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| We Are Knuckle Dragger L-R: Aran, Shaun and Peter |
Remember that scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey where the monkeys beat the crap out of each other with sticks? Yeah? Now imagine those monkeys were in fact three highly evolved musicians out of Newcastle, who rather than use primitive weapons to crack open skulls use a guitar, a bass and a drum kit to front their aural assault. Featuring members of yourcodenameis:milo, Contraband and Scrabo, We Are Knuckle Dragger are the bastard-child of experimental metal, punk and hardcore who, with the release of their first full-length record Tit for Tat, are bound to get fans of big-ass vicious noise frothing at the mouth.
The three-piece, comprised of guitarist/vocalist Aran Glover, sticksman Shaun Abbott and bassist Peter Currie, recorded Tit for Tat last summer with Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio Studio. For those of you who don’t know Albini, he’s only the man responsible for engineering some of the greats – Nivana, Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and Helmet to just name a few. And with Albini’s oeuvre in mind, you’ll understand where WAKD are coming from. Clocking in at just over half an hour, the 13 tracks that make up Tit for Tat waste no time carving a niche in your brain – take lead single ‘Mr Son of a Bitch’ as a case in point: one minute forty six of twisting guitars and punishing percussion. Perfection. They’re also fond of a good pun; ‘The Mashed Avenger’ and current single ‘Comparison Ford’ being two of the finest examples of the biting humour that underlies the bile.
With the album now out, the band hit the road with Meshuggah, taking in 8 dates around the UK. There is also a UK tour in the works for the summer, which will see them return to The Flapper on June 5th. I caught up with Aran to get the low-down on the new record and find out all about Albini’s taste in TV!
Q: How would you describe the sound of We Are Knuckle Dragger to the uninitiated?
Abrasive unapologetic drunken monkey garbage!
Q: You've all been in other bands before this, so how did WAKD form? And how did you decide upon such a memorable name?!
Long story short, Shaun's old band and mine shared a practise space and when both acts disbanded around the same time we agree to collaborate on some ideas. I knew Pete from Belfast's music scene and already had him in mind for the project titled Knuckle Dragger, in reference to the shaved ape like characters we all see on the street every day. "We Are" was added later to distinguish us from a now defunct American band with the same name.
Q: Your first full-length, 'Tit for Tat', has just hit the shelves, and was recorded with Steve Albini, the man responsible for countless awesome records. What was it like working with such a renowned producer, and how was the recording process in general?
It was our extreme pleasure to get to travel to Chicago, stay with Steve at Electrical Audio, and make our first record. He's a pretty inspirational guy with a world class approach to live recording which is how we like to work in the studio. It's the best way to be completely honest about the sound you make as a group. When we arrived Steve had just returned from a European tour with Shellac so the first number of days were jet lag recovery and shit TV (cookery or poker if Albini had the remote), and then in the last 3 days we put down 13 tracks, all of which appear on the album.
Q: What can we expect from the new record?
You can expect more of what we've always done, but taken to the next level. We worked very hard but I think we'd all agree that writing the album came quite naturally to us, without having to force any songs into completion, if you know what I mean. It's a loud bastard with big fuck off riffs! Jurassic Park!
Q: You've been fortunate to play with a lot of fantastic bands over the last couple of years, have you got any recommendations for bands we should be keeping an eye on? Are there any acts in Newcastle that we should pay attention to?
We selected some fine Newcastle acts to support us at our album launch on March 30th in Newcastle Uni Basement - Nately's Whore's Kid Sister, Fathoms, and Richard Dawson. Incredible stuff right there! Cauls from Newcastle have been on our speakers a lot as well. Also just recently we played with our Irish pals Lafaro and And So I Watch You From Afar, who are amazing! We're very lucky to get to play with such great acts.
Q: What have you got in store for the rest of 2012?
Well the album hits the shelves April 2nd, and then we have the Meshuggah and Animals As Leaders tour in April!! That's gonna be something really special. Then planning a UK tour of our own in June, Irish tour July, and some festivals that we'll be announcing down the line. Main plan........... FUN!!
Tit for Tat is out now on Sapien Records
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We Are Knuckle Dragger play The Flapper on June 5th 2012
More info here: Facebook event
