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Track By Track: The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer Detail the Various Shades on ‘Post-Apocalipstick’

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The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer

We have reached the Post-Apocalipstick era, with the brand new album from The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer. The appropriately titled followed up to Apocalipstick takes distinct elements from that release, shakes them up, and conjures up entirely new musical interpretations. The architects of this sound, Shawn Hall and Matt Rogers, wanted to create a remix record that did not sound like a remix record. Their intention was more to reimagine the tracks in an unconventional fashion, bringing more of a cinematic style to the songs that would make them sound more adventurous.

Combining classic psychedelic style with more modern electronic influences, Post-Apocalipstick ventures well beyond the blues-rock comfort zone. The band has never been one to have perfectly set plans, and this record is reflective of that, with its adventurous twists and turns. The idea to do more of an abstract, psychedelic album has been brewing for some time between Hall and Rogers, and Post-Apocalipstick just happened to be the perfect record to pursue that idea.

Now that Post-Apocalipstick has dropped, we connected with The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer for an interactive, back-and-forth track-by-track rundown of each new song.

1. “Fragile”

Shawn Hall: “Think Cold War, meets Radiohead’s Ok Computer, meets Max Headroom.

Matt Rogers: “This baseline reminds me of a Bond film and slowly moving lava lamps. The thing with this one, is this is the one true mashup. It takes a drum beat from one song, vocals from another, and guitars from another.”

2. “Fathers Son Pt. 1”

Rogers: “There’s a lot to say about this one, as it was an experience of us in a room performing these mixes live together, whereas the others were me alone. There’s a track on a 1987 Pink Floyd record called ‘Momentary Lapse Of Reason’ where David Gilmore’s voice has an enormous amount of effects on it. I was just trying to figure out how to get ambient about this, with a free no rhythm.”

Hall: “Yeah it has a Gilmorey, Imagen Heap vibe.”

Rogers: “Yeah, and takes it to a darker place. We were definitely going for a Lee Perry thing here. It’s almost like the reason for this existing is for this to be put to the video not the video being put to the song.”

Hall: “We performed the majority of the mice; I think this one was four passes. This might be the only song like this on the album where we performed each take. The vocals I remember re-sampling on the keyboard them performing them, and simultaneously you were playing synths.”

Rogers: “Yeah it was a very active physical remix, instead of just drawing different lines on a computer screen.”

Hall: “I love the brief lay over in Cuba with that left of center piano in the middle.”

3. “Treat Me Kind”

Hall: “That’s my dad’s favourite, by the way. He thinks the record is too druggy for him.”

Rogers: “It’s a through composed song, there’s no verse chorus, it just follows an arc.”

Hall: “His version of it almost feels like a Winnipeg Folk Fest after party if you’d taken ketamine. If David Lynch had invited you into the cool room, this would be the cool room.”

Rogers: “Yes, there’s so much room, that you could go have a smoke between beats. It was really fun to play with this song and give it the end of night druggy space, there’s no specific rhythm, it’s just rolling around.”

Hall: “This one makes me think about that time between midnight and departure. The Prairies and those long drives.”

4. “Get Ready”

Rogers: “Synth wonderland, feels all neon, synth neon flashing lights walking down the street in the ‘80s and palm trees.”

Hall: “Palm trees and someone just got a job at an ad agency and it’s a really big deal. It reminds me of that band Hot Chip, it’s got that circular bubble gum motion that nothing else has on the record.”

5. “I’m Back”

Rogers: “It’s like Harrison Ford in Blade Runner went to the crossroads, with his bluesy guitar.”

Hall: “It’s also like the best ad for a Strymon tape pedal warble you’ve ever heard (laughs).”

Rogers: “We spent most of our time on the road playing beat-oriented stuff to people in bars, that it was nice to translate this into floaty arrhythmia territory.”

Hall: “Yeah, like a beat rehab.”

6. “Running”

Rogers: “Speaking of space, and the use of pedals. This is the first one I did, and it was like let’s do something that just stretches time out and leaves a lot of room. There’s a song sandwiched somewhere in the middle, but it takes you a while to get there.”

Hall: “Were you going for the Gilmore thing on the vocals?”

Rogers: “Yeah a little bit, that was a through concept. I can’t get it out of my head that we shot a video for this song and never used it.”

Hall: “Yeah, that was a bad omen. I still have to see that guy, and who’s truck we borrowed.”

Rogers: “I had to get on a float plane drunk and wreaking of cigars and sit next to my son’s soccer coach after shooting this video. I like how its two chords and letting it coast down and go through momentum.”

Hall: “This could be a Springsteen mindfulness song.”

Rogers: “In what way?”

Hall: “In his message of ‘I’m not running anymore.’”

Rogers: “It was sort of an experiment in repetition, I always associate repetition with doing tasks, like doing the dishes and getting somewhere, but slowly. Like Philip Glass.”

7. “Father Son”

Rogers: “Oh yeah, this is like the reprise. you can’t do a concept without a reprise. From ‘Running’ through to the end is all like one track. It’s cool listening to verse two on its own, the lyrics have a different light to them. More of that 1970s concept record, where you repeat a song.”

Hall: “It almost sounds like a glass record frozen in space, like a cyclical pad. A continuous melody that’s almost trapped, like a Terry Gilliam film or time bandits character stuck in a pattern floating across a dessert.”

Rogers: “Things can be long, things can be short, things can last 1,000 years, it’s nice for this to be short.”

Hall: “It’s also in the tradition of folks like James Brown with their ‘Popcorn Pt. 2’ and songs that are just good enough to keep them rolling.”

8. “Forever Fool”

Rogers: “Yeah, this ones like just take your time guys.”

Hall: “This is where Matt’s years and years of being in film composition come into play. This isn’t an intro in film, It’s just part of the narrative right?”

Rogers: “Right, I was listening to a lot of ambient music at this time. I needed it to like calm me down, being anxious on the road.”

Hall: “Yeah, I remember you not talking lots on the road with your headphones on. This shit is dark man. It’s funny your scoring horror movies now, because for a ten year period, all I rented were horror movies. Like Halloween.”

Rogers: “I remember kids watching this 8-bit animated pumpkins.”

Hall: “I see this as being futuristic and moody, but yeah this shit’s dark.”

Artwork for ‘Post-Apocalipstick’ by The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer

9. “Promises”

Rogers: “Lasers!”

Hall: “It’s kind of like a spaghetti western dub.”

Rogers: “Yeah, it’s funny with the lyrics out of context and shifting around it sounds like meandering in someone’s brain. Lyrically super scattered.”

Hall: “What I hear now is guilt, it’s a confessional lyric. It sounds like it’s in a nut house.”

Rogers: “Yeah, like ADD or check this thought out, or this thought. The only thing from the original is the vocals right?”

Hall: “Yeah, and the girls singing. I mean you know me, all I need are some good solid lasers, and spring reverb and an espresso, and a good night sleep.”

Rogers: “It’s like a confessional in Texaco in a pueblo and the priest is an alien, and you need to use your lasers to get out of there.”

Hall: “Yeah, cowboys and aliens.”

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