Can't Bear This Party interview: "We won't ever turn troo pop punk"

Almost exactly a year ago I wrote a post pondering what Can’t Bear This Party would do next. Would they continue writing ‘progressive easycore’ (aka fast melodic skate punk with extras), or would they go down the dreaded hipster route.

It seemed like disaster had struck when the band broke up earlier this year but the good news is that not only are CBTP! back, but they are still as zany as ever! After I posted about their new song Lil Bowotomi, guitarist Quentin aka Sushi, was cool enough to answer some of my many questions over the weekend. I’ve cleaned up some of the ‘Frenglish’ (his word not mine) here and there. My questions are in bold. – Alanso.

GDAC - So to start, a lot has happened with CBTP! in the last few months. For a time it looked like we would never hear from you again. Can you tell us anything about the last few months, and how are things in the CBTP! camp now?

Quentin - Yes we were done, our guitarist Lino left France for Boston so we were a bit demotivated. After 6 months, we all really missed the band so decide to revive it! Lino won't play live with us but is still implicate in composition at this time. We already have friends to can replace him on tour.
We are about to record our upcoming album and will tour in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia this winter. We hope to reach UK and USA in 2014.

The new song, Lil Bowotomi, has really grown on me since I first posted about it. The lyrics seem batshit crazy, what the hell is it actually about?

It’s a long story dude…it talks about a booking agency from France who gets pretty famous American bands play here! We played for them with title fight and transit. These guys are really bitchy with local bands. We were not paid but we’re okay with that. But we expected to be treated with respect, we’ve never felt uncomfortable like this in any other show before! It’s a shame that foreign bands think French shows are all shitty like this, every single DIY promoter does a way better job. The song talks about the owner (of the agency).

What I love about your band is that you aren't afraid to mix up the genres and add different instruments. I often call you 'progressive easycore'. Did this happen naturally over the years or was it something the band always wanted to do?

I don’t know! It came naturally, it offers a lot of new ways to compose. I don’t think we use too much stuff, basically, it's still pop punk (but) in a different way.

And what is the songwriting process within the band? I've found it hard to get a band of 3 people to agree on things, how does it work with six French dudes who add xylophones and phone tones?!

I usually compose the songs then the others arrange their parts the way they like. But on our last song, it's our singer jean who composed the song. At first it was only 8 bit but I added pop punk part and beats! The singers write the melodies. We don't take CBTP too seriously, the goal is to have fun and play catchy and energetic music!

You guys do still seem to be having fun with the genre, I hope there aren't any plans to start writing boring indie-influenced songs to show how you are 'real' musicians who want to be taken seriously?

I know what you mean! We won't ever turn troo pop punk, even though I love some of those bands I think it’s just being close minded. You can show you are a real musician and play fun music.

I'm from Ireland, so I can understand how you guys could have grown up listening to lots of different genres without knowing that some people think you have to be one or the other. It's pretty mind blowing to me that there seems to be a great scene in France right now. I thought everyone there just played accordions and drank wine. How did you get into 'heavy' music and what is the French scene like now? What are some other good French bands?

Haha don't believe your cliché! I imagine you drunk, with red hair and wearing a kilt dude! (Chillingly close to the bone – Alanso)  I think every country has a stereotype of others!
There are more and more cool little bands in France. There has been ‘heavy’ music in France for a long time. Some (bands) are getting really famous like chunk! or BTM (Betraying The Martyrs) and I think it's really awesome!

So, I posted on skatepunkers.net that I'd be asking you some questions and there are some questions from the forum users there, so I'll pitch some at you. 

“Where did the name come from and what does it mean?”

I don't know dude! I don’t even have a good fake explanation for this!

“How old are they?”

We’re all 24 or 25 but Remi, he is 17!

"Are they ever going to visit their Spanish neighbors?”

I don't know yet but we would love to! It’s really not far from us…same for Ireland.

"Do they sing with that accent on purpose or did they just have bad English teachers?"

Our singer jean has a terrible accent even when he speaks in French! One day we’ll get accent auto-tune and your question will be obsolete!

Top 10 Teenage Tunes: Aidan from Murdock

New Feature Time! I was going to call this nostalgiacore but I'm pretty sure that's what Title Fight are doing, hence the awkwardly long, alliteration-heavy name. Anyway, seeing as I know lots of folks who also have opinions on music, I figure once in a while I should ask them about the songs they loved when they were dealing with hormones and whatnot. 


