Trudy and the Romance are rounding out 2017 with the ‘Junkyard Jazz’ EP – out now – which features recent retro delights, ‘Is There A Place I Can Go’ and ‘Twist It, Shake It. Rock & Roll’. Recorded in a former vicarage with Stockport’s Eve studios with producer David Pye, it follows a year of headline shows, tour supports with the likes of The Fall and Happyness and festivals including Swn, Ritual Union and Mirrors. With a London headline show at The Lexington already planned for 26th January, 2018 will hopefully mark their time to shine.
Ladies and Germs
Olly: With love and mercy we give you the ‘Junkyard Jazz’ EP, written over the holidays last Christmas. Tales in the new world; talkin’ about friends, family and Sweethearts. It’s hard to find true in the Junkyard… it’s a messy love out there.
Seashore Overture
Brad: Squelching through the sand, shoes and socks in hand, you slow down and stop as you approach the shore. You let the sooty thoughts of the city wash away one by one with each innocent crash of wave until your brain feels as if it’s had a cold shower; fresh and awake. Here’s your soundtrack, baby.
Twist It, Shake It. Rock & Roll
Olly: ‘Twist It, Shake It. Rock & Roll’ has a real melancholic shuffle to it. We wanted this record to have the charm and swagger of Jonathan Richman. Something not so distant from his record ‘Rockin’ and Romance’; the coolest album with a smile. The lyrics and melody all appeared pretty fast, finishing it was tricky. I laid down a demo on my dads 4-track Tascam with a 12-string acoustic and tambourine. Young Oliver John had a party in his pocket and didn’t know where to go with it.
The moral of the song is to follow your heart and the search for what’s true in this world. To love and understand what you actually want and not need to listen to the gang. It’s hard to remember that a true friend loves you for who you are. Don’t be cynical and try to not be boring.
Junkyard Cat
Olly: ‘Junkyard Cat’ swings like a lost VHS.. It’ll grow and get under your skin. A three-act love story, the baby with a million melodies, a movie of you and me.
Once in love with the Junkyard, I finally lost heart. Junkyard Cat is all about the girl that ran away with a night walk fairytale. The rat-pack fell apart, the jazz disappeared, and she went into the darkness. Who knew a boogie could hurt so bad. When the city ate her whole, I’m sorry I couldn’t save Betty from the ghosts in the back of her mind. She couldn’t find her thoughts on the promenade and didn’t much fancy my love on the run. Don’t lose your soul at the party, don’t let your head run away with the Junkyard Cats.
Ruff Ryder
Lew: ‘Ruff Ryder’ was stitched together as a heady brew of old ideas and new, collaboration and agonising self-degradation. It still sounds like the time it was written: freeloading at some friends’ house and a weekend that went too far.
Lyrically it’s a tale of modern-day Montagues and Capulets: she was Deliveroo, and I was Uber Eats, it was never meant to be. Both destined to ride out into the sunset with heavy hearts and a tip of the hat, she could not settle for me nor another. A real nomad. I’m no mad, just wanted to illustrate our doomed love affair and it’s tragic consequences. Out to DMX and the whole Ruff Ryder clique.
Is There a Place I Can Go
Olly: It was a cold December in my folks’ garage, and I was cuddled up to an electric heater. This is the first tune I have ever written on keys, and I can’t play for bananas. A puppy dawg wrapped in caramel for the old souls, don’t be afraid to let your tears hang out and cry on a shoulder.
For family, friends and ones coming of age in the new world. A juvenile ballad using every tool we had to make the biggest BANG. Lonely and true with lots of love; ‘Is There a Place I Can Go’, from your Rock & Roll alligators.