Will Sergeant's memoir Bunnyman dropped through my letterbox yesterday, signed by the author himself and now sitting waiting for me to get stuck into, an account his childhood and formative years in Melling (a village on the outskirts of Liverpool, woolly back country for scousers) and the late 70s punk scene centred around Eric's. The book finishes just as Echo And The Bunnymen are about to break so I have a feeling there may be a second volume at some point. Once I've read it, I'll write a fuller post about it.
In 2013 Will reunited with Bunny bassist Les Pattinson for a group called Poltergeist and armed with guitars, bass and a drummer, a four track and three decades of psychedelic exploration they set about recording an album of instrumentals. At the time Will said it was a return to his pre- punk hippy influences- Floyd, Can, Neu!- and also a reaction to the periodic frustrations of being essentially a hired hand in the band he formed. Ian McCulloch calls the shots in the reformed Bunnymen, decides what they play live and what happens in the studio- which sounds like despite the name on the sleeve most modern Echo And The Bunnymen albums are Mac solo albums and Will recreates his guitar parts on their classic songs on stage. No room to improvise or wig out. Which explains why Poltergeist sounds like it does. Will was in the same class at school as Les Pattinson and never fell out with him so it was obvious to get him in on bass for Poltergeist. This track from their album Your Mind Is A Box (Let Us Fill It With Wonder) unfolds slowly with a little drama and some introspection, a slice of 21st century scouseadelia.
Will is definitely working on a part 2 already because he has tweeted about it. Shame about the Bunnymen nowadays...if Mac calls the shots then he's to blame for them coming over like an increasingly tired tribute act live these days. The Poltergeist album was excellent, and a reflection of where the Bunnymen could still go if Mac could be arsed.
ReplyDeleteI just saw the part 2 Tweet, Will sitting at his laptop. I saw them at The Ritz a few years ago, they were great, sounded superb. But they do appear to be hit and miss
ReplyDeletethanks for the heads up about this, blooming marvellous album
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