NYC punk rock n’ roll singer-songwriter-guitarist LORNE BEHRMAN today (July 27) shines a light on the history of NYC rock with his Television-inspired song video, “I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us,” by sharing its video. This is the second single + video from his upcoming solo debut album A LITTLE MIDNIGHT due out September 16 on Spaghetty Town Records. It follows LORNE’s acclaimed 2021 four-song EP When I Hit The Floor, which prompted the esteemed Jesse Malin to note: “Real blood and guts rock and roll that bleeds with soul and redemption.” Watch the “I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us” video, directed by David J Barron and filmed in Manhattan, HERE. Also read a new Q&A below about the song that will be released digitally this Friday, July 29.
“I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us” is tough and tuneful NYC rock with a tender emotional heart that embraces the lyrical surrealism and guitar flights of pivotal band Television. The video by LORNE, who previously played in The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches, The Dead Tricks and most recently The Sweet Things, was premiered yesterday (July 26) by MXDWN, which noted the video: “…gives viewers an incredible sight of Behrman strumming his guitar with fantastic talent and singing about hoping that the sun doesn’t catch us, as we follow a man and woman on the streets of New York trying to get away from the sun that is blaring down on them.”
The 10-song A LITTLE MIDNIGHT is a series of New York City vignettes haunted by shadows but guided by light. The words here are literate and lacerating, recalling the street poetics of Lou Reed, Richard Hell, and Television. The songs feature stark and fluid guitar playing in the spirit of The Stooges’ James Williamson, Johnny Thunders, and Lou Reed.
“This album is about struggling to be reborn,” LORNE shares. “Wanting to run back to the arms of toxic people or the patterns of self-destruction. It’s about clawing your way to a new existence while acknowledging all the causalities, and all you’re letting go. You glimpse a new life, but you don’t feel it yet.”
The album’s raw but polished production aesthetic is courtesy of producer Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Spacehog). A LITTLE MIDNIGHT was mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Lambert. Wyldlife bassist Spencer Alexander designed the album artwork, and it is a subtly playful homage to the cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes.
Musician (SECOND RATE, HAWAII SAMURAI, BLACK ZOMBIE PROCESSION, DEMON VENDETTA, DUMBELL, SIMON CHAINSAW and many more!) and writer (Tons of fanzines and megazines (!) New Noise magazine, a book about French 80s thrash metal and one about French punk rock legendary band BURNING HEADS, etc.), Nasty Samy has been very busy these last 25 years and although he started thinking about recording a solo album years ago, the last two years weren’t really the best ones to release an album… Here it is now! This album is actually a cover album featuring a few friends and people Sam met on the road. The CD comes out with a great looking 48 page black and white booklet in which Sam tells us about each song and the reasons why he chose them among others. Nostalgia is central here but it never gets pathetic. After an intro sample of “Le Feu Follet” (Louis Malle) on a music compsed by long time friend Sylvain Bombled (SECOND RATE, MAYERLING…) you get to hear a power rock version of GUN CLUB‘s classic “Sex Beat” with Paul Smith (DUMBELL) on vocals just before “Creepy Kackalope Eye” (SUPERSUCKERS) with Patrice Fillol (NEDGEVA) on vocals. If anybody has told me about a cover album by Nasty Samy, I would have bet on a DRAMARAMA song. He chose “Work For Food” with pop punk vocals by Forest Pooky, and of course I would also have bet on MORRISSEY too since Sam is actually responsible for making me like the Moz. The chosen one here is “The Last Of The Famous International Playboys” with Francis Altrach (NOTHING MORE) doing a very good job singing it. The LEMONHEADS‘ “Rudderless” featuring Mike Begnis (SHOOT THE SINGERS) will take you straight back to the 90s and The HARD-ONS “I do, I do, I do” is one of my favourite tunes on here. Singer Wattie Delai (DEAD END) is perfect on this one. My other favourite on here is definitely SAMHAIN‘s “To Walk The Night” on which Erin Sims’ voice almost sounds like SIOUXSIE‘s. Then you get back to power rock with “The Last Goodbye” (AGENT ORANGE) featuring Simon Chainsaw on vocals and grungy powerpop with TUMBLEWEED‘s “Hang Around” with Anne Durand on vocal duties. You’ll also get some American indie punk moments with “You Fight Like A Little Girl” (PEGBOY – Paul Smith on vocals again) and “Oyster” (JAWBREAKER) with Rom Tom Cat on vocals. One of the most surprising choices on this album has to be “Shine On”, the HOUSE OF LOVE mega hit here sung with style by Ravi (BURNING HEADS.) Although Sam is a true metalhead at heart, he didn’t include any metal songs and decided to give a rock/powerpop colour to this album. On the other hand, he’s paying tribute to skate/pop punk with a DAG NASTY cover (“S.F.S”)! The record ends with a bang with an excellent THERAPY? Cover (“Nausea”) with great powerful vocals by Sylvain Bombled and a surf rock rendition of JOY DIVISION‘s classic “Transmission”. Whether you like these covers or not, you can only admit that this is a very good paylist and “a postcard sent from the past with a few comforting words written on the back…”. /Laurent C.
