Ghost of a chance
Australian
fans have been promised the new album from electro indie outfit
Cut Copy since 2007 got underway with a bang for them, appearing
as part of the billing for the Good Vibrations festival. A decision
to hold off on its release until February 2008 could see them
lynched in their homes. Well that might be a little over imaginative
but so strong is the desire for the band’s sophomore album
In Ghost Colours they’ve decided to buy themselves
a little more time by putting on another round of headline shows
(their second for the year). Those, combined with Homebake and
an appearance along side the most hotly anticipated duo Daft Punk
in December, should calm supporters for now.
But it’s not only fans who are registering
their frustration with the slow album release; the lads themselves
have become restless too. Forced to concentrate on other things
like heading to Japan for the Summer Sonic festival, signing new
talent to their record label Cutters Records and also developing
their skill behind an espresso machine are just some of those
things. So says Tim Hoey, bass guitarist for the band.
“We mix[ed] in August and since then we’ve
really been waiting on the label (both here and abroad). It [the
album] was supposed to come out in October in Australia but then
they wanted a simultaneous release world wide so they pushed it
back to February.
“Things can move so slow…it’s
very frustrating at times,” he said.
Rest easy though that the wait for the album will
prove worthwhile. If the singles already released from it are
anything to judge them on. There is something very catchy about
the grungy- disco sound the band produce. Hearts on Fire for instance
has held our hearts captive on dance floors everywhere this year
and the follow up single to that So Haunted has achieved similar
success in the short amount of time it’s been unleashed.
This is something Hoey believes can be credited
to the evolution in their song writing, wanting to try some new
and interesting things with arrangements and the fact Dan Whitford
(vocalist) is singing a lot more.
It’s also been attributed to the fact they
opened their ears to a diverse range of influences (including
developing a penchant for the ‘shoegaze’ bands of
the 90’s (noisy guitars sounds like Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth
etc). As well they took advantage of a collection of Italo and
disco records, this time around.
“We had been listening a lot to ELO’s
Time and Dan just started putting together all these amazing harmonies,”
Hoey said.
“I guess we sound a lot more like a band on
this record which came from three years of endless touring, plus
we weren’t listening to a lot of current dance music.
“Things that were really inspiring us [were
the] Animal Collective or the new[est] Sleepy Jackson record.
“All of this certainly creeps into what we
were playing,” he said.
In Ghost Colours will surely claim success
because of the man behind its producing credits. Tim Goldsworthy
co- founder with LCD Sound System’s James Murphy and Jonathon
Galkin of New York label DFA Records has been responsible for
producing records by bands like The Rapture and, N.E.R.D Unkle
and Le Tigre. This is label is renowned for producing predominantly
‘dance punk’. A genre of music that sounds are reminiscent
of those of the Talking Heads and Blondie.
Huge fans prior to meeting, Hoey believes it was
the combination of sending their demos and Goldsworthy picking
out all their samples during that and their initial conversation
of four hours that cemented this collaboration.
“We just talked about all the music we had
in common and all these recording techniques we could try,”
he said.
“We knew straight away that we wanted to work
together.”
With access to a great mind like Goldsworthy’s
now on board and access to his treasure trove of unusual instruments
it has paved the way for the band to grow and learn a lot.
“We had access to so much amazing gear over
there…It was totally like a wizard’s lair at DFA,”
he said.
“Everyday some new gadget would arrive and
Tim would be like ‘Ok let’s use this on this song’
half the time we didn’t know what sound it made.
“Because we were learning the instrument or
effect you would come up with some amazing spontaneous sound.”
The So haunted tour will settle fans who have eagerly
awaited this record. The lads will make their way around hitting
major cities and some off the beaten track on the East Coast this
month, but can the fans look forward to hearing any of the new
material? According to Hoey definitely.
“The ‘So Haunted’ tour will certainly
consist of a whole bunch of new material along with some old gems,”
he said.
“We have a special guest fourth member JP
Shilo of seminal Melbourne band ‘The hungry ghosts’
coming along for the ride to add some new guts to the old songs
and so we can play some of the new material a lot of it requires
another member to play live,” he added.
The live shows this month are all about supporting
the new and emerging talent from off the boys’ label too.
Knightlife and the Damn Arms have been chosen this time around
and for good reason.
“I think it’s very important to have
that ‘family’ community when you’re on the road,”
Hoey said.
“We always choose our supports and are really
committed to putting on a well-rounded night…a night that
the audience can enjoy from start to finish,” he continued.
“Knightlife is our most recent signing to
‘Cutters’ and he is getting a lot of attention in
the dance community both here and abroad.
He is going to do some amazing things!
We’ve been fans of Damn Arms for a while now.
Their new material is sounding great and their live show is a
lot of fun.
Visit www.myspace.com/cutcopy
for info on shows and album release dates.
Ruth Bailey
