„THE BAND AROUND GERMAN-BRITISH SINGER TOM AND MEXICAN GUITARIST EVAN HAS EVERYTHING A GOOD ROCK BAND NEEDS – THEIR TIMELESS GUITAR ROCK WITH A BRITISH TOUCH HAS ANTHEMIC SONGS, ENERGY, STYLE – BUT MOST OF ALL HEART AND ATTITUDE.“ – WDR
INFO
ARTIST
RELEASE DATE
26.08.2022
CATALOGUE NO.
GRCD/LP/DIGITAL 1058
TRACKLIST
Unimpressed & unaroused
oblivious
Hangman’s Knot
Aroused
Let them all know
unnoticed
obey
soviet time
tonight
the 1
17 days
Gather your senses
D.F
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Story
‚TAATS‚ was created during the pandemic over a period of almost two years. The band composed a total of 25 songs, 13 of which made it onto the album. The new album of the German-British-Mexican band was produced in the Maarweg2 studio in Cologne, where bands like Mando Diao or Jupiter Jones have already recorded. Within 17 days and nights Tom Allan & The Strangest recorded the album, which skillfully bridges the gap between Manic Street Preachers, Libertines, IDLES and Fontaines D.C..
„We went much further out the window musically on this album than usual. Allowed other influences, totally deepened and let off steam, so to speak, created an album from the indie hooklines of the past that still clearly shows our background but is nevertheless more mature and above all more honest“. says Tom Allan about TAATS. „It was good to use the concert-free time to let the songs mature and to take the time to work on them. There was a lot of experimentation with new sounds and we had a lot of fun not finding a unified sound for the album, but letting each song stand on its own.“
Also lyrically the trio has developed further, so it goes in the album opener Unimpressed & Unaroused around the process of aging together as a band: „am I wise enough to know / when it’s time for me to go and leave the field“. Also in the second single 17 Days: „coming back for sequels / is this our line? / is this what we’re supposed to do? / not more to offer / than who we are / and hoping there’s no pleasing you“.
For the video shoot of Unimpressed & Unaroused Tom Allan and Evan Beltran flew to Wales in May 2022: „In Wales, everything that could have gone wrong actually did go wrong. It only rained (what did we expect?!). We were therefore unable to visit any locations. The old Ford Capri, which we had rented and planned in the script, didn’t start. After we found a cool location in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of North Wales the next day, our director Alex fell into a small stream, was soaking wet and lost his shoes. The only way to film in the mountains without shoes was from the trunk. To top it off, just before we started shooting, two school buses stopped next to us and 30 teens went on a field trip at our location. What could possibly go wrong?! Maybe that explains the one take, the wet hair and the slightly fucked up looks. But somehow it fits the song“. Tom says.
TAATS was mixed by Wolfgang Stach (among others Vierkanttretlager) in Cologne. Whereby ‚Unnoticed‘ and ‚Gather Your Senses‘ were mixed by Adrian Hall & Rob Mcvey, who have already collaborated with artists such as Portishead. Tom Meyer from Master and Servant is responsible for the mastering.
TAATS shows a band that, with all due respect to the history of rock’n’roll, is forging its own path, that has searched and found, that is setting new standards for itself in songwriting and performance. Standards that it effortlessly lives up to. And standards by which countless bands will have to measure themselves in the future. This is still anthemic, but also unleashed, loose in the best sense, often downright monstrous. If it weren’t so terribly hackneyed, one could even speculate that this is what the future of rock’n’roll sounds like.