If you like glam rock then you must have watched Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998) quite a few times and you probably thought that the mysterious and glittery Jack Fairy was the perfect incarnation of the style. Micko Westmoreland was the perfect person for this role but he is also a musician who has just released a new album called « ½ Dove – ½ Pigeon » with his band MICKO & THE MELLOTRONICS, a fine mix of British pop, glam and art punk wrapped in wry humour and retro aesthetic. Micko tells us about the album, the band as well as his acting experience…
Let’s start with Velvet Goldmine and your role as Jack Fairy. How did you get chosen for it?
My brother & his late partner Richard Glatzer were already good friend’s with director Todd Haynes. So I got an invite to meet with him in Soho in central London, one wet Thursday afternoon & we sat for a couple of hours & chatted. I was fresh out of film school & we hit upon Kenneth Anger; the devil incarnate & his fabulous collection of avant garde short movies. We got on very well so it felt that something positive was going to happen. It did, I tried out with Susie Figgis (casting director) for the role which fell to the brilliant David Hoyle as group stylist. Word filtered through I could audition for the mysterious Jack Fairy, so I did a performance on VHS video of lip synching to ‘All the young Dudes’, by Bowie, two versions were sent in. My brother told me I had got the part, so the work began in ernest. I had very little to no acting experience, so decided to read as much as I could about the era, bought/borrowed a ton of biographies and inadvertently started ‘method acting’ the part. I moved to staying out late and suspending all other aspects of modern life i.e. only music played from the glam era, and lots of other stuffs I picked up from the books. Not eating in front of others, certainly not in public or using the bathroom whilst in company. Subtle things that gave my new personal a slightly other worldly, alien quality.
Jack Fairy is a mysterious glam rock cult figure in the film. What were the references you had in mind for this character?
I felt the role was much more about emanating a presence. People have often asked who ‘Jack’, is based on, Eno/Bolan/Little Richard/Dietrich. Let’s leave the jury out hey.. Jack’s magic is his mysterious quality, he escapes with little to no egg on his face, a kind of patron saint of Glam Rock.
Bowie, Bolan, Eno, Jobriath and many others had something otherwordly in them. Do you think that mystery and magic are important things in glam rock?
Absolutely, the more elusive the more desirable. Todd worked hard on the relationship between fan & star in Velvet Goldmine, gets the hormones racing. Art school Glam was a movement which set about fictionalising itself, partly why Velvet Goldmine works, it’s not a bio pic. Bowie created Ziggy, so in a parallel universe there’s all the variants in-between, Maxwell Demon was after all the name of Eno’s art school band.
Were you allowed to keep « Oscar Wilde’s brooch » after playing in the movie?
Unfortunately not, a deal was done over the costumes so I wasn’t able to walk off the set with a few bits and pieces ala, ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth‘. I did however get the leather coat worn over the opening credits made, it was originally designed for Britt Ekland. I have it moth balled in the cupboard, my alter ego hermetically sealed. As the opening credit decree ‘Histories like ancient ruins, are the fictions of empires, while everything forgotten hangs in dark dreams of the past, ever threatening to return!’.
Were you already playing in bands at the time of the movie?
No, I was making Electronic music under the name The Bowling Green, I got signed to Trent Reznor’s nothing records along with a number of Warp records artists. The 90s was the era of the bedroom musician, I was one of those. The technology was improving so fast at that time, the possibilities seemed endless. I changed gear in the 2000s & got more interested in lyrics & returning to writing on guitar.
What have you released before The MELLOTRONICS?
A ton of stuff, http://www.landlinerecords.com is a good spot to find stuff. The band really came out as a result of the 2015 album ‘Yours etc. abc’, which sounded like a band but was in actual fact mainly just me. It made sense from that to build a group from that sound.
How did you get Jon Klein (SPECIMEN/SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES) to play with you?
We were playing on the same bill, Mellotronics were support. I lent Jon my amp for the show & gave him a record. I got a message from him the next day as I remember, asking how I’d put it together, he liked it. We eventually got together for a drink in Camden Town & it went from there.
I’d just finishing writing Noisy Neighbours & I sent it over to him & he gave it a the Klein dynamic work out treatment, I was amazed at the results.
Can you tell us about the recording of the album? Did you have all the songs ready and arranged before recording?
