Known as one of the hottest live acts around, garage punk band ‘Avalanche Party’ have become one of the ‘must see’ bands of 2018. Damian Robinson caught up with them to find out more about their new single and Stockton’s ‘Party at the end of the World’ event.
We’re loving new release ‘Porcelain’ which sounds like Sonic Youth and the Libertines blended together in a hard rocking, distorted, banger. How did the track come about?
Thank you. We got a copy of ‘An Idiot’s Guide To Deranging The Senses’ by Arthur Rimbaud and followed the commandments to the letter for five weeks straight. It made the electric guitar difficult to stomach, but the marimba proved quite satisfactory to our newly attuned ears. The song came out and we laid it on down, man. Having neither a grasp of trend or a vision for the future, our management made us remove the marimba from the master tapes. The rest is (marimba-less) history.
As you often do, the lyrics are pretty cryptic and open for interpretation. What is the significance of the porcelain jar?
One of the finest inventions of the Han Dynasty, it is the durability and water resistance of the Porcelain material that first attracted it to our team of lyricists, who felt that by moulding this conglomeration into an imaginary jar, they would then possess a suitable vessel – not only for holding a glimpse at the durable, water-resistant devotion felt by the song’s subject, but also for holding the subject’s gift of unspecified flora, in that particular section of the song’s first verse. The unspecified flora being, of course, pretty cryptic and open to interpretation. And it rhymes with ‘car’.
You’re out on the road throughout May and June. With your reputation as an intense live band, does touring bring a pressure to perform each night?
Yes, and we love it. The more opportunities we get the better. We’ve toured all round the UK so far this year and it only fuels our fire.
You’re bringing ‘Party at the end of the world’ to Stockton in June, can you tell us a little bit about the idea of the event and where the idea came from?
Yes, it’s at The Georgian Theatre on June 23rd. We don’t know, it’s being organised by a small community called the 116. You’d have to ask them, although they’re a struggle to find. They asked if we wanted to play a gig for them and we are well up for it. They have a well earned reputation for throwing the best parties around, so you should definitely get a ticket before it’s too late and you wake up dead.
What can we expect from the event?
From what we can gather you can expect hardcore meditation, Buckfast, philosophers, and scientists with an all-day-three-stage lineup of some of the best bands around. The 116 have expressed a wish to instigate a whirring blast of anarchy in the current cultural midwinter. A feast for the senses and a playground for the mind.
We have friends around the world who are coming to Stockton to be part of this all singing all dancing masterpiece. From near and far, high and low. The cream of the musical crop. Barry Hyde – top musician of exquisite skill and showmanship, member of The Futureheads, Dylan Cartlidge – rapidly rising, Teesside rapper splitting genre and rhythm and those sonic detonators Strange Bones and Forever Cult are just some of what’s in store. Unmissable.
Finally, what’s planned for the rest of the year?
Nothing. Our world ends after this gig.
Avalanche Party play Stockton’s Georgian Theatre on 23rd June. Tickets from £13.50