HANDBAGS BACK IN THE STUDIO
The Handbags are back in the studio today for the first day of recording a brand new EP, the follow-up to March 2004's "Guantanamo Babes EP".
The as yet untitled EP will feature the following tracks:
Are You Lookin' At My Missus - The lead track for the EP is a stomping crazy rock beast. You'll know it as the opening song from recent gigs, which sees Tim and Matt swapping places - Tim scratching out a psychedelic screeching guitar part, while Matt keeps things funky with an infectiously bouncy bassline.
Sample lyric: "I will love you, because someone has to - you are what you eat, and brother, you're a knob"
Gonzo - A firm live favourite for as long as Handbags have been playing live, Gonzo is a deranged multi-part opus. Drummer Matty's opening lament on the pressures of not being famous enough collides with Shane's vitriolic stream-of-consciousness screed on... well, mint shampoo, Miss Monaghan 1969, and meeting the man of your dreams in heaven. Or something.
Sample lyric: "And yes I'm hung like an anaconda, so by me God is great - but I bet he don't know the first goddam thing about how to rollerskate"
Playing the Gay Guitar - The first (and only) time we played this prompted a mass stage invasion, with everyone joining in a mass singalong of Gay Guitar's huge anthemic chorus. This is already set to be a lighter-waving Handbags' classic, and we're going to make it sound every bit as huge as it should.
Sample lyric: "I'd like to strangle the Pope with his own tongue - it's fair to say I'm a Jedi Knight"
Says bassist Tim Steele in an interview with the Handbags at Dawn webmaster who is also Tim Steele: "It's been almost a year and a half since we made 'The Guantanamo Babes', and we've developed an awful lot in many many ways. When we did the first record, we hadn't even played live, but now with all the experiences of the last year under our belts, we're all set to make a rocktastic new EP.
"We're proud of our first effort, but anyone who's seen us live will know that it doesn't really represent the band we've gone on to become. This EP is going to be a lot more raw and dirty - it's going to need to be played back loud."
If all goes well, the EP is set to be put out mid-to-late September.