Track By Tracks: Monkey Intrusion - Pussycats And Monkeymen (2024)
A track-by-track rundown of “Pussycats and Monkeymen”
was something we were dreading a bit. As for all artists, we'd like our
work would need no explanations because what matters is the voyage it will
carry the listeners on. Still, we know that sometimes people are curious about
the point of view of the musicians, so let's get started.
1. Ouverture:
Well, the title is pretty much self-explanatory. This track was born as the
opener for our gigs and still is. Like in classical music, it's a collection of the
coming tracks rearranged in different ways, varying in rhythms and keys,
often mixed together. The first notes are shot pretty hard to call for the
audience's attention then moving to a storytelling mood with a voice and lyrics
pretty unusual for this kind of composition. It then develops into the proper
overture. As a footnote, we have to say that a couple of songs went off the
setlist during the years but we like the track so much the way it is that we never
wanted to rearrange it. Ah yes, the title itself is not misspelled but keeps the
classical notation.
2. Police Of The Soul:
It's an energetic, punk-ish track. There would be not much to add since it has
a linear development with pretty straightforward lyrics. During the recording
though Enrico had that great idea to add the opening guitar solo that gave the
song and ourselves even more energy. Also, in the studios, the producer and
owner Jadran Ogrin gave us some brilliant ideas for the arrangements at
some points. We'll be damned if we tell you where! Anyway, to play the chorus
live it's always something.
3. Cicuta Weston:
Wow, ain't it hard! This song is almost like a water sculpture, impossible to
define and yet there it is. It's one of the oldest songs in our repertoire and
during the years it underwent several transformations mainly arrangement-wise. That Latin American-like part was more rockish and didn't work so much
since it didn't create the right mood to be shattered by the sung section. The
next odd tempo signature adds to the sort of hallucination the poor Cicuta
Weston is living. The instrumental part is intended to let the people fly and
imagine their own story only to get back to the main theme. All in all, it's some
of our favorite to play live, and oddly enough it's one of the fans' too.
4. Bad Love:
This one is what we consider “The Track”. For sure it's the most intense. It's
also been the most difficult to bring home in the studios, mainly because most
unwisely we decided to record it first and we weren't used to recording in an
important, intimidating studio. There are so many things going on here! The
first part is kind of the way Monkey Intrusion envisions blues. We have
chosen an F key and a 3/4 tempo here which is pretty uncommon for blues
but creates a lot of tension to then resolve in a more natural E. It then moves
abruptly (a lot of discussions here if there had to be a bridge or not) into a
hard rock part in 4/4 where the offbeat of the riff's middle note sets the tone.
What a pleasure to play it! Not much to add until we get to the very last
section. Here we built on some mistakes we made but they turned out to be
one of the strengths of the song. The reciting voice wasn't there originally nor was the outstanding voice of our special guest, Sara Cova, who delivered an
amazing solo and of course, the crescendo set by the drums is something we
love most!
5. Off Beat:
Here we fool around a bit with reggae and ska in a rock frame. The lyrics are
about personal freedom, no wonder. Again this one musically is pretty linear
but for drums and bass that make a large use of triplets. What we think it's
truly remarkable here is the way Vincenzo delivered his voice. That kind of
intensity can change a good song into a compelling one.
6. Fire Dancer:
The origins of this one are a bit bizarre. Enrico was on a summer holiday in
Puglia, a region in southern Italy. He was staying at his step-parents' and all
of a sudden the country around the estate was ablaze. So he was sitting in
the middle of this inferno with his guitar in his hands and thought that the only
way to survive was dancing with the fire and so he wrote this song. After this, we think that adding any musical rundown would be pointless.
7. Hard Times:
This one is probably the second most beloved, always getting great responses from the
crowd, live. Also one of the oldest in the repertoire. The feel is no doubt prog
here. Lyrics are about being caged at a certain point of life, caged by choices
and mistakes and the desperate need to “get out get out get out!”. The trick of
playing this song is to carefully balance the last part, it's pretty easy to lose
control and hammer it down when it's not needed. But the 6/8 signature
makes it a beauty to perform.
8. Lady Death:
Well, the title says it all. It's a dialogue between someone who lost a dear one
and “The Death”, but for how grim it may sound it's really ironic. It's also
about accepting that it's part of life. Musically speaking it's a very hard rock
song, fun to play, with the instrumental part in odd tempo thought also to see
how the people dancing would manage it. The thundering double kick through
the heaviest sections gives the song almost a nu-metal intention which is quite
unusual for us. Remarkable during the recording was Jadran's reaction to the
growl part: “Who was that, devil himself?” in a thick Eastern accent.
9. Life:
Man, if we struggled with it in the early stages at rehearsals. Being a ballad
the mood is everything and to catch it was not quite simple. As usual in
music, the less complicated it is, the more difficult. The turning point was
when the drummer Marco B. joined the band, it seems counterintuitive but
that shaker at the beginning opened our minds and the rest rolled in like a
river. We knew we nailed it when the first drummer of the band called in one
day, and after hearing the new arrangement, told us: “Do you realize what
you've done?”. In the studios was not so smooth though, we had to simplify
furthermore the bass line and of course, such a lengthy guitar solo in the last
section is always taxing.
10. The Brighter Side:
In a way, this one reveals the true soul of the band. Every member had a lot of
freedom in crafting his lines. It's stimulating because it has so many different
parts changing in rhythm, progression, and most importantly mood. The final
chaos is always like a secret pleasure to play, with its joyful explosion of
madness as opposed to those “obbligato” in the previous sections... just to
have the ultimate one looming on the horizon. It took a lot of work in the
studios to capture the essence of this track but what a satisfaction when the
job was done!
11. Rio Portrait:
This is the oldest track we have in our setlist. Despite its age, it never
underwent major changes because the feeling and message it has to convey
works the way it is. It's about the “ninhos de rua” in Rio De Janeiro hence that
bossa nova in the first part. Here the doleful guitar soloing in the background
was the major change and in the studios, we added the beautiful voice of Sara
once again to give it even more depth. The song then moves into punk
chaos when the police catch the band of kids and kill one of them. It's always
hard when performing to move on the other side of the barricade. It then picks
up the starting progression in an up-tempo alternating 7/8, and 8/8 bars with that
shattering solo as a witness of physical and moral pain to ease then back to
the original bossa nova as a sort of eulogy. A very deep, emotional song to
perform, we never get away unscathed.
12. Dogs Are Eating My Legs:
This track was born in a quiet unique way, Vincenzo and Marco P. got
together one night with their acoustic guitars each one having just a half of a
song. Amazingly when they put the to halves together they combined
perfectly. It was then only a matter of finding the crescendo part and the track
was complete. A punk-ish, weird, funny song always appreciated in concert.
13. Revolution:
Well, the last one. And the most difficult to write about. It's a lengthy, prog
song that was really difficult to record and still, the phrase “F sharp for God's
sake!” by Jadran cracks us up! When approaching a track that varies so
much along the way it's hard to shift from mood to mood without getting lost,
the more in a studio without an audience. Probably that's the point, it's great to
end a gig with it, that final solo is totally engaging but it's not a gimmick to
express those feelings without the response of a crowd. In the end, we did it
and we are pretty satisfied with the final result as we hope you are.
If you made it the all way through, congrats! Tough rest assured that if you
listen to the full album it's way, way easier!
Pussycats and Monkeymen Album on platforms:
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