Following on from their rebirth seven years ago, The Brainiac 5’s evolution continues on Back To Shore. The band’s instinctive willingness to experiment is taken a step further. Usually, before starting to record, they’ve known what they’ll be doing. This time around, the approach has been totally new.
At the end of the sessions for their last album We’re Ready, the band were left with an unused, hypnotic loop, which they decided to send out to various ex-band members, friends and associates, whom they encouraged to expand on the track in whatever way they saw fit. Contributors included Brainiacs co-founder and poet Bert Biscoe; Cornish folk legend Chrissy Quayle aka The Mermaid of Zennor; reggae DJ and toaster Oxman; jazz saxophonist Oli Arlotto and Dave ‘Bagpipes’ Brooks of infamous ‘Balloon Dance’ comedy troupe, The Greatest Show On Legs.
The response to the process was extremely fruitful, leading to the creation of the four-part title track. The loop had a liberating effect, allowing the music to fly off in different directions, yet still sounding like a united whole. More players were invited to contribute to the project, while two more songs each were provided by Brainiacs guitarists Charlie Taylor and Duncan Kerr. From their psychedelic punk standpoint, the Brainiac 5 have ventured further than ever before, incorporating elements of folk, reggae, jazz and world music, resulting in the musical melting pot you hold in your hands.
Emerging out of the Cornish freak scene in the mid-70s, The Brainiac 5 migrated to London, causing a stir with their Mushy Doubt EP, earning such celebrity fans as John Peel and Alex Chilton, and prefiguring the early 80s psych revival. Splitting before their debut album World Inside (produced by Hawkwind’s Martin Griffin) could be released, they reconvened in 2012, going on to release a 10” EP (Space Is The Place), an early years anthology (When Silence Was Sound) and three new studio albums (Exploding Universe, Journey To X, We’re Ready), all of which have drawn praise from the likes of Mojo, The Wire, Prog, Record Collector, Shindig,Vive Le Rock, Louderthanwar, Terrascope and more…
The Brainiac 5 play a special album launch on 5 April at The Gunners, 205 Blackstock Rd, London N5.
Punk energy harnessed to a serious Ladbroke Grove attitude, the result a wonderful cornucopia of sound. Terrascope
If ever there was a bridge between punk and prog then this is it. Dancing About Architecture
Their eclectic music ranges from freak-outs to hints of jazz and bluebeat. Prog
Proper British festival music. **** Shindig!
This is acid punk at its best. **** RNR
