News Track By Track: Stagecoach - Say Hi To The Band

On 13th May, our friends over at Alcopop! release the debut album from Stagecoach. Recorded with producer extraordinaire Rory Attwell (Yuck, Palma Violets, Mazes), ‘Say Hi To The Band’ has been ten long years in the making. “We wanted to introduce the band to new fans but also reacquaint with older friends,” the five-piece say of the release. “The title also reminds us of the warm friendly welcome of classic albums like ‘Meet The Beatles’ and ‘The Beach Boys Love You’.” Prior to its release, DIY is streaming the whole album - including previous singles ‘Work! Work! Work!’ and ‘Action’ - below. We’ve also a handy track by track guide from the band’s frontman, Luke Barham.

‘Work! Work! Work!’
This song is about that purgatory space between finishing education and life in the real world. It’s about working in dead-end jobs and watching those around you lose faith that you will ever amount to anything. Musically it’s straight-up power pop complete with call and response synths, woodblock led bridges and harmonised oohs and ahhs. The bending lead guitar part is ultra 90s and reminded us of those great disposable radio hits we used to collect on 7” in our teens.

‘Action’
This is the most instant song on the album and feels like it’s over before it’s begun. Scratch your head and you’ll miss it. We tried to create a modern Motown track filtered through a Seattle sound. The falsetto vocal parts are a stab at adding some soul. It’s the loudest and rawest moment of the album and the closest we get to an angsty rock song. It’s about being uptight and not knowing how to relax at the party. It questions if there is a formula to conquering those anxieties and learning to let it all hang out and have a good time. It was our first time experimenting with keys in Stagecoach and we love the Stephen Wolf swirling Hammond organ sound Rory managed to get.

‘56K Dial Up’
This was the first song we wrote for the album. We had been writing a lot of fast songs prior to this, so once we had the main lazy hook we revelled in its mid-tempo glory. It certainly owes a debt to Pavement and Weezer but I like to think it’s more of a fond nod to those bands that we grew up with. Lyrically it’s about feeling an expectation from your heritage that you don’t identify with and casting it off to be your own man. We re-recorded it for the album and made the loud parts heavier, angrier and the guitar bends bigger. Basically everything is 37% huger while still keeping the slack, held-together-by-gaffer-tape feel.

‘A New Hand’
This is a song about age and becoming an adult, watching your friends grow up, marry, have families and not resent it but feel lonely and a sense of loss. It’s the saddest moment on the album and was the last track we wrote. We weren’t sure how it would fit amongst the other songs but decided to record it anyway. It was a risk but one that you should be able to take when making a greater body of work. Across the album we wanted to present a whole story from teenagerhood to the present and this song is very much a key part of that journey. Musically it has a country rock swing to it. We love the roomy brush drum kit and the slide parts. The mournful cornet part is played by Mikey of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.

‘Threequel’
This is an extremely frantic, spiky, angry pop song with big drum fills and loud guitars. The very 90s guitars are offset by more modern synths, it’s like everything we love from the past but also the present. It’s a song about vices. It’s about enjoying the things you know are bad for you and ultimately feeding the machine that ensures those things continue to be produced. I used a movie “threequel” as a metaphor for this. Rarely is the third movie in a franchise decent yet people still queue up and pay to see it. It’s a horror show or car crash that you are morbidly drawn to. Even the actors in a threequel know that they are making bad films but the money is good so they play the part. We love playing this one live and are pretty sure it will become a favourite with audiences too.

‘Kings Resolve’
This song took some time to crack. It was a very simple almost 80s soft rock song which I’d written on acoustic guitar and we tried many times to play it as a band but it never felt right. We left it for six months and when we dusted it down it just clicked. We added a few drum rolls, a nasty Moog part for the outro and suddenly it made sense. The song is about boldly moving forward despite all the setbacks life can throw at you. A king can lose battles but must always maintain a brave face and carry on regardless, even when there is nothing left.

‘First & Last’
This song was unfinished when we went to the studio. We trusted it would come together with some guidance from Rory. The drum and bass take was the second attempt. Matt (drums) and John (bass) were in the studio, and we conducted them from the control room, conducting purely by feel when it should take off and when to play soft. There ended up being many tracks of various noises, percussion, vocals and guitars so it was a huge job to edit and mix. Rory did an outstanding job. It’s extremely dynamic and you never know when it’s going to explode. For us it’s the centrepiece of the album, a whole journey in itself. It’s an unusually long track for Stagecoach but we decided for once to just let it all hang out. Lyrically it’s about life not being a race. It doesn’t matter where you finish, we all arrive at the same place in death. We’re all equal in the grave.

‘Nothing Leads You Astray’
‘NLYA’ is possibly the most pop moment of the record, with four to the floor drums and slabs of guitar that just make you wanna dance. Nick’s flanger guitar really reminded me of 90s Graham Coxon. The lyrics are repeated like on a dance track, we wanted to reflect the monotony of the beat in the vocal parts. In the final section it opens up into a full blown rock song, and you can feel the release of the band as we break from the shackles. Theme-wise it’s as simple as the lyric suggests: ‘When nothing leads you astray/you know you’re getting older…’ A time comes when your appetite for parties and getting wasted is diminishing. A time for something new.

‘We Got Tasers’
‘Tasers’ was the title track of our debut EP which we released in 2009. It’s been a staple in the live set for some years, and in that time we’ve learnt a lot about it. It has been much refined in that time. I think it’s the one song we could all play in our sleep. It has done so much for us as a band that we couldn’t leave it off our debut. For the album we gave it a facelift. It is a lot more driven and determined-sounding than the original, which was perhaps a touch on the twee side of things. This version properly rocks and has a more British feel to it than the earlier recording. Thematically it’s about having a measured approach to life. Not being gung-ho or reactionary but having a considered approach.

‘I’m Not Your House’
This song was a demo which Nick (guitarist) and Matt presented to the band. It was originally twice the speed but when we slowed it down we found it had a really great melancholy stomp. Once the harmonised ebow string parts were added it sounded even more mournful and sombre. The lyrics and vocal melody parts were a joint effort between Matt and myself so it is a duet of sorts. The tacky drum machine at the top of the song was constructed from various samples by Rory and actually took ages to make sound that bad. I think he nailed it. This was another song which we started to record unfinished; we felt it out as we went along. The mood is very reflective and numb. It’s a love letter to the past which will never be answered.

‘Video Shop’
‘Video Shop’ is an older song which we always knew we’d close the album with. Lyrically it’s a fond look back to a time working in a video shop which seemed so terrible at the time, but is in fact a much more comfortable, care free place than the present. Hindsight is a great thing. In the final section it really takes flight and becomes not just a celebration of the past but also a celebration for the future. This is why we knew it was the closer and we will no doubt be finishing live shows with it.



Stagecoach’s debut album ‘Say Hi To The Band’ will be released on 13th May via Alcopop!