I provide words, chords & melody, they sometimes get truncated or extended as the track gets worked into full focus.
Jon Klein our guitarist (Specimen/Ex-Banshees) plays a huge part in the sound, he’s an amazing player & a great producer. We worked independently & together on the project. Nick MacKay (drums) & Vicky Carroll (bass) are a great rhythm section. Vicky is 100% dependable & is our newest recruit. Nick was in it from the start. Such a great passion for playing & a brilliant live performer..
Did you have any albums, bands, art or literature references in mind when making the album?
There’s a few obvious ones, a Barrettesque paisley envelope modulating Psychedelic Shirt, The Rutles’ own Neil Innes came to play on You Killed My Father which was inspired by him & there’s a few other miscellaneous musical references for afternoon trainspotting. All good clean fun.
There’s something very British in the Lyrics and the songwriting. I was watching Inside Number 9 a few days ago and thought that your music would have been perfect as a soundtrack for it. Do you have any plans to have your songs in TV shows or movies?
Music for TV & Film comes along sporadically & randomly. It’s more that someone has you in mind than the other way around.
Will you have the album line-up as a live band too?
Absolutely, as notated above.
How would you compare being an actor with being on stage with a rock band?
When I’m on stage I have a hell of a lot to do, I’m more concentrated on delivering the best I can. So here’s no great theatrics on stage, it’s more about poking out the details from the wall fo sound.
Do you think that being an actor helps for music videos?
Yes, I would say so. It’s a fine line between confidence which people love & over making the point which turns people off.
You always have to avoid too much sauce. Treat your audience as highly intelligent, they can see things you don’t.
It’s hard to plan anything these days, but do you have any future plans for The MELLOTRONICS or your acting career?
I don’t really have an acting career any more, that’s parked in the Jack Fairy museum where it should be. The band is as active as we can be at present in covid times. We have two videos to shoot in the new year & of course a second album, writing is underway.
I feel very lucky. I work with talented people & I’ve been no steps removed from the greats! I believe that everyone has the potential to be creative deep down, without wishing to sound preachy, don’t let the perceived judgement of others or for that matter your own, get you down & stop you. Good or bad it’ll all work out for the better that way..
Joe Normal & The Anytown’rs have a new single out this Friday December 11th on Big Stir Records.
“Work related restrictions and rampant unemployment for musicians is the theme of this blue collar pub-rock anthem. Sure to raise a smile, and a beer glass or two.”
“Livng In The Borough” channels Paul Westerberg / Johnny Rzeznik style introspection as Joe examines his own troubled teenage years and exposes the pain of the family tragedies that held him down.”
Once in a while, you can read a review of an “emo” record on here, because there’s nothing wrong with it as long as it rocks. Bands like HOT WATER MUSIC, early GET UP KIDS or The PROMISE RING were all good, and TRIFLE carry the torch of this indie rock style that was quite popular in the late 90s, from the hardcore scene to college radio. You’ll hear some good guitar melodies in “I Ain’t Ever Feel Free” or in “Uncertain”, some poppy melancholy and the vocals are not bad, though typical of this style. I would personally say that the band is better when they add a little noisy touch to their music, and give birth to something more personal, like in “Tramp.” These four songs are out on Italian label Lostdog Records. /Laurent C.
New single for the very prolific SPENCER ROBINSON AND THE WOLF SPIDERS on British record label Komakino Records. “Poisonous Berry” starts with tribal drums and then evolves into some dark acoustic rock reminding of NICK CAVE with HENRY ROLLINS-ish vocals. The other song, “Seeing You In The Dark” is a slower track with psych guitars and 60s organ. MARK LANEGAN comes to mind when listening to this one, but this mix of such various influences and moods give SPENCER ROBINSON AND THE WOLF SPIDERS their own identity. /Laurent C.
Three albums in three years, so here is the third one! “Evangeline” opens on a darker note than what we used to hear on the two previous albums, but you’ll still find this “American indie rock melancholy” touch in the chorus (think of SOUL ASYLUM or The REPLACEMENTS.) “I Want More”, “Empire State”, and “Feel Like Being Alone” confirms that ROLE MODELS have kept their pop sensibility, and you’ll be happy to know that their rock’n’roll side is also still alive and well (“Reach Me”, or “Manette Street” that brings the best of The WILDHEARTS to mind.) If you’re more into punk rock, then just listen to “Wizard Van”! To me, the best surprise on this new album is actually the last song, “Meteor”, a great new-wavish song with a bass line reminding me of The LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH.
You’ll find guest such as Duncan Reid, Kris Rodgers, and Stacy Stray on this new album. If you liked the two first albums, then big chances are you will love this one! /Laurent C.
Veglam 