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MP3 Stuntdog - Rock-O-Matic
11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Classic Rock, POP: British Pop
Details:
''Stuntdog'' a brief history by J. Huntington-Swell
Stuntdog hail from Worcester, a small gloving town set in the shadow of the imposing Malvern Hills. ''Rock-O-Matic'' is a diverse collection of songs reflecting the bands numerous and varied interests in music. From the punchy ''Sixty Zippers'' through to the very wrong ''Fez on a peg'', Stuntdog will steer you on a noise journey that will make you laugh, cry, jump, rock your pants off and shout really loud.
''Rock-O-Matic'' has been two years in the making, but we have to go way back to learn the true origins of Stuntdog.
At the end of a moody February in 1995 the bands three founder members, Peter Jennings-Bates and Brothers Neil and Steven Wattison rented a cottage in the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. The cottage, now known as ''Fachwen 1'', sits on the side of a mountain and overlooks beautiful lakes and valleys and proved to be a huge inspiration, quickly becoming the bands spiritual home.
With all furniture removed and recording equipment and instruments in place, the boys recorded 15 tracks in 7 days. Peter played drums, bass guitar and keyboards, whilst Steven and Neil took up guitars, keyboards and samplers.
All three warbled in to the microphones to supply the vocals. This collection of songs was called ''The Size of Vince''s Hands'' and recorded under the name of ''Gloves''. This Album offers quantity rather than quality, but some songs (Spanish Dancer, Medication Time and Poppaoohmow to name a few) remain firm favourites with the band and may appear on future releases. During the week a friend of the band and regular maniac Alabammer Billy arrived on his moped to record what would be the first of many Billy type tunes, ''Alabammers Blues''.
It is very difficult to describe Alabammer''s vocal style, the band refer to it as ''Wrong''. There is not much information on this character as he never sticks around long enough to offer any. Even the band don''t really know who or what he is.
It was three years before ''Gloves'' decided to return to Fachwen1. In March 1998 eleven songs were penned and the collection was given the name ''Honky 3''. The haunting ''You don''t really need it'' and the sway along classic ''Wren'' are among the favourites. During the week Alabammmer''s moped was heard in the lane. He arrived to deliver the country classic ''When Alabammer Sings'' and left immediately. Peter states ''''He always comes in with very definite written instructions for his song, hangs around outside while we lay the music down, records the vocal in one take and leaves. We don''t mind though, as it is quite difficult to understand anything he says or does''''.
Two years later in February 2000, Gloves needed a new direction, so friend Dominic Luckman (Cardiacs, Mice, All about Eve to name a few) came in to add his wealth of experience and knowledge. The introduction of Mr Luckman really expanded the band''s potential. With Dom''s solid drums and Peter''s new found concentration towards the bass guitar, the eleven songs recorded are more interesting and have a definite edge to them. Fachwen 1 was rocking in its mountain foundations. The band also decided a name change was in order (something that happens frequently). The new band name was ''Telstar'' taken from one of the songs and the collection title was ''Invina Casoon''. This album featured the first of three tunes about an imaginary island inhabited by small people, whose every day lives are documented in these odd songs. There are plans to record more of these songs and release them with narration as a collection. The inspiration for these songs came from Neil, who writes the songs in a completely fabricated language, absolutely amazing. Alabammer arrived and delivered the soul classic ''Disco Mama'' and the album was complete. This is one of my favourite albums with tracks like ''Telstar'', ''Devil Goats'' and ''Gagarin'' offering a real 70''s rock feel and are a welcome addition to the Stuntdog live set.
March 2002 saw the start of the recordings we now know as ''Rock-O-Matic''. Another new band member was recruited; Rob Leetham came in to play real keyboards and once again enhanced the writing style. As the band had now grown to five members the guys decided that Fachwen 1 would be too small so they moved further down the valley to a larger cottage known as the Slaghouse. Although there was a lot more room, the Slaghouse was bleak and grubby. Despite this, another eleven songs were laid down under the name of ''Bumblebee'', a name that would not last long. This collection had the original title of ''Dig Everything'' reflecting the bands enthusiasm for different song styles. Five of these tracks made it onto ''Rock-O-Matic''. The punky ''For a Wonderful Day'', boppy popster ''50 Feet of Flame'', prog-rockers ''Italiano'' and ''Birdcat'' and the hairs on the back of your neck classic ''Mauve Ruby'' all pulled through. Alabammer''s stunning reggae track ''Billy Dub'' was recorded and will be made available soon, as a fan I can''t wait.
Another year on and the five Stuntdog boys were off to squeeze themselves back into Fachwen1. A new acquaintance, producer Joey Goldfish had promised some proper production on the Band''s return so the Dogs got to it and recorded another bunch of songs. Six of these songs now feature on the album, ''Rock-O-Matic''s'' trashy opener ''Sixty Zippers'', the psychedelic ''Under the Sea'', the beautiful ''Wonderfully like Frank'', kids favourite ''Funky Little Song'', groovy ''Feed Me to the Fire'' and the wrongness that is ''Fez On a Peg''.
The tracks from the last two sessions were delivered to Mr Goldfish for production at The Aquarium Studio. Joey and the band felt the need to add some twiddle and sparkle to the tracks. Enter Charlie Thorley to add some much needed lead guitar and vocal harmonies. Charlie had played drums with various punk and Indie bands before strapping on a guitar in a reggae band for several years. Charlie''s arrival was to be the missing piece of the Stuntdog puzzle and he is now a fully paid up member of the band.
With Joey at the helm (aided by bleep sidekick Craig ''Big Faced Boy'' Wood and some additional keyboards by Carole Murray) ''Rock-O-Matic'' has evolved in to a solid collection of songs for the bands first real release. Steven says ''''We had to lose some great songs, like the alt-country tunes ''Wildlife Park'' and ''Happy as Harry'', but they will resurface at some point. We really wanted this album to have some kind of direction and I think it has, I think, kind of''''.
You must see Stuntdog live to really appreciate them. The Big Faced Boy, Craig Wood is the newest band member, taking the bass. This leaves Peter to concentrate on vocals and keyboard noodles onstage.
There should be a law passed to say that everyone should own a copy of ''Rock-O-Matic'', it can only enhance your life. With this band''s back catalogue and the promise of new songs and projects on the way, I would say that Stuntdog are going to be around for a while.
Go on, buy it!
''Rock-O-Matic'' by Stuntdog
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