Manchester’s Inca Babies whip up fab deathrock on ‘Crawling Garage Gasoline’

No stranger to the underground music scene – whether it be Manchester-centric, UK-wide or even further afoot in the many territories the band has toured through since forming back in 1983, deathrock / postpunk staples Inca Babies are back with a new single – ‘Crawling Garage Gasoline’ and its b-side ‘Grunt Cadillac Hotel’. are a welcome preview of the band’s eighth studio album ‘Swamp Street Soul’. The accompanying film was produced by Harry Stafford at NoiseBoy Studios in Salford.

Produced by Simon ‘Ding’ Archer(The Fall, PJ Harvey) at 6Db Studios, the clarity and fullness of sound on this 11-track offering surpasses that of any previous Inca release. Last month, they released the ead track ‘Walk In The Park’ with a strutting blues beat, infectious guitar lick and bluesy post-punk musings.

“This ‘Crawling Garage Gasoline’ is a revisiting of a 1980s inca’s classic, all bluster and ‘pedal to the metal’ speed punk. It’s a tale of the descent into the maelstrom but don’t forget to get some gas along the way. The urge to re-record this came from its popularity as a live song at recent Inca gigs, now paired down and with more bite, it has certainly stood the test of time. It was originally released on the ‘Surfin’ in Locustland’ EP back in 1985 and was also recorded for the Incas’ third John Peel session in June that year,” says Harry Stafford.

Today Inca Babies is a trio made up of Harry Stafford (guitar, keys, vocals), bassist Vince Hunt (A Witness, Blue Orchids) and Rob Haynes (The Membranes, Goldblade) on drums and percussion. It’s been seven years since the final release of their Death Blues Trilogy – ‘Death Message Blues’ (2010), ‘Deep Dark Blue’ (2012) and ‘The Stereo Plan’ (2014).

‘Swamp Street Soul’ takes us across a tightly euphoric path of differing moods and new arenas of guitar songwriting. This long-player continues the band’s explosive exploration of goth-punk and death-rock and trash blues with epic cautionary ballads. Frontman Harry Stafford has written a fulsome collection of tall tales of madness, fearfully larger-than-life characters and extravagant yarns, backed by a no-nonsense rhythm section locked into a pounding backbeat.

A vibrant part of Britain’s early postpunk / death rock scene, Inca Babies’ story began in 1983 in the now-legendary deck-access flats of Hulme (Manchester), which were intended as ‘cities in the sky’ for young executives but quickly became cockroach-infested slums mostly inhabited by students, artists, and drug addicts. True to DIY ethos, they self-released their debut single ‘Interior’ in 1984.

With a further six singles and four albums over five years, all of which entered the UK Indie Charts, they also recorded four sessions for BBC’s John Peel show in 1984-1988 before calling it quits. Since reforming in 2007, they’ve released three albums and toured extensively around Europe, including Russia, as well as North America and India. Renewed interest in the Incas was propelled by Cherry Red Records ‘Best Of’ compilation release ‘Inca Babies 1983-87: Plutonium’.

‘Crawling Garage Gasoline’ is out now, available digitally everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The ‘Swamp Street Soul’ album will be released on CD and digitally on November 23. It can be pre-ordered on all formats via Bandcamp at https://incababies1.bandcamp.com/album/swamp-street-soul ….. Inca Babies performs at Westgarth Social Club, Middlesbrough on November 19 for Peel Regenerated night, alongside The Wolfhounds, 1919, Rudi Betamax & TSTP.

CREDITS
Harry Stafford – guitar, vocals
Vince Hunt – bass
Rob Haynes – drums
Kevin Davy – trumpet
Black Lagoon Records catalogue #BLRCD0058
Photography by Steve Nicholl

TRACK LIST
1. Swamp Street Soul
2. Walk in the Park
3. Slingshot
4. Dear English Journalists
5. Crawling Garage Gasoline
6. Bigger than all of us
7. I’m Grounded
8. Oh, the Angels how I bless them
9. Windshield Gnat
10. Mine of Bones
11. Swamp Soul Dub