released April 9, 2016

Paper Rifles – “And Then Came The Tourists”

“Damn it all, you can't have the crown of thorns and the thirty pieces of silver” - Nye Bevan

Tracks 1-4 recorded & mixed by Stephen Watkins at Tape Studio, Edinburgh. Assisted by C. Main and G. Macaulay.

Original artwork by Andy Bastow.

Design and layout by Sean Kennedy.

All songs © Paper Rifles 2016.

Released by Struck Dum Records
struckdum.com

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Bonus Tracks:

Tracks 5-9 were recorded live in session for East Coast FM on an evening of absolutely torrential rain, thunder and lightning. The studio is in an industrial estate and none of the streetlights were working, so there was a palpable sense of relief when I finally got inside and set up to play. I’m still amazed that the rain battering on the roof wasn’t picked up by the mics. It turned out that I’d done a Curators session for East Coast FM years previously, so I ended up playing one song more than I intended to after a wee journey down memory lane. Thanks to Elmo for booking me and for recording and mixing the session.

Track 10 is a live version of "Four Hours" taken from the Refugee Survival trust benefit show that I did with Billy Liar. We were launching the “What We’ve Got / Four Hours” double a-side that was put out via Struck Dum, Make-That-A-Take and Anti Manifesto and we were absolutely over the moon to raise £600 on the night. Our set came at the end of a brilliant evening of music, and you can tell we were really enjoying ourselves by this stage.

Track 11 is a live version of Deacon Blue’s “Dignity”, recorded at Cerberus Bar in Dundee at a Make-That-A-Take show. Playing covers live is always a bit of a gamble, but the night had gone really well and it felt like a fun way to end the set. The gamble paid off, although I’ll always wonder what that Bon Jovi cover would have sounded like.

Tracks 12 and 13 are my original home demos for “Faith Healer” and “Ophelia”. Ever since getting hold of my first tape 4 track in the 90s, I’ve always loved home recording. I’m really interested in hearing how songs progress from the original demos to the final versions, so I’ve included these here in case anyone else is the same. Also, I love recording way too many backing vocals and drenching them in reverb. Always more reverb. Always.

Track 14 is an instrumental version of Politics that I recorded for the Carnegie Trust to soundtrack some of their videos. I’d never done anything like that before, and I was really pleased with how it came out. Happily, I decided to ditch my Slash-esque solo. Time and a place and all that...