[ad_1]
Obscurity has by no means put a damper on John Andrew Fredrick’s creativity—or his productiveness, for that matter. Because the unflappable chief of California’s underappreciated post-punk stalwarts the Black Watch, he’s made 20-plus albums for a number of labels for the reason that late Eighties. You’ll be able to add Bizarre Rooms to that listing. Out tomorrow on ATOM Information, it’s LP quantity 23—however who’s counting?
Fredrick now has his final fan and critic formally within the TBW fold. His son, Chandler, performed guitar and piano on Bizarre Rooms and likewise contributed to the songwriting and backup vocals. The 2 recorded the album in Austin with multifaceted producer Misha Bullock and his spouse, Sara. TBW has a status for assimilation, drawing on a wealth of influences, each traditional and present—every thing from the Who and the Stones to the Smiths, the Remedy, My Bloody Valentine and the Struggle On Medicine. Bizarre Rooms continues in that referential (and reverential) vein with an nearly obsessive fervor—accompanied, as all the time, by Fredrick’s whimsical humorousness and offbeat mind.
True to type, Fredrick notes that new single “Gobbledegook” was impressed by the revelation that politics and pop music don’t mesh. “It’s form of a corollary to me ceaselessly opining that lyrics aren’t poetry,” says Fredrick, who has a doctorate in English and 5 novels to his credit score. “Anyone who insists on the contrary doesn’t actually know something about how the music … I gained’t say dictates, however reasonably colours the phrases.”
In relation to movies, TBW has all the time been a bit digicam shy. “I can’t ever think about being effusive about them—I don’t take care of them in any respect, actually,” says Fredrick. “Even throughout their 120 Minutes heyday, I by no means fancied them.”
Director Shane McKenzie’s low-key strategy suited BTW completely. “He went for a kind of bleached-out, grainy consequence,” says Fredrick. “The footage that’s intercut is from an historical movie of my favourite novel, Struggle And Peace. I’m obsessive about it to the purpose that I’ve learn each English translation of it. Fairly kooky, certainly. However each artist has his or her quirks, I reckon—and that’s certainly one of mine.”
We’re proud to premiere the Black Watch’s “Gobbledegook” video.
—Hobart Rowland
[ad_2]
