Collider: Riots

This week you get not only myself and R-man's liner notes for the track Riots, but also a brand new exclusive video from award winning directors the Turrell Brothers!


C-bomb - This has its roots in a track of mine called Hot Riots, but is rawer and heavier. I really love the interplay between the guitar and bass in the middle section, it’s one of our most beautiful bits as a duo I think. Benn and Regan did the first mix of this without me and to my surprise and delight they’d gone for a “space bass” sound in the mid-section (a hallmark of my solo work that is usually shot down well before it makes it onto a GM track!).

R-Man – The unmistakable sound of small arms fire; this highlights the mixture of inspiration and mundane practicatility that goes into creating a GM track. We used to listen to a lot of Thelonius Monk who was famous for a stop/start technique with really heavy percussive attack. Riots reminds me of this, but i think its sound actually lies in my sloppy playing.  When I was a kid I listened to and learned to play along to  Reggae and Dub and so in Chris’ ears I was coming in “late” (or “right” as I was concerned) I recall having to really exaggerate the on beat in songs to get out of the habit, with this as prime example.  The middle section is pure Jah Wobble of course...

Collider: Hot Meat

Continuing our meandering journey through Collider, here's some insider info on Track 5, Hot Meat.


CW says - This is a descendant of a track I did a few years ago called OHM In A Storm. For the first guitar “solo” I had the idea of rigging up a Marshall cab as an extension to the Vox AC30 we were using throughout, and boxing me in between the two on my knees so I could get a bit silly with feedback without disturbing the mics on the Vox. We called it the Feedback Den, and an early favourite title for the album (from me anyway) was Postcards From The Feedback Den, until the Manic Street Preachers pipped us to the post with Postcards From A Young Man. Here's a photo of the action...

R-Man - Ridiculous name, stupid solo.  I Laugh my head off every time I hear it remembering C-Bomb scrabbling around on the floor like some shredding mole-man. The name was cheerfully stolen from the starter of a curry we had while breaking from the writing sessions this came from.  We tend to end live shows with this, by which point I’m reduced to shouting “ Hot Meat Hot Meat Hot Meat!” like a crazed restaurant owner/ bordello pimp.

Poison City Weekender

I just got back from a fantastic weekend in Melbourne, watching the cream of Australian punk bands playing across 3 days. So many shows and so many beers, unfortunately some of the details are a bit hazy, but here's what I recall:

Hopping on a plane straight from work on Friday, thanks to the miracle of human flight we got to the Tote Hotel in time to catch Grim Fandango, who were solid with some nice guitar interplay. Being 2 British beer drinkers it took most of GF's set for us to recover from the shock of an $11 pint! That pretty much pays for a night out in some pubs back home. Unfazed, we soldiered on, surrounded by our bearded brethren (I'm pretty sure I only saw 1 clean shaven guy the whole weekend!). Up next were my highlight of the night, I Exist. With 4 guitarists on stage, plus bassist, singer and drummer, it initially looked like there'd been a mix up with the scheduling and 2 bands were setting up at the same time. The singer looked like Wayne Campbell and sounded like Phil Anselmo, and the riffing had a heavy Pantera groove; all delivered with a tongue in cheek ("this song's about 500 women; it's called 1000 Boobs") - I had a massive grin on my face for the duration.

I think Luca Brasi are probably the first Tasmanian band I've seen, and I was not disappointed.'Nuff 'spec to the guitarist for sporting a Queen t-shirt. Rounding out the night after them was Extortion, playing the "fast, heavy, short" brand of anarcho-thrash pioneered by Napalm Death back in the day. I suspect they were scheduled last as the organisers knew it would be too much for some audience members, but I loved it and stayed for the duration.

Recovering from the Itchy Green Pants ale and the [well deserved] kebab, Saturday saw us roll up to the Old Bar in Fitzroy for some chilled out acoustic acts, and the first of many Mountain Goat beers. Wil Wagner roused the crowd with acoustic renditions of his Smith St Band anthems, but for me the highlight of the acoustic troubadours was Lincoln Le Fevre, another Tasmanian I believe and maintaining the success rate for the island state.

After a jazz apple cider followed by a successful trip to the Little Creatures flagship pub, we headed across town to the Corner in Richmond in time to see Restorations for the second Saturday in a row, having caught them at the Annandale in Sydney the previous week. A top notch US touring band; highly recommended. Inevitably it was now time for the ubiquitous Jamie Hay to make an appearance onstage, with the final ever gig for A Death in the Family, yet another solid act. Headlining the night was US "big name" Rival Schools, who were very good but I felt the pacing was a little off, RS being a little more considered and laid back after the high energy punk rock of the preceding bands. The Corner is a great venue but my advice to you is this: don't bother trying to get in a taxi; it's open warfare between arrogant cabbies and drunks down in Richmond. We eventually walked home and saw a possum weeing out of a tree.

