Manchester Punk Festival Releases 37th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 37th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 37 is…
Following a string of riotous UK dates with The Lemonheads, Bass Drum Of Death have now shared Find It, a new track taken from their forthcoming album, Say I Won’t which is set to be released on January 27th via Fat Possum Records. Find It is a perfect embodiment of the band’s new era, an urgent blast of freewheelin’ punk, all riffs and hooks over drummer Ian Kirkpatrick‘s steady thundering beat. The song finds bandleader John Barrett in a reflective mood, as he sings: “I know all the world around me’s crumbling/I’m left holding the bag and stumbling/Who knows, I might be the problem.” It’s a new, more sober perspective, with the added potency that comes from taking responsibility for one’s own life and problems.
“‘Find It’ is kind of a cynical look at where I was in my life living in New York at the time. Way too much partying, to where I realized it was my problem, not necessarily where I lived. I also wanted to do something different with the structure of the song, I’ve always loved the idea of starting with a chorus but have never done it until “Find It” (John Barrett)
The band shared single Say Your Prayers last month, a collaboration with Mike Kerr of Royal Blood, a midtempo bruiser that finds Barrett snarling, “The wolf is in your bed/But the Devil’s knocking at your door.” It’s all attitude, with mountains of sludge-slathered riffs, tangled harmonies courtesy of brother Jim Barrett, and a stomping beat fit for a movie car chase scene. They also recently shared a live version of the track, filmed at London’s Moth Club whilst the band were in town supporting The Lemonheads at The Roundhouse. The band will return to London at the end of this month, playing an in-store show at Rough Trade East on October 31st at 7pm.
Say I Won’t, the band’s fifth record, comes at a time of massive change for Barrett, having relocated from New York to his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi during the pandemic. The record is also a homecoming of a different sort, with the band rejoining the ranks of Fat Possum Records, also in Oxford, the label that released their first record GB City in 2011.
Say I Won’t ‘is the first Bass Drum of Death album written, demoed, and recorded with the touring band instead of Barrett doing everything on his own. He found a freedom in working with collaborators that wasn’t available to him before, opening different aspects of the songwriting. It was a process of live recording, layering on different parts and overdubs, and then stripping it all back to the bones of the song, keeping the raw wild heart of the music intact. The band recorded the new record with Patrick Carney of the Black Keys at Audio Eagle Studios in Nashville and the result is a groove-oriented, 1970’s-indebted collection of rock songs, with tempos set for cruising and scuzzy guitars galore. There’s an energy and vitality to the music that feels in line with the best of the Bass Drum of Death songs, but with an added boost that comes from new bandmates and a new perspective.
Say I Won’t finds a reinvigorated Barrett firing at all cylinders, backed by his best band yet. It’s Bass Drum of Death at their loosest and scuzziest and most tuneful, a true rock record in all the right ways. It’s a throwback by way of moving forward, sporting a maturity and swagger that comes from a decade of playing music on the road and surviving to tell about it. More than anything, Say I Won’t is a blast to listen to, music built for driving with your stereo cranked.