Bang Boom

The new album comes together

So we head into the studio in two weeks. Yikes.

In the studio, we will simply do drums and bass and acoustic guitar and some gang vocals, and the rest will be done at my home studio. So this is officially a call for two things:

1. If anyone is in the NYC/NJ/Philly area and has some high-end studio mics or gear they wouldn’t mind renting us, please get in touch here or at thedreadnoughts@gmail.com.

2. If anyone is free on the morning of February 12th to come to Asbury Park, New Jersey and shout some gang vocals, get in touch here or at thedreadnoughts@gmail.com, and you might get to be a part of the album!

The guys have just completed our last full-band practice and things are really humming. And I just have to tell you about the final addition to the album: “Tarantella Bang Boom”.

I’ve always, always wanted to bring that Italian-American feel to our sound, and while most Italian folk music doesn’t usually sound like the famous Tarantella Napoletana that is instantly recognizable to all, there is something beautiful about that style.

And while Gogol Bordello once made a similar attempt to blend it with punk, I’ve always felt like it didn’t quite do justice to the style. For one thing, most of the chorus of their “Harem in Tuscany” is literally exactly a note-for-note ripoff of Tarantella Napoletana. There’s room there for something better.

But setting out to intentionally write a particular kind of song is a nightmare: your analytic brain is always checking to see if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, which kills creativity. I had basically given up, and we were a month out of the studio with no tarantella. Boo.

Then, I remembered what our Italian-American mandolinist, Jungle Jim, told me about how he practices the mandolin: on an exercise bike. The fatigue and effort helps to put him in to the Zen Buddhist mushin, a state of “no-mind”. So I thought, ok, let’s give this one last try.

I listened to some traditional Italian music for a bit, hit the bike with an acoustic guitar, and just started pedaling as hard as I could while trying out various riffs and melody lines. And lo and behold… something emerged. Tarantella Bang Boom.

I sent a little acoustic demo to the band, we got into the studio a few days ago, and KABAM. It just came together instantly, like it was meant to be.

The song is a tribute to the anti-fascist partigiani in WWII, in particular to a young woman who lost her life after the local occupying Nazi warlord discovered that she’d been aiding the resistance. So it’s a kind of descendent of the often-sung Bella Ciao, another anti-fascist Italian anthem.

The rhythm is sweet, the sung melody lines are haunting, the words are nice and rhythmic and poetic, and WOW I can’t wait for everyone to hear it. And the plan is to release in September, so stay tuned for more album news and info! Songs are done, arrangements are done, production deal is done…. now we just need a title. And a cover.