Sunday's festivities took place in what, to a Melbourne noob like me, felt like the middle of nowhere, in a surprisingly large pub/venue called The Reverence in Footscray. We eventually found the 2nd, larger, stage concealed in a separate building out back, through an unassuming doorway, reminiscent of the "people training to be in a James Bond film" scene from Wayne's World. We were just in time for Milhouse, whose more dynamic and angular approach set them apart as another highlight for me. The camaraderie of the scene was evident, with Wil Wagner jumping onstage a couple of times to shout some extra vocals and exchange sweaty man hugs with the bass player. Back over at the front stage, Lincoln Le Fevre was making his second appearance, this time with a band backing him. Impressively he managed to pull off 2 distinct sets over the weekend that each felt perfectly arranged, rather than simply the same approach with different instrumentation.

Finally on the acoustic stage was old [but surprisingly young] favourite Jen Buxton, with the inevitable and welcome Jamie Hay appearance. I felt the set lost its way a little with too many lineup changes onstage - all great performers and songs, but why not give them their own, longer sets instead of a last dash potpourri? Our crew were unanimous in enjoying Jen and Jamie's duets as a highlight of the weekend. Finally, back in the sweaty secret room out back, the weekend closed off with a triumphant set from the Smith Street Band, probably on their way to being Australia's next biggest punk idols. The crowd-surfing was endless, the HULK SMASH shirt ripping from Wil Wagner was probably a trifle unnecessary, Jamie Hay inevitably made an appearance, and through it all the venue's glass collectors tenaciously gathered every empty vessel as if they were being paid by the glass.

All in all an excellent weekend, with not a bad band in sight, and wonderfully not a single idiot in sight either (I'm going to give a bye to the people who jumped in our booked cab in front of us. I only hope they've not continued to assume our identities.) It was also a great way to see more of a fairly unfamiliar city. Thanks to the bands (and sorry for the ones I forgot to mention here, but not a single bad one!) and the folk at Poison City Records for making it happen: a triumph!

Collider: Ghost in the Machine

In the absence of a lovely paper booklet with loads of interesting stuff to pore over as you listen to the album, and because we love spilling words out in front of you, we're going to use this here blog to throw some extra commentary on the Collider album. To mix things up we'll start with the closing track, Ghost in the Machine. If you haven't made it that far through the album yet, now is a perfect time to pop it on and listen while you read!


CW, he say: This one grew from R-Man’s bass solo, in fact most of the parts in this one were from his fair hand. Counting enthusiasts will notice that the drums and bass are operating in two different time signatures for the first half of this track, and the guitar has a go on each. I have fond memories of the 2 of us in Regan’s back room practising this and concentrating intensely to make all 3 parts wind together at the right time. We’re idiots.

R-man: This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever been involved in.  When we play this live there is a moment in the intro where the whole song hangs on the edge of feedback before crashing back into drums and riff.  Its what I imagine that moment when you jump off a cliff might feel like: genuinely heart stopping.  

The recording doesn’t quite catch it but the smoothness of the whole track more than makes up for it.  If there is an archetypal Great Men sound this is it for me.  It sounds complicated and angular but actually Ghost is pretty damn whistle-able.

I’d like to claim that the title was inspired by Koestler and his take on Descartes’ Mind/ Body Dualism and the artwork certainly was...however the truth is that I really like the cover for The Police’s Album of the same name. It was suitably retro sci-fi in a Bladerunner sort of way, so we nicked it.

Collider

After much anticipation, Great Men are delighted to announce that earlier this week we released our debut album Collider!

You can download it for free on our brand new website, what R-man crafted himself from rocks and earth: www.great-men.co.uk

We recorded the album in London with Mr MCG of Ulterior, who kindly contributed chrome production, huge snares, cyborg pterodactyls and man screams. We then shipped it off to Amsterdam for Mr Zlaya (producer of Sonic Youth amongst many others) to master. Big thanks also to Mr GWM, bourbon drinker and nonsense-tolerator, for designing the graphics.

We're tremendously proud of Collider and would love to hear what you think. If you do find something you like, please tell your friends!

Enjoy Collider with our compliments,

Chris and Reegs

Fascinated by Faith, Repulsed by Religion

I may have gotten soft in my old age but recent experience has given me pause for thought.  While naturally inclined to the Richard Dawkins copyrighted “fire and brimstone” branch of atheism, I have begun to wonder if there could be a better approach, something a little more inclusive, a little more human.  

