BATTLES: MATH-ROCK MAGICIANS
Since ambushing the world into a dancing frenzy of progressive, synchronized electro/rock beats on Mirrored, math-rock magicians Battles return to the artistic realms of experimentalism.
Four years on, minus Tyondai Braxton and with a more focused approach to their sound, the now three-piece are raring to take a bite out of any musical genre that flows past them.
We caught up with pioneering percussionist John Stanier, somewhere on the streets of New York, to discuss their latest album Gloss Drop. “It’s like another court on court Battles record,” says John, explaining the sound behind their latest release.
Yet it seems that the eccentric New Yorkers have evolved a lot since their vibrant debut Mirrored, which saw the band as a four piece attempting to outshine each other. “We were constantly fighting for musical real estate within a song, and I think that’s fine, but after a while it gets a little tiring,” says Stanier, in a reflective state.
While he continues to explain Gloss Drop as “definitely more to the point”, it’s hard enough for any band to follow up the success of their debut album, even harder when you realise the impact Mirrored achieved upon genre fusions in 2007.
With the likes of Brian Eno astounded by their groundbreaking concepts, Battles had more than enough to live up to when releasing album number two.
“I feel like we got the second-record syndrome out of our system before we even started writing what is now Gloss Drop,” says John. “We decided to start from scratch and clear the table, we weren’t really happy with what we had.
When we became a three piece, it kind of put the fire back underneath us and pressure like none of us had ever felt.”
Successfully cheating the curse of the second album, Stanier confirms that Braxton leaving the band was “definitely a blessing in disguise. We somehow managed to take a negative situation and turn it into a positive. People are like, ‘Oh, it’s this uplifting fun-sounding record,’ but we were definitely not in that mind frame at all. It was the exact opposite of that,” says John. “We were hell-bent on finishing this record, I was putting my last drop of sweat into making sure we did it. We’re kind of lucky.”
Recruiting guest appearances from the likes of Matias Aguayo and electro eighties sensation Gary Numan, Gloss Drop feels both organic and nostalgic in approach, though it seems that Battles were a little hesitant over contacting Tubeway Army legend Numan to begin with. “He was our fantasy artist. I grew up listening to Gary Numan; I didn’t even know if he was still doing music,” John explains.
“It was as simple as having Warp ask him and he was like, ‘Yeah!’ I knew he was going to be good, but I had no idea until he really delivered. It was a win-win situation,” exclaims Stanier, with glee in his voice.
With a performance set at Birmingham’s HMV Institute on 27th June, be prepared for the oddities of Battles and their mystifyingly angular skills, leading forward an eclectic mix of dance rock that will be heard in essence for decades to come.
And if you’re a footie fan, watch out for John Stanier at St Andrews when he comes to Brum “I’d like to go to a Birmingham City game, buy a shirt and scarf for my collection, hang out with a bunch of cool dudes and go to their spot.”
Ross Cotton [2011]