I think I want to be Aidan from Murdock when I grow up. For those of you that don't know, he is singer/guitarist in Irish metal/hardcore punk/noisecore nice guys, Murdock. (We're not big on sticking to one genre in Ireland, thank goth). Not only this, but he also runs his own studio, The Forbidden Zone. And his day job? Oh yes, he only goes and teaches sound recording! - Alanso


Nostalgia you say? Any of my friends will tell you that I am a very nostalgic guy, sometimes too much so! To me, all great memories are safe and cannot be changed, they are good times locked up in the bank of nostalgia, to be called upon whenever needed. They are mine, and YOU can't have them! Why, did you want them?

So I will do this in some what of a chronological order of me getting older. These are not my favourite songs by any means, they are the soundtrack to memories that stick in my head and make me happy.

Stereophonics - Bartender and the Thief



This song was the first I ever heard that made me realise how loud gutiars could be, and Im pretty sure It is the reason I bought my first electric guitar. At the time I was about 12, I was getting lessons on acoustic guitar playing 'she'll be coming round the mountain' and that was boring me. I heard this song I and thought 'THATS WHAT I WANT TO DO'


Nirvana - Mr Moustache



So I started playing electric guitar, and I thought I was so awesome. I had braces, too much gel in my hair, a navy sweatshirt and beige trousers with white runners, I couldn't talk to girls, and my voice was at the squeeky head wrecking 'pre-drop' stage. Did I give a fuck? NO! Cos I had an electric guitar. I first got into Nirvana from the Nevermind album, which I LOVED, and I remember saving up to get some more of their stuff. I got the album bleach and could not get over how much better it sounded, it was darker, dirtier, and much less polished and I loved that. Im still convinced to this day, that the Bleach album is responsible for getting me into darker, weirder, noisier, music and it is the reason that my band Murdock sounds like it does today. We don't sound anything like Nirvana, but it is in there somewhere.

Less Than Jake - Gainsville Rock City



So as far as I knew, the only bands out there were Green Day, Nirvana, Blink 182 and Korn. And that was all I needed, or so I thought.
One day I came home from school, it was just coming into the summer, and my dad had bought Sky Tv for the house, which had Kerrang, Scuzz and P-Rock TV showing music videos around the clock and my mind was blown away. So many new bands, so many cool videos and all summer long to watch them all and learn them all on guitar.
This was the first song I saw on Kerrang TV and it always reminds me of how good that summer felt.

Alien Ant Farm - Movies



Following on into the next Christmas after I got Sky TV, I must be 14 by now? All I wanted was the guitar from this video! I nagged my parents and ended up getting a guitar which I thought was this guitar, but it actually wasn't, BUT it was an awesome guitar which I still have. That Christmas the house was snowed in, so it was me, my guitar and all the songs that I could learn from Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3. A game I still play every Christmas to this day!


Blink 182 - Anthem Part II



So the next summer I got a part time Job. For the first time I had some money to spend. There was a bass in the local music store on special offer and all I could think of, waking up in the morning, going to sleep at night was THAT BASS. I ended up not buying it, but this song reminds me of that summer. I also vividly remember my friends calling over to get me to go to a youth disco to hang with some girls, and I wouldn't because I was too busy learning the new Blink album on guitar. I have no idea how I have a girlfriend today.

Korn - Clown



So around this time, Nu-Metal was everywhere, and I loved it. I still throw some of it on every now and then. My part time job was cleaning cars. They were all older used cars, and they all cassette decks in them. Every morning going to work, I made sure that in my top right pocket of my overall's, I had Korn's first album on tape in there. The album is about 40 minutes long, and I listened to it ALL DAY, EVERY DAY! And I never tired of it

Every Time I Die - Ebolorama



2003 hit and everything changed for me musically. MTV 2 started showing 'headbangers ball'. All of a sudden things got, heavier and faster and louder. Hatebreed, Converge, Every Time I Die, Poison The Well, As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, The Black Dahlia Murder were regularly on. Late one Tuesday night, Ebolarama by Every Time I Die came on and I could not believe what I was hearing. It was rock and roll but it was insane!
One of the coolest moments of my life happened last year, where my band played a few shows with Every Time I Die. They were playing the song, while a couple of them were wearing my band Murdock's tee shirts, and I couldn't help but smile like the biggest weirdo in the venue, thinking back to 2003 and falling in love with this song/band. (That is me being nostalgic about being nostalgic, cos that gig was Oct 2012, That is like inception shit!)

Between the Buried and Me - Mordecai



One night me and all my guys (2 of which would start Murdock with me), were hanging out in the car park in a retail park. Driving around bollards, skateboarding. I don't remeber much of the details but I remember that this song was blaring thought it.
Also one of the guys jumped in though the window of the moving car and landed perfectly on the passenger seat. It was great!

