With an intoxicating brew of jungly steam-punk spy grooves and honkytonk shoot-out tunes, Major Tom & The Atoms have constructed a towering and lasting monument to the fallen angels of rock with their debut album Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom!
Featuring the infectious groove of lead single ‘Confusion’, Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom! takes the listener on an electrifying safari through a jungle of howlin growlin blues to spy-chedelic junk-yard freakout. Throughout, this intoxicating brew of songs is masterfully infused with The Atoms’ peerless musicianship and Major Tom’s irresistible vocal roar.
Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom! is scheduled for release in late October. The debut single ‘Confusion’ is out now, with Melbourne and Sydney launch dates this week.
‘Confusion’ is the new track that is the cause for shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Sounds funky. How did it come about?
It is funky. It’s an Oriental funk song. After our saxploitational EP, Sean announced that he wanted to swap his sax for an axe and showed us some of his chops. He started playing the ‘Confusion’ riff, I recited some quotes from Confucius and we just rode the groove all the way to Chinatown.
The new single sits along side your older material quite nicely. How do you think ‘Confusion’ differs from your Shake It Till You Break It EP?
‘Confusion’ picks up where Shake It Til You Break It took off (on the dancefloor) and retains all the groove and booty-shaking sensibilities that drive our signature sound, along with the darker, heavier, more psychedelic and lyrical infusions that we can’t help but wear upon our crimson sleeves. And Sean plays guitar!
What can those who are heading out to see the single launched, that haven’t seen you before, expect from your live show. Any particular shenanigans they should know about?
They should expect to scream like a butterfly, dream like a bumblebee and dance like a drunk monkey.
The new single is from your forthcoming debut album, Heroes, Villians, Boom Boom Boom, released in October. What can we expect from it?
From the infectious groove of ‘Confusion’, to the cataclysmic riffage of instant blues-rock classic ‘Bloodhound’, to the ready-made festival sing-along anthem for munted bogans ‘Lone Gun’,
Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom! explodes with MTATA’s trademark live energy and boasts lashings of erudite and profound lyrics – it is a diverse and accomplished suite of songs painted in the comic-book colours of rock and roll. Lyrically, is there an overriding theme of the record? What inspired the storytelling of your debut?
There are two loose themes to the album. Firstly it is a tribute to the cohort of fallen angels of rock & roll – Morrison, Cobain, Hendrix, Jones, Joplin. Secondly it explores the shifting sands of good and evil. As the name suggests, Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom! is full of blown-up heroes and diabolical villains. The centrepiece of the album is a spy-chedelic shootout between the two great figures of Victorian London, Jack The Ripper vs Sherlock Holmes.
Your music wears the influences of music eras gone by. But what tunes and artists from the current crop impacted on the album?
The more modern influences on this album are The Black Keys, QOTSA, The Heavy, Tame Impala, Morphine, The Raconteurs, The Vasco Era. Are any of those still in the current crop? We’ve even tried to mix things up a bit for the tweeny-boppers with a rap song called ‘Wishing Well’.
Your ties to former band Little Red are obviously well known. Do you think people have moved on from that band or is it something that fans are still attributing to Major Tom & The Atoms?
Seems like everyone’s moved on. Where did they all go?
What are your plans for the rest of the year and early 2014?
Heroes, Villains, Boom Boom Boom! is scheduled for release in late October, with national tour to follow in November.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
We’re launching the single at The Backroom in Sydney on Friday 6th September and Cherry Bar in Melbourne on Friday 13 September.
We’ve just released our new film clip for ‘Confusion’. It’s a karaoke clip so you can sing along!
Watch the music video for ‘Confusion’ here:
