After all not everybody had the nickname “Moon the Loon” (it was a well earned name by all accounts).
Moon recorded a solo album after moving to LA even if it was poorly received ‘Two Sides of the Moon’. By the mid ’70s he was known to pass out on stage and was also hospitalised due to his excessive behaviour. By their final tour with him in 1976, and particularly during production of ‘The Kids Are Alright’ and ‘Who Are You’, People began to notice the drummer’s deterioration physically and mentally. Moon moved back to London in the late ’70s, sadly he passed away in ’78 in September from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug he was prescribed to treat or prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.
Its believed Moon had wanted to get sober, but he wanted to do it at home rather than be admitted into a Hospital. Clomethiazole is discouraged for unsupervised use because of its addictive potential, and its risk of death when mixed with alcohol. The pills were prescribed by Geoffrey Dymond, a physician who was unaware of Moon’s lifestyle. Dymond prescribed a bottle of 100 pills, instructing him to take one pill when he felt a craving for alcohol but not more than three pills per day. Clearly someone who knew of Moons lifestyle would never have prescribed the drug unless he was admitted to Hospital and supervised properly and not let him self prescribe.
In September of 1978 just before his passing Moon was having difficulty playing the drums and according to a roadie Dave “Cy” Langston. After seeing Moon in the studio trying to drum on ‘The Kids Are Alright’, he said, “After two or three hours, he got more and more sluggish, he could barely hold a drum stick.”
On 6 September, Moon and Walter-Lax were guests of Paul and Linda McCartney for The Buddy Holly Story. After returning home, Moon asked Walter-Lax to cook him steak and eggs. When she objected, Moon replied, “If you don’t like it, you can fuck off!” These were to be his his last words. Moon then took 32 tablets. When Walter-Lax checked on him the following afternoon, she discovered he was dead.
Moon’s passing came shortly after the release of ‘Who Are You’. On the album cover, he is straddling a chair to hide his weight gain; the words “Not to be taken away” are on the back of the chair. Not the way such an iconic drummer should have gone thats for sure. Such a waste of life and talent its no surprise that we’re still writing and talking about a drummer that gave so much to Rock and Roll and lived it like he loved it and paid the ultimate price. Rest In Peace Moon The Loon you legend!
For his most iconic act of Rock and Roll excess it has to be the rumour that he drove his Rolls Royce into his swimming pool but this was just one of many stories that have done the rounds over the years. Whilst it might be generally frowned upon and some of his most UN PC excesses you’d never be able to indulge in these days back in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s it was generally uncharted waters.
On Steve Marriott’s birthday he was given a record player from his Record Company as a gift that he proceeded to break after it made the record jump so incensed was the Birthday boy that he promptly threw it out of the window. Not to be outdone and taking his queue from his mate Moon proceeded to empty the contents of the entire room out of the window. After receiving a new player Moon entered Marriott’s room the following night only to unplug the player and sling it out the window like the previous one quickly followed by the rest of the contents of the room. Moons new favourite past time was a costly exercise in excess and one that has been repeated throughout the decades by many many bands the world over. Moon is believed to have been the instigator.
He was run over by a bus, Went on the razz with Oliver Reed and once filled his room with a bevvy of naked Swedish ladies. Sat on the Bonnet of his Rolls Royce naked whilst being driven through London looking for John Lennon. He drove a hovercraft dressed as Rommel that broke down on a railway track the mans tales are legendary and had he not died such a tragic death you wonder how long it would have been before one of his excess filled nights would have caught up with him. still my favourite is still the time he and his roadie packed the bass drum full of explosives and almost blew Townsend’s head off. Brilliant. They just don’t make them like Moon The Loon anymore, Do they?
Fast rising Brighton based ska punkers The Bar Stool Preachers are just about to embark on their biggest UK headline tour to date, whilst tickets for the legendary Cock Sparrer’s 2020 Not The Albert Hall UK club tour are one of the hottest on the scene right now.
RPM caught up with Preachers’ vocalist T.J McFaull and bassist Bungle along with Colin McFaull lead singer with Cock Sparrer just a few weeks ago at Rebellion Festival to talk all about…well, just about anything really.
