“I’d have to say the weirdest thing to happen” stresses twenty-three year old singer / guitarist Wu, “was a girl throwing her shoes at us. Seriously, who throws a shoe? The obligatory twatty-heckling-drunk-toothless-dancer on a gig is my personal favorite…”
Most living Americans have never heard of This Et Al, but in the UK this Leeds-Bradford based noise pop quartet have been clamoring (pun intended) for attention.
Likened to My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, Queens of the Stone Age, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, the band (which includes drummer Steve, guitarist Ben, and bassist Simon - they prefer first-names only) have enjoyed three successful singles to date, plus spins aplenty on Radio 1/Xfm, airplay on MTV2, a Leeds festival appearance and accolades from NME, The Fly, and Drowned in Sound.
Baby Machine is their highly anticipated long-player. It’s described by the band as a “harsh and passionate journey into the disenchantment and paranoia of the post-millennial under-classes.” Among the subject matters set to sweeping anthemic epics (think Metallica plays Dark Side of the Moon) include the title cut which explores boredom and betrayal, tales of savage rage (“Wardens” and “Catscan,”) and a couple of politically tinged diatribes: “He Shoots Presidents,” “Can You Speak European?” and “Pigs Make Children Sick.”
Opines Wu “Sometimes the political element can overshadow, and in some cases, destroy a band or an album. Pop music can still enlighten people only when it’s out of the mouth of somebody you feel knows the subject matter, or someone you can believe in. I think the frustrations of modern day Britain are conveyed in all the songs on the album. There’s a certain desperation in the music and the lyrics, which wasn’t intended. I can safely say we don’t want to make our message so abstract that people can’t understand it, or so vague that people can read anything into it. We’re sick of hearing songs about chav’s splitting up and bouncers chucking you out of a club - we want to be the antidote to all that!”
Produced by Richard Green (Ultrasound, The Somatics) Baby Machine was waxed on the cheap in all its analog glory. Green’s knob-twiddling and hands-off demeanor captured the band’s sonic din and cinematic flourishes as rendered through vintage amps, vintage guitars, vintage mics, a real Hammond organ with the massive speaker intact, and sitars, among other gadgets. You’d swear the band had a million dollar budget. “We thought tape brought out the best of us as a live band - which is what we needed to capture.” He pauses, “I know it’s cliché but it’s true. A load of people have made a big deal of it, like we’re making some big artistic statement, or as if we’re biting back against the digital generation. Too right! It’s quite amusing, I’m all for it.”
Though there are no plans at present to tour America, Wu is hopeful that they’ll work out the finances to bring Baby Machine across the Atlantic. Says the voice of This Et Al “any eager Amplifier readers can just wire the money to my account! We’ll be over - so keep your eyes peeled…”
Tom Semioli
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http://www.thisetal.com
http://www.myspace.com/thisetal
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