Gallon Drunk
| Gallon Drunk | |
|---|---|
 Gallon Drunk performing at Club W71 (2014) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | London , England |
| Genre (s) | Alternative rock |
| founding | 1988 |
| Website | www.gallondrunk.com |
| Current occupation | |
| James Johnston | |
Saxophone , keyboard, guitar |
Terry Edwards (since 1993) |
| Ian White (since 1995) | |
| Leo Kurunis (since 2012) | |
| former members | |
Drums |
Nick Coombe (until 1990) |
| Gary Bonneyface (until 1990) | |
Drums |
Max Décharné (until 1995) |
Maracas |
Joe Byfield |
saxophone |
Ray Dickaty |
bass |
Mike Delanian (until 2000) |
bass |
Jeremy Cottingham (until 2007) |
bass |
Simon Wring († 2011) |
Gallon Drunk is a British alternative rock band founded in 1988 around guitarist and singer James Johnston. Her dark wall of sound picks up influences from punk , blues and jazz .
history
Gallon Drunk was founded in London in 1988 by James Johnston ( vocals , guitar , keyboards ) and Mike Delanian ( bass ) . In 1990 Nick Coombe ( drums ) joined them.
After the release of a first single, Snakepit , they were signed by the Clawfist label , where their second single, Ruby , was released in late 1990 . Here the band was strengthened by Gary Bonneyface at the maracas . After Max Décharné on drums and Joe Byfield (short term member of My Bloody Valentine ) on the maracas had replaced Coombe and Bonneyface, three more singles appeared in 1991. Some Fool's Mess achieved the "Single of the Week" award from the New Musical Express . The debut album of the band You, the Night ... and the Music was released in 1992 and appeared in the United States with Rykodisc .
With their second album From the Heart of Town , the band's popularity grew. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and got them a contract with the US label Sire Records . As a result, they played as opening act on Morrissey's US tour , including the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden . During the following tour in the UK , saxophonist and keyboardist Terry Edwards, who had previously worked as a studio musician in the band, joined the band. Following the following European and US tour with PJ Harvey , Max Décharné left the band and was replaced by Ian White. Edwards and White have been a permanent fixture on Gallon Drunk ever since.
The new line-up included the EP The Traitor's Gate (1995) and the highly acclaimed album In the Long Still Night (1996 on City Slang ). The last release before a temporary separation of the band was in March 1997 the single To Love Somebody . In 2000 the band returned with the EP Blood is Red . Jeremy Cottingham had replaced Mike Delanian on bass. In 1999 they played the soundtrack for the film Black Milk by Nicholas Triandafyllidis . In 2002 the album Fire Music was released .
During a subsequent hiatus from 2003, James Johnston played and toured as a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds . He was also a member of the Krautrock band Faust from 2006 to 2012 . Johnston, White, and occasionally Edwards also make up the backing band for Lydia Lunch's Big Sexy Noise . In 2007 Gallon Drunk returned as Johnston, White and Edwards with Simon Wring on bass. The studio album The Rotten Mile was released . In 2008 the live album Live at Klub 007 was released.
After the death of Simon Wring in 2011, the band The Road Gets Darker from Here recorded in the renowned Hamburg analog studio Clouds Hill with Leo Kurunis on bass. Recorded in the same line-up and in the same studio, the album The Soul of the Hour was released in March 2014 . A tour followed in spring 2014.
Style and reception
Gallon Drunks' combination of punk rock , jazz , rockabilly , blues, and rhythm and blues is often compared to The Birthday Party .
Andreas Borcholte wrote on Spiegel Online about The Road Gets Darker from Here : “The music that Gallon Drunk has been celebrating with feverish devotion on their seventh album since 1992 is the blues in its punk and southern rock- infected form that Morphine once played Freeze in slow motion . In Gallon Drunk, on the other hand, there is still punch, there is still angry brew raging in the emaciated bodies. Terry Edwards' dark looming saxophone sounds drive Johnston's guitar and organ playing into unsafe terrain, an eternal night landscape full of alcohol-drunk demons over whom fate reigns with heavy blows. "
Tine Ohlau wrote on ByteFM : “The band has stayed true to its reputation of improving and changing with every album. In "The Soul Of The Hour" it is the long instrumental passages and sometimes mesmerizing moments, the superimposition of various musical influences and above all the fear of the race of time. "
Discography
Studio albums
- 1992: You, the Night ... and the Music (Clawfist / Rykodisc)
- 1993: From the Heart of Town (Clawfist / Sire)
- 1996: In the Long Still Night (City Slang)
- 1999: Black Milk (FM)
- 2002: Fire Music (Sweet Nothing)
- 2007: The Rotten Mile (Fred Ltd.)
- 2012: The Road gets Darker from Here (Clouds Hill)
- 2014: The Soul of the Hour (Clouds Hill)
Compilations and others
- 1991: Tonite… the Singles Bar (Clawfist / Rykodisc)
- 1992: Clawfist - The Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit / Dutch East India; Split with Breed )
- 1993: Dora Suarez (Clawfist; multimedia project with the writer Derek Raymond , based on his novel Ich war Dora Suarez )
- 2003: Bear Me Away: An Anthology of Rare Recordings 1992-2002 (Sweet Nothing)
- 2008: Live at Klub 007 (Sartorial; Live in Prague )
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Charles Bottomley: The Rough Guide to Rock. (Page 410) Rough Guides, 2004, ISBN 978-1843531050 .
- ↑ www.allmusic.com (accessed April 13, 2014)
- ↑ David Bret: Morrissey: Scandal and Passion. (Page 191) Robson Books Ltd, 2006, ISBN 978-1861059680 .
- ↑ www.spiegel.de (accessed on April 13, 2014)
- ↑ www.byte.fm ( accessed April 13, 2014)
Web links
- Official website
- Gallon Drunk at Allmusic (English)
- Gallon Drunk at laut.de