Micko & The Mellotronics Return With New Album “Le Vice Anglais”

Micko And The Mellotronics have today released their sophomore album, Le Vice Anglais, that features Horace Panter (The Specials), Paul Cuddeford (Holy Holy / The Boomtown Rats), Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey), Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno / Florence & The Machine), Mike Paradinas (µ-ziq / Kid Spatula) and actor & comedian Kevin Eldon. The current incarnation of The Mellotronics sees Micko’s rabble-rousing vocals and spiky, agitational guitar work augmented perfectly by the crack squad of drummer JD Kickdrum and Budge Magraw (Cesarians / Gretschen Hofner) providing the attitude driven solid bassline. Unafraid to put some of the world’s peculiarities and his own observations under the microscope, Micko And The Mellotronics match their infectious art-punk sound with lyrics that are erudite and entertaining, laced with innumerable references to pop culture, philosophy, history and more.

“The band was in transition as I was making the record, as a couple of players had moved out of town, so I called up Horace Panter who I’ve worked with a lot. Horace came to record when his band had to cancel recording commitments in LA due to Terry Hall’s illness, and recorded seven for me in two sessions. I’d been aware of Paul Cuddeford too through Tony Visconti, by chance he showed up at gig. We chatted afterwards and I mentioned that I had a guitar solo that he might like to have a bash at. He set me the blistering (What’s in a) Name, and the rest of the collaborations followed from there. I was still on the look-out for a permanent bass player and remembered a post on social media by Budge Magraw. I sent him a message and he loved the material, he’s a fantastic player and finished the album playing on the remaining five tracks, he’s a joy to hang out with, 24 Carrots! I’d lucked out with Budge. I’d been hustling long-term friend Leo Abrahams to have ago at soloing on the track Big Game. Again, similar to Paul, the work turned up quick and was of excellent quality. I turned to my old programming skills from when I used to make electronica for the beats and called in a favour from Mike Paradinas from the same stable, who did the voice treatment at the start of Kid From Nowhere. I called the album Le Vice Anglais after being invited to the Tribeca film festival in New York for the screening of the 25th Anniversary of Velvet Goldmine last year. It’s a line from the film where the character I play, Jack Fairy, is described as a courtesan. It chimed with me as the album is particularly English. It plays with observations about class, identity, masculinity and sexuality amongst others. It’s self conscience too, as it’s a title which reflects on how we are perceived by others.” (Micko Westmoreland))

Le Vice Anglais was mastered by veteran specialist Simon Heyworth and all recorded at home, the album is now available on CD and digital formats via Micko’s own Land Line Records. Micko & The Mellotronics have also announced they will be appearing at London’s Hope & Anchor on the 20th December alongside Cult Figures & Helen McCookerybook.