I am fascinated by faith and always enjoy speaking to those who "get" it precisely because I don't. Where it "feels" true to them in their soul I feel a gloriously empty space - the fact there is no god seems as obvious and natural to me as the fact praying is useful does to them.   I can't imagine that we could ever come to a compromise position and I have long passed trying to de-convert the godly.  But could the Atheist movement (whatever that is) be  a place more welcoming to the waverers?  As most Atheists I meet are both warm and lovely this seemed sensible.  I enjoyed the idea of some-one who might still have faith but can no longer follow the diktat of their religion could find a place where they could stretch their spiritual legs without ridicule. I agree, by the way with Sam Harris on using that word.  There is a clear distinction between those of private deist faith and a fundamentalist psychopath and so it would be stupid to lump all of those with faith in the same box.  After all some of my best friends are Christians...

Ultimately though, I guess I enjoyed the mischievous idea of sticking a friendly 2 fingers at the pious and saying “see we’re even better at being nice then you are”.

So resolute in my softening approach to those with faith, I hoped to engage and enjoy the  world of faith in a more cheerful and cheering way. The world of religion responded with some of the most stupid, ignorant, bigoted, evil, motivated by God nastiness it had available.

While reeling, confused by the notion that 3 girls are being sent to a penal colony for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” or more accurately “dancing in a church”, I was appalled by the news of a young girl in Pakistan. The idea that she should face any censure let alone the death penalty for maybe burning some pieces of paper literally makes a beggar of belief.

Patriarch Kirill can spit against every notion of moral modernity and be smugly protected by blasphemy laws. A Pakistani Mob can burn people from their homes in a rampage of ethnic cleansing and be applauded for upholding the values of their faith.

But we might say (if we were being faintly post-colonial polite racist) these places are poor, they are not educated, there will be many local issues that have contributed; we don’t understand enough to judge.

Well, in that case we wouldn’t have the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland playing “I’m taking my ball back and you can’t play” over gay Marriage.  Or for that instance Todd Atkin a Missouri Republican Who recently had to invent new definitions of rape in order to square the circle of his religious belief and the constitutional right of a woman to control her own body. I am left wondering which semester of his Divinity Masters Degree did he learn about half rape.

Both these guys have every benefit that being a white, educated male born in the west during the second half of the 20^th Century can bring.  Neither is stupid, nor I would presume evil, but both have been pushed into behaving abhorrently by an out-dated doctrine they cannot shake and feel compelled to follow.

So sorry god(s), I will keep trying to show understanding to your flock and I do realise that having faith doesn't mean a person will be an automaton of your capricious will.  But while your rules and sacred texts provide cover and inspiration for the taking of political prisoners, ethnic cleansing, homo-phobia and misogyny I will reserve the right to be as dis-respectful about you and those rules as I wish.  And I will apologise to those nice faithful friends who I might upset, but the flip side of your coin is too unpleasant for me to ignore... 

Things I Learned On My Summer Vacation

I recently spent a couple of weeks cruising around the good old US of A. I didn't want to bore you or myself with a full recap, but here a few morsels of observation from my travels, for what it's worth.

Las Vegas is a silly, silly place. No matter how many times you've seen it on TV, in films, on the internet, the reality is they've got a ruddy great pyramid shining a light into space so bright you can see it 40 miles away.

In Minneapolis I went to see Banner Pilot at the legendary Triple Rock Social Club. The first of 4 bands came on at 9:30; Minneapolis rockers do it late!

Wisconsin's billboards are divided evenly between pro-life sentiment and cheese curds.

In Chicago I checked into an unplanned bed and breakfast and my host recognised the tour my Primus t-shirt was from. Then I ate 3 different types of ribs. That's the kind of town Chicago is.

Toledo is a bit of a ghost town, with much of the industry gone; a "mini-Detroit" as my host put it. However its Old West End has some super-friendly locals and bars serving, and in some cases brewing, great beer.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland will easily entertain you for 4 hours.

In Buffalo there is a very distinct racial segregation, weird and sad to see in this day and age. I had good times at a free show at the harbour though, where music and booze united everyone. I've not been to Baltimore but Buffalo felt like The Wire.

I saw Foxy Shazam playing a small show in Asbury Park, New Jersey. If you get chance to see them, do it: you will thank me. Unfortunately Asbury Park itself was less Boss and more Jersey Shore; by which I mean a sub-par British seaside town full of idiots.

In New York I went to Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn to see the great things being done at Willie Mae Rock Camp, teaching girls to rock. Then I hung out in Manhattan, where a passing Deadhead clocked my Zappa t-shirt and gig wristband and became convinced I was a member of Roger Waters' band (in town for his 'The Wall' shows).

Los Angeles is a huge, sprawling metropolis, comprised almost entirely of motorways, which themselves are comprised entirely of traffic jams.

A final thought: living in England I have heard countless people criticise American beer. I am here to confirm that those people are ignorant and wrong - and have probably never ventured further than a Bud Light; the equivalent of judging the UK on Carling or Australia on Fosters. In almost 3 weeks I had plenty of beers and never a bad one. There's a great microbrewery scene going down in the US right now.