The Heavy

88.1 KDHX Presents

Monday, September 17 • Doors 7pm • Show 8pm • $12 Advance • $14 Day of Show • All Ages • Buy Tickets

w/ The Silent Comedy

“What the hell were we thinking?,” exclaims Dan Taylor, guitarist for U.K. indie soul-rock titans The Heavy, of the band’s audacious new album, The Glorious Dead, to be released on Counter/Ninja Tune on [date TK]. “We wanted to make a bold statement – it’s not shy, but a beast unto itself.” “It’s over the top, but in a good way,” adds charismatic Heavy frontman Kelvin Swaby. “With this record, we went pretty cinematic: we basically set out to score a film that hasn’t been written.”

Indeed, The Glorious Dead proves singular: Frankensteining everything from swampy voodoo and b-movie zombies with garage-rock guitars and Gospel-soaked soul, it becomes a whole other creature feature unlike anything else you’ll hear this year. The Glorious Dead isn’t just The Heavy’s third full-length: it’s also the group’s most ambitious effort, traveling sonically from the group’s South England home to America’s deep South, and beyond. It’s also building off momentum from The Heavy’s greatest success, the international smash single “How You Like Me Now?,” off the band’s acclaimed previous album, 2009’s The House That Dirt Built. An infectious anthem of hard-rocking maximum R&B, “How You Like Me Now?” exploded upon release: it has appeared everywhere from “Entourage” episodes, film The Fighter, and the trailer for the new Mark Wahlberg comedy Ted. “How You Like Me Now?” continues to enthrall: on the recent climax of the 2012 season of NBC’s hit show “The Voice,” Adam Levine’s team contestant Tony Lucca performed the song to massive acclaim. “That was surreal,” says Taylor. “It’s taken on legs of its own. I can’t complain, but I wouldn’t want to be known for one song – it’s not our peak.” “It’s such a big tune, people ask, ‘How are you going to top that?’,” Swaby adds. “But we’re not going to lie down and play dead.”

As such, The Glorious Dead rockets out of the grave with supernatural force.  “I find we’re always trying to recreate the diversity of, say, The White Album, but with beats.” Likewise, “Big Bad Wolf” combines primal howling à la Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, funkdafied breakbeats, and eerie electronics that recall Luniz’ stoned rap classic “I Got 5 On It.” “Think vintage, but keep it contemporary – that’s our approach,” Swaby explains. “It’s integral to make everything sound like samples from our record collection, but with a modern edge. We’re not afraid to use technology, and everything needs to have that tight, heavyweight bottom end.”

Epitomizing this all-inclusive strategy is The Glorious Dead’s centerpiece breakthrough track, “What Makes A Good Man?” Defiant yet uplifting, “What Makes A Good Man?” contrasts Swaby’s gritty soul searching with girl-group call-and-response vocals and soaring, epic strings. Its creation provided the spark that would prove crucial to the album’s inception. Looking to soak up some Southern Gothic inspiration, The Heavy traveled far from their hometown near Bath, England all the way to Columbus, Georgia on the advice of their U.S. tour-bus driver, Sam Phillips. There, Phillips hooked the group up with a number of church-trained singers and players: they would take Swaby and Taylor’s song ideas to another realm, like singer/keyboardist Lloyd Buchanan’s intense contribution to “…Good Man?” “We had the beat and the chorus for ‘Good Man,’ and when Lloyd started jamming on the B-3 and singing on it, I was like, ‘This is going to be insane,’” Swaby says. “The Gospel singers started doing the chorus they already knew they song – they made it sound like the Supremes or Ronettes. It was an incredible feeling: after that, we were on our merry way.” Taking the material to yet another level was the contribution of Gabriel “Bosco Mann” Roth, Daptone Records co-founder and bandleader of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, with whom The Heavy had toured extensively. Roth ended up scoring innovative string and horn parts to four of The Glorious Dead’s ten songs. “It doesn’t sound like what Gabriel does with the Dap-Kings,” Taylor says. “He got into the mindset to do something different.” “He’s such a talented entity,” Swaby continues. “I couldn’t believe what was coming out of the speakers. It was so fitting, with this vintage sound, and amazing beauty. It reminded me of these black-and-white films I used to watch as a kid.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Past Shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.