What follows is RPM interview gold as father and son (plus Bungle) ‘Take ‘Em All’ on ‘One By One’ whilst ‘Looking Lost’ in the interview seat is one Johnny H.
The last time I was sat in this very bar I was interviewing you Colin and I asked you this very question, so here it is with a very subtle twist. See if you can spot it.
I was stood watching you last night when it suddenly dawned on me that when The Bar Stool Preachers do the 20th Anniversary ‘Gracie Governo’ tour I’ll be 72 years old, so T.J. and Bungle tell me what’s it like to be young? (laughing)
T.J.: (laughing) Well we’ve never been busier; we’ve never been more successful and we’ve never been more broke. So, it’s brilliant being young. Although the years seem to be flying at the moment and suddenly, we do have to stop and think “have we really played this place six or is it seven times now”, and you kind of have to forget you are young and just crack on.
Bungle: The one thing people forget though is that being in a band doubles your age rate. (laughing)
TJ: Yeah it’s that and its also as a band you’re only as young or old sorry as your youngest member
Bungle; Why did you look at Col when you said that?
T.J.: Well Daryl is keeping ‘em tempered, to the ground (laughing) and we’ve got Whibs in the band our drummer (Alex Whibley-Conway) and he’s only 23 years old. So we really are a very young band (looking to Colin – and then follows loads of laughter)
We were only commenting yesterday that he’s a real powerhouse for the band.
T.J.: Yeah we met him when he was 19. That’s how long we’d struggled on with our old drummer, and we kind of groomed him into it more than anything. The first couple of tours we let him do anything, let him run wild. Then it was next couple of tours smack the shit out of him if he did anything wrong and the subsequent 7 or 8 tours, he’s been nothing short of amazing.
He was a jazz drummer first and the way he plays music is just so intuitive and as such this next album is going to be so heavily drums lead. That’s its just really fucking fun to listen to.
As I wasn’t expecting to get all of three of you in this interview, I’ll open this one up to Colin too. What’s it really like to play the Empress Ballroom at Rebellion?
Colin: Well this year will be our sixth time of playing it going right back to the days when the stage was on the other side of the room, and I’ll be honest it’s a difficult room, largely because the sound is not always great in there due to the acoustics, but the crowd are always fantastic.
I think we still hold the record, yeah we had 6,500 in there back in 2008, and for health and safety reasons they now have a cap on it so you never get more than 3 to 3,500 in there.
T.J.: As we found out yesterday (referring to the fact that people were turned away when The Bar Stool Preachers were on stage due to the venue capacity having been reached)
Colin: It’s just a really great venue
So what was it like for you guys? (pointing at T.J. and Bungle)
T.J.: Bungle (laughing)
Bungle: Yeah, it was crazy. Words cannot do it justice; it was just mental. As we set up we could see the crowd as far back as the sound desk, then we came on lights went up and more people seemed to be in, then 2 or 3 songs in the lights went up and I stopped and turned to Tom and went “what’s going on? Have you seen this?” (laughing)
TJ: The response yesterday was phenomenal. Opening with ‘One Fool Down’ and first time in the big boy room, it could have all fallen flat on its face with about 100 people singing but less than 30 seconds into that first song it really did feel like there was 2,000 people shouting those words back as us.
Colin: What was really interesting from my point of view was having been to a few shows, as you can probably imagine. It’s gone from a couple of rows of people knowing the words to where I was stood last night (around 14 rows back) everyone around me knew every word.
You guys did genuinely seem moved by the reaction.
Bungle: I welled up I must admit.
TJ: I nearly cried during ‘One Fool Down’ when it got to the “Never Look Down” bit when that went off the first time, that stopped me taking that next breath and I looked around at Bungle and he was like the Blackpool Beach caricature of a dog with the biggest bone he’s ever seen (growling and laughing) and smiling from ear to ear.
Bungle: I wasn’t crying it was sweat in my eye okay? (laughing)
Do you still get that same buzz Col when you are headlining the Empress?
Colin: Always.
I was only saying to Tom earlier, people always ask us how long are you going to continue doing Cock Sparrer and I say as long as people pack out venues and sing the songs and enjoy themselves that’s good enough for us. When they stop, we’ll stop and it’s as simple as that.
TJ: You know the reason Rebellion is so special is that it is the one event a year where the various sections of the UK punk scene do come together with like one purpose, to have a great time. When we played at 5 pm yesterday it felt to me like the crowd all felt like they had part ownership in the band as they were all responsible for making it such a great event. Same when Cock Sparrer plays, everyone in there feels a part of that band, and their support really means something. That right there is amazing and it’s only at Rebellion here in the UK that you really get that.
At this point, I’d like to take you back to 2014 and a rainy night outside the Melkweg in Amsterdam. That night Tom you gave me and Nev (at the time we were both there covering that European Rebellion event for Uber Rock) your vision for this new ska-punk band you were forming. Five years on are you now anywhere near where you hoped you would be back then?
TJ: I’m there. I’m there (laughing) Yeah of course. We’re touring America 3 times in that the next 6 months. Plus, we’re putting out an album that people are potentially going to hear without us having to do 150 to 200 shows just to get it heard. We will still play that number of shows because we fucking love doing it, but it will get heard regardless now. So, 5 years down the line from that conversation I couldn’t be prouder of the boys in the band, how hard everyone’s worked, how much everyone’s sacrificed and just how good we all got at writing music. It’s been nothing but humbling every step of the way.
And the other person you mentioned being a part of that vision was of course Bungle, so what’s it been like for you?
Bungle: I remember when I first met Tom down on Brighton Beach which was a long time ago on a beautiful Summer’s evening and I said to him “this will be my last time for putting absolutely everything into doing a band” and he was like “cool okay” and now 5 years later I’m like “why did I say that?” (everyone explodes in laughter). What the hell have I let myself in for? Seriously though I don’t regret it for one second. It’s like all the bucket list things I’m getting to do, playing the Empress, touring with Bouncing Souls and The Bronx, playing with Street Dogs. The list just goes on now.
T.J: (who at this point turns to Colin) Well you’re taking a completely different band out with you next year so you won’t be on that list (again everyone falls about laughing)
Colin: To be fair you guys have put everything into it. You’ve not held back and as you said (pointing to Tom) being dedicated to it has been the only way of doing it.
Bungle: You get out what you put into it don’t you.
T.J: You know you sell somebody something and you say “it’s gonna be this” but you’re never 100% sure that’s what I did when I hoodwinked you and Nev in that bar in Amsterdam. I was all about telling you it was going to be like The Clash with this real puck rock ethic understanding the ska, reggae and roots origins of where that sound all comes from. I couldn’t believe that it actually turned into just that. (laughing)
Or that the bassist I told you about that night could become the bassist he is right at this moment. I tell you there is no other bass player writing stuff like Bungle.
Colin: And what you didn’t do was compromise. You’ve stuck to that ethic when it probably would have been easier to get gigs if you’d changed your sound a little to suit what was in at the time. You stuck to what you wanted to do from the beginning and persevered with that original dream.
Bungle: It’s one of those things like when we first started and had the foundation of what we wanted to be we could start to do our own thing and let it grow naturally and let it be what it’s going to be. If people like it then that’s wicked!
T.J: When we started this though every interview or article always seemed to have somewhere in it… and features the son of Cock Sparrer singer Colin McFaull, and when that stopped or seemed to stop was when those people actually came out and saw The Bar Stool Preachers. Largely because we went out and did 150-200 shows a year to show everyone what we did, and that allowed us to be us.
So, you don’t get that anymore? I mean firstly at Uber Rock and now here at RPM we’ve always tried to steer away from it.
T.J: Yeah from time to time, and yeah you guys didn’t and Dad and I were both like “Thank You for not mentioning it” but if you’re gonna sell tickets or clicks or whatever we understand. We all live in this same fucking rat race where you have to try and get yourself heard however you can, but you guys have always written about US first and that meant when you asked us for a chat we, of course, said “yes”.
Colin: We joked a few minutes ago about the UK run of shows Cock Sparrer are doing next year and us having another support band on with us. The simple truth is they have to distance themselves. They have to do their own thing. As I said to Tom if you’re in a situation a year from now where you’re looking to support Cock Sparrer in Wakefield then you’ve wasted a year somewhere. You should be bigger than that by then.
