Fresh from uncovering the British Isles’ alternative history with The North Sea Scrolls last year, former Auteurs and Black Box Recorder man and all-round polymath Luke Haines has announced that he’ll be releasing a new album, Rock And Roll Animals on July 29 via Cherry Red.
Rather than trying to explain the album, which contains, among other things, the Angel Of The North and narration from Julia Davis by way of Sham 69 and rockabilly, ourselves, we’ll leave it to Haines, who says of the album: "Rock N Roll Animals is a psychedelic story for grown ups (and children). Jimmy Pursey – is a frisky fox; Nick Lowe – a solid badger and Gene Vincent – a cat who’s seen a bit more of life than most of us. Three furry freaks. Three Rock n Roll animals. The fable of our four-pawed shamen is narrated by the good folk of Magic Town. This is a story of righteous rock n roll and how our three rock n roll animal friends, when not frolicking in the undergrowth, do battle with their most unrighteous nemesis – a fuck ugly bird (from Tyneside) made of steel and wire called The Angel Of The North.
"So friends, free your minds, turn off your modern scrying screens and turn on your 21st century imaginations. Let us follow the townsfolk into the woods where the rock n roll animals are freaking out and running wild. But remember one thing: Nature is an evil mother."
Have a watch of a teaser trailer for the album below:
Ahead of the LP, he’ll be putting out the track ‘Rock N Roll Animals’ as a 7" single, with two non-album b-sides, and following the album’s release he’ll be playing a set of the new material at London’s Borderline on July 30; get hold of tickets here.
In the meantime, have a look at the album’s cover and tracklisting below, with Quietus editor John Doran’s interview with Haines for Noisey’s British Masters series following:
- ‘Magic Town’
- ‘Magic Interlude #1’
- ‘Rock N Roll Animals’
- ‘A Badger Called Nick Lowe’
- ‘Three Frendz’
- ‘Gene Vincent’
- ‘Magic Interlude #2’
- ‘The Birds… The Birds’
- ‘Angel Of The North’
- ‘…We Do’
- ‘From Hersham To Heaven’
- ‘Rock N Roll Animals In Space’
