Harrow’s finest, Snuff, will release a new album on June 9th. This time the band has eschewed their customary fast and furious driving punk sound to make way for their first-ever acoustic album. Entitled ‘Come On If You Think You’re Rachmaininov,’ the album is released digitally and on vinyl and CD. Not veering too far from the Snuff experience fans expect, the album (reworking choice cuts from the Snuff canon) takes a more laidback approach which really showcases Snuff mainman Duncan’s penchant for thought-provoking lyrics.
It’s July 2022 and Snuff ventured into the studio for the first time since lockdown. It was expected that the new album would take 2 weeks to record but thanks to the focus of isolation and pent-up frustration the whole thing was completed in little more than a week. The studio time had been paid for so what to do? On the daily commute, the 185 bus would take Duncan Redmonds through the unfamiliar streets of South London from his hotel Lewisham to Perry Vale Studios. Undoubtedly bus journeys are, along with trains, the most contemplative of journeys and Duncan turned his mind to how best to use the unexpected windfall of extra studio time
‘Monkey Jungle’ by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach had been on in the studio. Duncan remembered the stories of the ensemble just turning up and playing after the Duke had invited Mingus and Roach to play with him. He was also enthralled by the arguments and Mingus packing up his bass and storming out halfway through the session, the Duke chasing him down the street before convincing him to return
Perhaps there could be a punk version of ‘Monkey Jungle?’ Invite down some of the great and the good and record unrehearsed straight to tape. A few phone calls and the greatest UK punk and avant-garde ensemble players were on hold However, fate intervened. As ‘The Boxer’ by Simon and Garfunkel came on his headphones Duncan, perched at the front of the top deck, had a birds’ eyes view of a typical South London bout of fisticuffs in the street. Divine inspiration??
As the bus dropped him off outside Pat Collier‘s studio an alternative idea was forming. The band was instructed to unplug and pick up their acoustics. The dynamics of the recording were tested by a loose run-through of the aforementioned S&G classic and they were away. Initially covers were followed by selected cuts from the Snuff canon of classic songs.
Musicians were then pulled in to add to the stripped-down arrangements which slowly grew into a thing of beauty. Perhaps the ensemble idea will one day return, perhaps some of the practice covers will one day emerge from the shelf in the studio where they currently reside. In the meantime, 10 Past 12 Records proudly present the first Snuff acoustic record.