T.J: (shaking his head in disagreement) I get it, but you’re holding us back. If you think we’d go into that tour asking you to help us out and give us a gig then you are wrong. By doing it together we get to choose to do those shows.
Colin: What worries me, and this is the truth, is you commit to those dates now and it’s a year away and then say Rancid came and asked you to go on a world tour with them.
T.J: We would blow you out in heartbeat (this comment is followed by much laughter)
Colin: It’s a little commitment that could come back to bite you on the arse, that’s all I’m saying.
Bungle: It’s like when we go back to the really small venues like the Ilkeston thing and people say “you’re too big to play there”. We’re like “who gives a shit?” if we want to play a pub in the middle of nowhere to however many people, then we’ll do it.
T.J: And the Ilkeston thing (Ed: it’s changed now to later in the year and has been replaced this time around) has proved that point right because this time it’s the only all-ages show on the tour and people have bought tickets from four hours drive away. Just so they can bring their kids.
Okay so with things getting a little heated around the table here, here’s a real loaded gun question for you, and of course bearing in mind who is sat next to you (pointing at Tom). What’s been the real highlights of the first 4 or 5 years of The Bar Stool Preachers existence then?
T.J: That’s a great question, and its one we’ve not been asked before.
Bungle: There are multiple ones for a multitude of different reasons. I think The Slackers tour was our first big one and they really taught us a lot about being on the road
T.J: They communicate with each other as musicians on a level that I have not seen since. It’s like they communicate out of the corner of their eyes to a bandmate 10 foot away and suddenly its 1-2-3 and they are off, and as still relatively new musicians that is unbelievable to watch. So suddenly we’re going like “if they can do that, we can do that.”
Bungle: Perhaps what ties all this together is that whoever it is we are playing with when we learn something and take something away regarding how to do it better that is a highlight. So, going on tour with Sparrer I learned how to play my bass lower thanks to (Steve) Burgess (laughing), but whoever the band is we are always picking things up be it as musicians, or even something as silly as learning on how to get from A to B quicker.
T.J: You should try being normal size and not Bungle size and try sound checking his fucking bass and its touching your ankles (laughing)
Colin: The learning though never ends, that never stops and whatever band you play with you should be watching and learning about how to do things better.
T.J: So, cast your mind back to Mighty Sounds in the Czech Republic in 2017 (then follows a long silence as you can see Colin thinking) and Cock Sparrer have never done a call and response live before. Yeah, Bungle you can laugh it up as you were there for it, and I’m glad you were as this is proof. You had never done one before at the end of the set, and you saw it being done by another band and you said to me “I’m gonna do that.”
Colin: (laughing) And how was it?
T.J: (shouting) Much bigger than any of ours!!! (laughing) But at the end of the set, he did this mighty long note, looked over at me and Bungle and raised an eyebrow and I thought “I love that cunt”. (much laughter follows this comment)
Colin: Oh yeah that was the same gig that we put the backdrop up upside down. Intro kicks in big build-up crowd is going bonkers and backdrop falls to reveal the Forever logo upside down. (laughing). I was standing next to Will (Murray, Sparrer’s long-time road manager and sixth member) and said “Will the backdrop’s upside-down”, and he goes “yeah you’re right”, and I’m like “you’re not supposed to just agree with me you’re supposed to be like fuck yeah I’ll sort it now”. Brilliant!
T.J: To go back to the original question another highlight has been some of the incredible bills we’ve shared, Street Dogs taught us a lot, The Slackers, The Interrupters taught us a lot and Sparrer of course taught us a lot in the long run, and most definitely not how to put backdrops up. But to be good at something you learn in whatever you do in life, an apprentice chippie on a building site will watch how the others do things and take little things away to make life easier and that’s just what we do.
The next 2 years are going to be bigger and more exciting for us in terms of support slots than anything we’ve done so far, and that’s no disrespect to anyone I’ve mentioned so far, but we’re going back to play with Die Toten Hosen once again for an all-new run in front of 15 to 40,000 people, Bouncing Souls and The Bronx you know these are bands that we listened to growing up
Looking forward to the next Bar Stool Preachers album then, how much do current world events impact you as songwriters?
T.J: There’s a real disparity between reality and what people feel comfortable to say and experience in the real world. It’s really very, very hard to live without feeling like a hypocrite about feeling guilty with people going on about; you travel it’s your carbon footprint, you eat a steak you’re killing the environment. There’s nothing you can do that there isn’t some smart bugger going, “this is slightly wrong.”
For us, in terms of the message we put out for the first album we were almost talking in clichés, for the second album we were trying to tell stories. For album number 3 a lot of what we’ve got to say is about genuine questions we have to ask right now. That’s because right now is a very explosive time to come of age and it’s a great time to write about. I mean what happened at Grenfell? What happened to the Panama Papers? Why are British bombs destroying Yemen? Like where are these questions in our day to day life? If they are not there, then people, maybe like us, but we’re still a relatively small band, there are a hell of a lot bigger bands who could be saying a hell of a lot more, but why aren’t people saying it? Trouble is there aren’t that many flagship points that people can rally behind at the moment that’s not already propagated in fear and its really hard as a band to not talk about all this. In our opinion.
There are a lot of bands who write songs about summer and love and surfboards and all that and are playing the same fucking 3 chords over and over..and
Colin: (chipping in) What’s that about ironing boards? (everyone falls about laughing at this point)
So, can music really change the world?
T.J: You never understand the real themes and energies of life until you experience them for yourself. Your deaths your marriages your births whatever they may be and they don’t always happen as big things sometimes they are microcosms. Me I just feel the whole system needs a reboot.
How important is the US then to The Bar Stool Preachers?
Colin: Sorry I’d nodded off there for a minute. (Laughing) The US is one of the biggest markets out there but you have to come to play it to come to terms with it, you have to be clever about it and do it in a specific kind of way, you certainly can’t scattergun it. So as the guys tell me the more they go back, the more friends they make and the more records they sell so it’s all healthy.
With Sparrer the first time we went to the US was 2000, well we did go in 1978. We were coming out of the record deal we’d sold all our stuff to go, the idea being to take demo tapes and tout it around the record companies to see if there was any interest and we flew on Freddie Laker for £40 to New York we spent 3 days there and no one was interested. There was a guy who used to work at Decca had moved to the west coast so we thought we’d go and see him, so we drove across the Sates in an Oldsmobile with no air conditioning and then spent a couple of weeks in Los Angeles trying to get some interest.
T.J: You should have done some shows.
Colin: Yes, we should have, we just didn’t have the opportunity to do any. So, the first time we played there was 2000 and we did New York CBGB before we went up to Boston before flying to Los Angeles which was a riot and then ended up in San Francisco.
What about Bar Stool Preachers being the Def Leppard of the punk rock scene, as in breaking the US before the UK? I mean you are signed to an American label after all in Pirate’s Press.
T.J: (laughing) Def fucking Leppard…. Yeah alright. As for Pirate’s Press, like any good parents, they just let us do our own thing only do it more. For us its been more about redistribution of our efforts. Like we’re only doing this one headline UK tour this year in September (dates below) and that’s of course because we’re spending nearly 3 months in the US. We have this amazing fanbase in California and we don’t know where it started or where it came from and we are playing all the way through October with Badcop/Badcop who are fucking amazing.
As for the UK punk scene, I don’t think that’s there at the minute to be broken.
Do you not think that is kind of restricting your appeal though by simply labeling yourselves as punk?
TJ: Hmm that’s an interesting point because we do have the biggest demographic of non punk fans and I suppose that’s on top of us pulling 3000 people in the Empress at 5 pm on a Thursday afternoon.
So, are you like the punk band it’s okay for your mothers to like?
Bungle: Yeah I’ll take that. (laughing)
Colin: (laughing) I can just sense a new tattoo coming on here.
T.J: I suppose it’s how you look at punk. I think there are loads of new up and coming punk bands who aren’t going to be looking at it the same way as The Bar Stool Preachers do. Because for us punk is not a genre, it’s an ethos. Look I understand I’m really privileged to have grown up with this all around me and I can remember a lot of it right from the age of 6, so why wouldn’t I want to be in a punk band? Everything I knew that was cool before I knew what cool was was punk hands down. So, if the mainstream world isn’t into punk right now then maybe they fucking need to be. As an ethos.
We’ve never played as a punk band though, and we’ve never billed ourselves on a Cock Sparrer/Oi! ticket and that’s because we make the music we want to make and it’s about inclusion and community that is much bigger than punk.
