Close Lobsters – Stepping Across (EP) (Last Night from Glasgow)

22 August 2024

Paisley, Scotland’s Close Lobster have just released the new EP, “Exceed”. The EP contains three new songs. The outstanding title track is also included in a cleaned up “de-fucked” version and a rousing extended remix. The EP was recorded with John Riverswho has been with the band for a long time, in spring 2024.

To bring many US indie pop/rock fans who may not know Close Lobsters up to speed, their first phase of existence lasted from 1985 to 1989. I have no idea how I originally heard them, as I have never heard the now legendary NME C86 band, but also other C86 bands like Soup Dragon And Mighty lemon candies were definitely on my radar around the same time in 1986-87. And while the early efforts of these bands were very good, they also sounded a lot like their predecessors, Buzzcocks And Echo and the Bunnymen I always came back to Close Lobsters (and still do), with their more original sound full of addictive, fast-paced, jarring melodies.

Musically, the Lobsters have developed quickly. “Firestation Towers” ​​(from the C86 tape) is youthful, edgy and snappy, but already has the DNA of what became more far-reaching and wonderfully melodic on songs like “I Kiss the Flowers in Bloom” from their first LP, “Fox heads roam this land” (Fire, 1987) or “Lovely Little Swan” on LP number two, “Headache rhetoric” (Fire, 1989).

They had fast tempos, strong songs and just the right amount of humour and swagger. ‘Violently Pretty Face’ is so entertaining you’d want to play it at a wedding reception, but with a title like that, that’s obviously not advisable! In some ways, they were a great example of contemporary, forward-thinking British indie pop/rock in the late 80s before fizzled out as Britpop ushered in the 90s.

Among their seven or so singles from the ’80s, “Let’s Make Some Plans” is a standout stoned-jangle confection that has since been covered by The Wedding Present and, most recently, The Luxembourg Signal.

Fast forward to 2012 and the band reunited for festivals and released singles/EPs that year, 2014 and 2016. Like everyone else, they were stuck in the sand during COVIDwith unfortunate timing, as they had released their third LP shortly before the lockdown. “Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols” (Last Night From Glasgow, Shelflife, 2020) has compiled singles from 2014 and 2016 with new songs and thankfully the ringing guitars remain fully intact, alongside their strong pop sensibility, delivered with characteristic pride. Here too, Rivers was the protagonist and the results are superb.

While chatting via email last week with the singer/frontman/lyricist, Andrew Burnettit is clear that he and the band were taken by surprise by COVID but rather than simply carrying on as a “traditional” band playing their hits on an imaginary, depressing C86 river cruise (ugh, what an image that conjures up!), they are motivated to write new music.

David: “Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols”. That was in 2020. The title is quite long! I had to look it up to identify the Italian art movement. As a visual artist myself, I am fascinated. Obviously COVID Strikes in 2020 took away the momentum many bands had built up. Was that the case for you too? “Stepping Across” has just been released. Are you planning a full-length album? More tours?

Andrew: With regard to Arte Povera, we took advantage of the fact that we were impoverished and love the beautiful country. The Forest of Symbols is Baudelaire-like in its intention.

A) COVID struck when we released the album! We found ourselves in the unlikely situation that many people who attended our opening concert in Glasgow in late February 2020 feared that this would be their very last show ever! Wouldn’t that have been hilarious? You wait two decades to release an album and as soon as you do, there’s a global meltdown!

B) The huge success of our recent gig at At the Edge of the Sea festival in Brighton in August means that plans for a new album are well underway. We will be returning to the rehearsal studio to whip up more material and record it in due course! The working title for this new album is “Paisley via Govan and Aberdeen”.”

David: I imagine this is really a side project in your life. And yet I’m sure the response has been good in terms of the shows you’ve played and the fans’ reaction to the new music. It’s kind of addictive and maybe makes you want to keep going, right?

Andrew: “Yes, indeed. Art will prevail. It is really great to be free from the commodity system!”

David: I’m curious if your songwriting is that different to the first phase of the band in the 80s. Do you all live close to each other? Still in Paisley or the surrounding area? Or is it more a case of sending files back and forth to put the new music together?

Andrew: “We use relatively traditional methods to put the material together. One of the group, Tom, lives in London, which makes it a little more difficult. However, by US standards, the 400 miles from London to Glasgow is a piece of cake.”

David: I appreciate that you write excellent new music and don’t just play traditional shows or older material. Was that a critical decision for anyone or everyone in the band?

Andrew: “We are committed to creating something new. We play ‘the hits’ live, but I also want to make a nod to the great Bob Dylan, who reinterprets the songs every time he plays them. ‘Shelter from the Storm’ is a wonderful and great inspiration live. Our new album will consist of 12 brand new songs.”

David: The new EP “Stepping Across” sounds amazing and all three songs are great. Instantly recognizable as CL! Was there a specific inspiration for these songs and why you are finishing them now? The Monster song “Stepping Across” sounds like it refers to some kind of afterlife experience (I also noticed the cross on the cover). But the lyrics also sound like they are about someone losing their mind. Would you like to share the story behind the song?

Andrew: “A) We felt we were running out of time and needed to get the tracks out as soon as possible. B) I’m delighted that you’ve been so keen on Stepping Across. It draws on the works of Dostoyevsky. In particular, ‘Crime and Punishment’. As we know, old Dostoyevsky wove his magic into ‘The Madmen’. To me, it works in a similar way to ‘Ballad of the Band’ by Close Lobsters. An autobiographical story about who we are. A fable of transgression, no less.”

David: Are you interested in newer bands that have emerged in the last few years? What’s on your turntable?

Andrew: “I’m listening to Jack White’s new album, “No name” and some of Been Stellar’s “Scream from New York, NY”. Like everyone else, I’m waiting for Frank Ocean to come out with something new. He is of course more than welcome to contribute to our new album!”

David: Is there anything else you’d like to share with Big Takeover readers at this time about Close Lobsters?

Andrew: “Everything moves the same way, always and forever. We are looking for a way to think of movement in motion. Our goal is to return to the land of freedom one fine day.”

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