in conversation with Those Handsome Animals

2016 has seen the return of Those Handsome Animals, with new music released and their own Hoxton-based club night.  I posed a handful of questions to lead singer and guitarist Thomas Millett ahead of the latest installment of their Prolific Lover Club this Friday at Zigfrid Von Underbelly...

I’ve followed Those Handsome Animals since the very beginning and it's been a sporadic trajectory, would you care to share a potted history of the band and introduce yourselves?

Me and Gav (vocals and guitars) started making music together in 2010, we were a 3 piece then with Gav on the bass, which is hilarious because he’s a way better guitarist than me. We was making music that was more akin to the Cure at the time, heavy reverbed dream pop but we got a bit bored with it, everyone sounded like that at the time (think The Drums). 

Gavin went traveling for a while and we just stopped making music for 4 years. After that whopping break we got back together, turned off the reverb, and decided harmonised guitars and power chords are the way forward. We was hell bent on sounding like no one around today. We recruited Thomas Beavis on Bass (a colleague of Gavin's) and most recently Derrick Carter (a uni friend of mine) on Drums. Together we have become almost brutal in sound, but trying to do this in a way that’s not been done before.

When I approached you about reviewing your latest single, you commented that you was moving away from the pigeonhole of 'indie', is indie a dirty word? Where is the band's sound heading now?

It’s not a dirty word, it’s just not right for us. 

When we get press everyone says we sound like various random 00’s indie bands, but the truth is we sound like none of them. We’re influenced by some of them sure (**cough** The Cribs), but I don’t feel part of it. The fact no one can unanimously describe us the same makes me think we're onto something new. 

The band’s sound is constantly being refined with each release. We have two guitars in the band, so we make the most of it, in songs like Rant Wildly and Right Fit For the City we both play lead. I hate guitarists that just play chords and the other solos, it’s boring. 

We’re now working on Hits vol. 2 - which has some new developments for us, mainly Gavin taking lead vocals on a few tracks. He’s got a deeper voice than me so we’re getting a bit of a Strummer / Jones vibe. We’re also working on acoustic stuff that is heavily influenced by The Faces, for too long acoustic songs have been wimpy... no longer.

Your lyrics have always held a down to earth, kitchen-sink drama quality that I've found relatable and fascinating, who do you hold in the highest regard in terms of songwriting?

I like characters, oddballs. For me my favourite songwriters are people like Jarvis Cocker, Black Francis & Jeffrey Lewis. 

They are themselves and write songs only they can sing. Everyone can write something generic (and most people do), but these guys have no intention of doing that, and neither do I. They don’t pretend to be anyone else, I like that. I see way too many people that seem fake fronting bands, It’s all style, but not with these lot. That rubbed off on me, I try to write as honest as I can, and then bury it under alliteration and imagery. 

Fun fact: We got our name from Jeffrey Lewis’ song “Slogans”.

Jared Leto; musical output or cinematic output?

Oh god, his cinematic output everyday.

The world finally gets to the witness the full unveiling of Jared Leto's turn as the Joker next month... If you was tasked with providing a new soundtrack to a Jared Leto movie, which would you choose?

Can I choose Fight Club? He’s not really the star but he’s in it. 

I’ve been working on a lot of instrumental stuff lately, it would soundtrack one of those fight scenes perfectly. Think Fuckin in the Bushes, but with a ridiculous amount of guitar harmonies in it.

Those Handsome Animals play Prolific Lovers Club @ Zigfrid Von Underbelly on Friday 29th July

Back to Back to Black (Amy Winehouse tribute album)

Last year Q magazine compiled a track by track cover version of U2's Achtung Baby to coincide with the album's 20th anniversary, and to be honest, I found that particular issue rather hard to track down, scouring a number of local newsagents before finding a solitary copy in WH Smiths.

And understandably so, since I was impressed by the calibre of contributing artists taking part to pay homage to the classic album.

Having fallen for this trick a number of times before from the predictable Mojo magazine and their re-covered Beatles albums featuring a whole host of people that I hadn't heard of and hadn't done a great job either, I was dubious of the magazine's ploy.

In this case tho, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Jack White and Depeche Mode, had all been drafted in, and the result was a startling reinterpretation of one of rock's well respected artefacts.

And so, to mark a year since the sad and untimely passing of Amy Winehouse, Q's latest cover mount is a song by song reconstruction of the modern classic, Back To Black, originally released in 2006.

The Cribs and The Manic Street Preachers head up the talent this time around, alongside The Temper Trap, The View, St Ettiene and up and comers Dry The River and Hollie Cook.

It is my sad duty to report that even with these artists on board, the album fails to impress, the over all feeling of it is far too muddied, cluttered and lacking focus, bleakly paralleling Amy's final years in the media spotlight.

Not to say that there are not good tracks on there, just that they are few and far between, Hollie Cook's reggae light take on You Know I'm No Good stands out as a highlight on the first half of the album, and at the half way mark The Temper Trap seem to mimic Spandeu Ballet balladry on Love Is A Losing Game (my opinion of which, the verdict is still out on), from here on in tho, the quality somewhat improves.

Karima Francis tackles Tears Dry On Their Own and buoys it with enough emotional weight to make it work and claim it for her own, Swindle and Zed Bias both inject a controlled dose of dub step into each of their more zion-skewed cover versions, and both sound all the more refreshing for their challenging takes, meanwhile The View's attempt at Addicted doesn't stretch itself too much, but satisfyingly adds a cheeky twist to Amy's ode to cannabis.

yet even with these positive points going for it, it does still leave half the tracks to be filed under forgettable, or even worse, skippable.

perhaps the reinterpretations were just handled incorrectly, or perhaps it is just too soon, perhaps it is because the memory of Amy Winehouse and her unique contribution to the music world still resonates with us too much, and no matter how fondly we look back on it, we are not yet far enough removed for this project to feel right.

Back To Black's impact on the musical landscape was phenomenal, inspiring a renaissance in self-empowered female artists, as well as bringing a flavour of Motown and soul back into the charts ahead of the inevitable imitations that would follow.

But very few would ever get close to Winehouse's troubled talent and her noir fuelled delivery, so closely intertwined with her turbulent life, indeed, with the lead single Rehab, she laid her problems bare for all FM radio listeners to hear.

so I must conclude that while Q and the artists involved made an admirable effort, it falls some way short of living up to the already considerable legacy that Amy Winehouse left with us in such a tragically short career.