Brian Bordello - Boris Johnson Massacre

Lockdowns are tough eh! Well maybe for you, but I've used the opportunity to visit Durham and Barnard Castle. Roads were quiet as fuck! Who woulda thought?!

Anyhow while there's no gigs to or record shops to go to, it's great to find that many of my favourite music makers are still being creative and kicking against the pricks. Brian Bordello (he's in a group called The Bordellos don't you know!) is one top fella – a maverick music maker of the highest order, independently-minded, speaker of truth, gently subversive, and quite often laugh-out-loud funny. He got in touch with me over the weekend to draw attention to a couple of new songs. Highly current and topical. Quickly recorded and with almost immediate release thanks to Australian label Metal Postcard Records. 'Boris Johnson Massacre' will resonate with anyone who's found our government's response to the Covid-1 crisis sadly lacking. Boot-lickers and flag-shaggers might disapprove but they can fuckin' do one!

Here are some words from Brian about the tracks...

“I only recorded it on Tuesday and Metal Postcard Records were kind enough to release it straight away so I had no time for the pre-release nonsense. It continues with my solo adventures in the art of no-fi with this gentle attack on the ineptitude of our current Prime Minister, recorded on one track of my old tape four-track and in such a way it will only come out of one speaker, to capture the magic of me listening to pop music in my youth on a tiny transistor radio, a song where Jake Thackray, Daniel Johnson and Ray Davies influence takes hold . I hope you enjoy it.”

The Bordellos - Crabs EP

An antidote to the anodyne.

Music lovers will be aware that last Saturday was Record Store Day. The annual event that drives nominally sane middle aged men to queue in the cold and dark early hours for fear of missing out on overpriced limited edition vinyl records that they probably won't play anyway. I'll bet most of these items get filed away alphabetically in the hope that one day they'll increase in monetary value.

Don't get me wrong, I love vinyl records, have always bought them and will continue to do so. It's also great that the shops, labels and bands are supported. Yeah can't fault that. What I object to is the fetishisation of vinyl, along with the “investment” aspect of buying records that seems to be of equal if not more important these days than the music. So RSD is the one day I guarantee I won't be anywhere near a record shop. This year? I whitewashed the wall in the back yard. A long overdue chore and I have to say, the wall looks bloody good!

I mention all this because last Saturday saw the release of a new EP from the Bordellos, a bunch of independently-minded, lo—fi leaning proud misfits from England's Northwest who each year on RSD release new music as a refreshing antidote to its madness. Their Crabs EP is refreshingly not available on vinyl. It's a five-track all instrumental affair on download/stream only available from Metal Postcards Records. As you'd expect from the Bordellos, this new music delights, challenges, amuses and takes you to places you didn't know you wanted to go. It's a journey that takes in acidic folk, found sounds, industrial noise and the open-minded possibilities of post-punk. Oh and there's some whistling too. If John Peel were alive today he'd no doubt be broadcasting tracks off the Crabs EP each night.

Interestingly Brian from the Bordellos also shares my reservations about Record Store Day. You can read his thoughts about it on his wonderful blog, along with his thoughts about pop music, both good and bad. His writing is always insightful, bang on the money, and damn entertaining too. Check it out. Now I'm off to buy a couple of fence panels. Happy Easter!

https://inthemindofabordello.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/thebordellos
https://bordellos.bandcamp.com/
 

The Bordellos - Underground Tape Vol. 7

 

So it appears that The Stone Roses have split again. Or maybe they haven't. Who knows? Or who cares? Well a horde of middle-aged “lads” do, I suppose. Anyway my point is as reformations go it was pretty lame. OK so they sold out Wembley etc. etc. But in terms of coming up with the musical goods it was a non-starter. Two (not all that good) tracks in five years was not exactly reclaiming the crown of Britain's best band.

I mention the Stone Roses because they have roots and connections in Warrington, a stone's throw away from St. Helens, where another band of less reknown but higher output resides. The Bordellos are a band that will probably never sell out The Dog And Duck in Wembley let alone its auspicious stadium, but they do at least make music and put it out for consumption. They don't beg to “be adored” either. In fact I get the impression they'd rather get up the noses of middle-aged “lads” than have them fawn over them.

Their latest release, Underground Tapes Vol. 7 is picked from a mass of unreleased home recordings. Funny, confrontational, self-aware, and always with a point to make. It's a beautiful thing! It won't make any charts or get featured in Clash or NME but I don't suppose they'll be bothered. I think they'd like it if you took a listen though, and I recommend that you do. Among its homespun alt-folk and lo-fi charms is 'Tesco Chainsaw Massacre' and my personal personal favourite 'Jolly Old England',a song that namechecks Cannon and Ball, Irene Handl, free Weetabix and the death of football. All this and not a John Squire guitar solo in sight! Get in!

Click here for The Bordellos on Twitter.

Click here for The Bordellos on Facebook.

 

The Bordellos - Gary Glitter EP

A brave move to title your latest EP after one the music world's most reviled figures, but the The Bordellos are no ordinary band. The title track of their new release is not a celebration of the man but more of a lament for a time when mainstream music was colourful and exciting. Brian from the band explains - 

"It is a EP influenced by the sad decline of the magic that once could be found in mainstream music, now it seems to have all but vanished, music once could excite you entice you scare you make you feel uneasy or elated just by turning on the radio no matter what time of the day, this is our attempt at putting something slightly subversive back on the radio."

This theme continues through the other three tracks, 'Attack Of The Killer B-Sides' is a list of those classic tracks that are at least the equal of their more celebrated flipsides. Have a listen and add your own. 'Free Download Generation' is a satire of now, a time when new music is so omnipresent and readily accessible but little social or cultural impact. The final track 'Disco Pants' is a post-punk gem about community and retail therapy. How about that! Anyway it's a great EP and available (as a free download no less!) from their Bandcamp page. Get listening!

New band alert - The Bordellos

Heading from the unique hinterland betwixt scouse and woollyback that is St. Helens The Bordellos have have been ploughing their unique furrow over the last decade. Making music that's of no fixed genre but mixes post-punk with alt-folk and whatever form best serves their songs at any given time. Infused with an outsider spirit and twisted sense of humour that anyone along the M62 rust-belt will recognize.

Think Beefheart meeting Half Man Half Biscuit in a Joy Division tribute band (or summats like that.) Anyway you decide - Their Bandcamp page is full of free downloads that have overspilled from album and EP releases along with various radio session tracks and other odds and ends. Well worth a trawl through. It's full of music that doesn't take itself too seriously but still has more to say than most of the dross we're hawked by the corporate music machine. Of particular interest is their track 'The True Meaning of Record Store Day', a timely reminder to go out and do something less boring this Saturday than line up in a queue with amoral speculators.