With both of your bands planning extensive UK tours I just wanted to say how refreshing it is to see you doing this, and not playing just the odd one or two shows in London and Manchester like most other bands seem to do these days.
T.J: And which you did for many years (looking to Colin)
So why the extra dates?
Colin: For Sparrer there are two reasons really. 1.) is that Sparrer have always preferred It up close and personal and 2.) it’s the reaction we get when people see we are playing places like Wakefield. Now we’ve always been very privileged in that our fans our friends have been willing to travel to come and see us live so perhaps its now our turn to give something back and just like we’ve always done it to try and play places we’ve never done before and tick that box.
T.J: But you have a duty to your fans as leaders of the scene to give venues like the Robin 2 a little bit of time a little bit of daylight
Colin: And whilst I agree regarding this, it’s really more about making it easier for people to come and see us and not have to pay £400 to see us at a one-off in Amsterdam and instead they can pay £25 to see us in Newcastle or wherever. Of course, the real reason we’re doing it is because we had so much fun the last time we did it. I mean we played Cardiff and got out alive, that’s good enough for me (laughing)
Although Col one of the bands sat here is playing Cardiff on their upcoming tour and the other isn’t
(A cheer goes up from T.J and Bungle as I’m of course referring to their show in Clwb Ifor Bach on 21st September.)
T.J: Yes and I believe it’s only £10 a ticket for one of our shows too (laughing)
So just to wrap up what’s up next then for you both?
T.J: Loads more touring and of course album number 3
Bungle: To keep on writing better music and better songs really
T.J: For album number 3 the benefit is we now know what we’re doing, we’ve defined our sound, we know what our bits are. For us we found that some of our favourite recordings for the songs on ‘Gracie Governo’ were on our phones as voice notes and you know maybe we potentially overproduced those songs on the record. So, what we’re going to do on this next album is. We’ve got 35 songs we’re going to pick 20 and then over 8 days we’re going to record all of those songs live then we’re going to put them out there to get the opinions of people we love and respect – like mum. (cue much laughter) Then we’ll get 11 or 12 tunes that we can go in and record properly
Is there a temptation to drop more in the set?
TJ: That’s another great question. We think album number 1 is better than album number 2 because album number 1 was written with live audience feedback. When we played ‘Eye For An Eye’ last night second half I had no idea what was going on I was making it up as we went along. For album number 2 if we’d toured those for 12 months I think it would have been a much bigger album.
I’m not being critical of the last album I’m incredibly proud of Gracie Governo it’s just that the whole process was another of those learning points we’ll take into album number 3.
‘Late Night Transmission’ is another new one we played and that’s likely to be the lead track on the new album it’s our ‘Police And Thieves’. It’s a direct lift anyway, but don’t tell anyone. (laughing)
Colin: Mick Jones don’t exactly need the money. (laughing)
And what about Sparrer Col is there another album in you guys?
Colin: As I said to you all those years ago, we never say never. We’re in the fortunate position that as ‘Forever’ was funded by us we had control over everything, and that’s the only way we’d do another album. We’re certainly open to doing it and we’re writing new songs but as with ‘Forever’ if the content wasn’t going to be good enough, we certainly wouldn’t have released it. ‘Forever’ though we’re very proud of, and we love that album and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t do another one.
Well with that awesome prospect in mind is there anything you wanted to add just to finish off?
T.J: Just that with everyone seemingly wanting our band to succeed right now is extremely humbling and we’ve got some really great people pulling for us right now so I’d just like to say “Thank You” to all of those people, and I hope to see some you on the road over the next few months.
Colin: What’s been most refreshing for me this weekend has been how seeing how diverse the Preachers fanbase is, the lads mentioned before the interview about the older lady on the barrier and in front of me were two young children on their parents shoulders, and that’s what its always been about for me and Cock Sparrer. You can come and see us whatever your age, colour, religion or sexual orientation, if you want to come and hear the songs, we’re happy to have you there and its brilliant to see it’s the same with the Preachers.
T.J: And that’s because it’s about family and not business.
If you are looking to be a part of the family for either of the bands upcoming UK tours then you can catch them at the following venues;
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