Moden Life Is War - D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S



This song is probably the reason that I play music and drive around in a smelly van, with smelly guys playing smelly venues.
This song is from 2005 and at this stage we were playing music for fun, with out biggest goal being to get a gig at a local venue.
The song made me dream of playing a million miles away from home and being so tired you cant even breathe. If any song resonates inside me, with any sort of a creed or anthem, then this is it

Posion The Well - Ghostchant



The opening guitar riff and snare roll of this song, actually bring me back in time to 2003. No TARDIS or Flux Capacitor needed.
I remember reading a review of this album in Kerrang magazine, before I had ever heard of this band. And from the reviewers words alone, I knew it was going to be the best thing in the world. I still have the magazine in an old drawer somewhere, I dont think I have ever had music make me shiver as much as this song does when the chorus kicks in.

Countdown to Summer Pop Punk!

It might be the approaching summer or it might be that I’ve taken my head out the sand but for some reason there seems to be lots of pop punk on the way or recently released! This syncs up deliciously with wearing shorts, drinking on balconies, skateboarding and all the other things us menchildren do when the weather improves. Like checking out cute girls, let’s be honest you guyz. There has been too much new stuff released for me to document individually, so here’s ‘best of’ that I’ve thrown together.

Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! - Restart



Still bringing the upbeat mosh, still snapping at the heels of the comparatively elderly A Day To Remember, still singing in that hilarious accent, C!NC! are set to be the next big thing of whatever scene this is. I would have sworn blindly that he says 'We'll need to suck bodies we're not even ass' for the 'meet us at parties' line.
Srsly though, how good is this song?! Can't believe dat vokill comes out of a little French dude.

Carousel Kings - Road Warrior



This is a song about being on tour, which every teenager can totes relate to! Pretty much any pop punk song with that ‘passionate talking with effect on’ stuff is a winner for me. I like the blink homage with the ‘Na na na’s. What’s that? The Ramones? Never heard of them, mate, are they new? Makes for a super catchy song. They are also mad into pizza. How do I know? Because they reference pizza ALL THE TIME. They're like the iPhone owners of pop punk.


Knockout Kid –....Is A Dead Man



These guys actually released a different song to promote their new album, but it's only ok compared to some other stuff they have. Srsly guys, y u release Interstate? Anyway, this is actually a new version of an old song that was pretty badass as it was. The new harmonies on the chorus though. <3  The lyrics have ALL THE FEELINGS, but it sounds like they might be ever so influenced by Four Year Strong circa 2007, so I can't complain.You can stream the full album here. I also quite like Catalina.

Can't Bear This Party! - Lil Bowotomi



When I first heard this song I was a little bewildered. But it has really grown on me. When everything drops at 00.50 I feel like doing an ‘arms raised power stance*’ at the top of a mountain or something.

*See, it's a real thing.

Thank goth this band is still fun and haven’t gone down the hipster route like so many others I could mention. I'm hopefully talking to one of the dudes from the band over the next few days to find out wtf is going on in the song!


The Wonder Years -Passing Through A Screen Door



Speaking of going down the hipster route…. I've written way too much about this song song already. I guess if it's raining or if it's late at night and I'm drinking alone and feeling miserable or something I'll listen to it while looking at my yearbook from school... I will be slightly giddy in the moments leading up to listening to the new album though.

Man Overboard - White Lies



These lads make it difficult for a 26-year-old male to admit to liking them, don’t they? I mean the lyrics are cringey enough without an effing lyric video. Of course it’s aimed primarily at teenage girls so I shouldn’t complain. The last album wasn’t quite the grower that the S/T one before it was, but this song is great. The songwriting has gotten better, it’s catchy without being choreographed. Their new album will be called Heart Attack. SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE? I kinda want to slap these guys in the face, force some shots down their scrawny necks and get them laid. But, tbh they're probably doing pretty well with the ladies now that they're saving pop punk and all!

Abandoned By Bears - You Should Stick Up!



Hailing from...somewhere in Europe, Abandoned By Bears really like Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! and are pretty daycent! Actually, they're pretty great if you like breakdown salad pop punk, which I do.

Ok, there's also a new ADTR song but it's heavy as a very heavy thing and I don't think it fits here. Have I missed any?!

Tourettes Karaoke is a thing now

Just when I think the internet has given all it can give…tourettes karaoke! Sure it’s childish to laugh, but the guy has become somewhat well known for this and he has a sense of humour about it so it’s all good. (I think...)  So, without further ado…

 I hope this is real. Because it's pretty effing brave if it is. I would have to be very drunk to sing karaoke.

As with anything online now, you have to stick on an asterisk and ponder if it's a faker... I dunno, that's too much for my head to take in.

Can't Bear This Party have a slightly bewildering new song

So, CBTP released four really good songs that were set to be on a new album. Then they broke up. Then they got back together. Then they released this song, called Lil Bowotami. 

We up to speed?  Ok. Now. WTF am I listening to?

It starts off like a NES version of the Ting Tings, frolics through some kind of bizarre 8bit pop carnival, then explodes into an actual punk-related song at 00.50 seconds. Then there’s some (presumably fake) trumpets and a hook from an older song. 

Is this what happens when bands stop giving a fuck? Is this the future of progressive easycore? I think I like it!? Who is Damien Botami anyway? I have so many questions…

Alkaline Trio are a Jekyll and Hyde band now

 
I put it to the jury that, with their new album 'My Shame is True', Alkaline Trio are now truly a Jekyll and Hyde band, changing without warning between a fun, punk rock Dr Jekyll and a boring, disappointing Mr Hyde. And yes, I'm aware of the irony that Alkaline Trio probably would prefer to be Mr Hyde but I've come up with the metaphor and I'm sticking to it.

As always, some notes to start...

• Alkaline Trio are one of my top 3 bands, for more than a decade.
• 'From Here To Infirmary' is one of my top 5 albums.
• The distinction between 'Dan songs' and 'Matt songs' has always meant a little split personality in albums.
• In fact, 'Dan songs' alone suffer from this disorder also.
• They have lost some bite with age, but this is to be expected and I'm accounting for that.
• Crimson is the last great album they have put out to date IMO.
• The new songs released so far are promising.

And so (finally) the album itself...

The evidence

Taking it's time to get motoring, just like Time To Waste on Crimson, She Lied to the FBI is an upbeat, positive start to proceedings. It's not spectacular by any means but like many songs by the Trio, I think it'll be a grower. What's interesting (for pop punk/punk rock nerds at least...) is that it has a resemblance to the style Man Overboard have started to gain success for, especially with the backing woahs, so I guess things have come full circle.

Not quite as promising is I Wanna Be a Warhol, which has been out for a number of weeks now and which I still haven't quite fallen for. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent song, not bad by any means, but there's not a huge amount in it to draw me back in. But I'm hoping It'll be a Mercy Me, a reallllly slow grower.

From there we rush head on into a Dan song, I'm only Here to Disappoint, a study of Jekyll and Hyde in itself, with a great opening, some really well written music parts but, fittingly, a slightly disjointed chorus that is a bit of a let down.

Matt comes back to the front but takes it down a gear to start as Kiss You to Death slowly warms up, picks up speed and becomes a turning point in the album. Much more like the style on Crimson, there is a lot going on in terms of songwriting, while retaining the sounds, venom and bittersweet irony that made us fall for the band in the first place.

Kicking on from the slipstream of the song that precedes it, The Temptation of St Anthony is the peak of the album, conjuring up dark images wrapped in sweet melodies. It is as good as anything from Crimson and, to me at least, is up there with any of their most popular songs. It even has a little bass lead break, which is a new development. The chorus is memorable for the right reasons, not dragged down by the cliched lyrics that have dogged the band of late.

From there I, Pessimist roars onto the scene, complete with guest vocals from Tim of Rise Against. I was really hoping it would be Matt singing alongside him, but Dan holds his own during the raucous verse as the dueling vocals add to the pace of the song. Unfortunately the chorus doesn't hold up quite as well and what could have been a great song becomes a good one. Clocking in with a time of 2.17, it is still a welcome punk song that adds life to the album.

As I have said, Dan can be quite Jekyll and Hyde himself and this has never been illustrated so well as the tempo of the album is upended completely and left bloodied on the road by the tripwire that is one of his slow songs, Only Love. I'm  not feeling it.

However all is not lost, with The Torture Doctor delivering a shot of adrenaline to the heart of the album. For the most part this is classic, TEXTBOOK, Trio and it will be getting regular spins as part of any playlist I make in the immediate future.

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of all concerned, at this point the album is loaded into the back of an ambulance and though it manages to avoid to flatlining, it never fully recovers and lives a sort of half life, just getting by. Not sure how much more I can stretch the metaphor but yeah, the last part of the album isn't great.

The verdict

Despite trailing off horribly towards the end, overall I think MSIT is an improvement on the previous two albums and there should be some keepers to add to the impressive back catalogue the Alkaline Trios have accumulated to date. 

Twitter-sized reviews: Hesher

Brash, odd, unhinged, at times meandering, but intoxicating and vaguely charming. 7.5/10

If this doesn't make you curious to watch the film, it's probably not for you.