Premiere: Men’s Adventures – BB Vulture

Ahead of their London launch show...

1950s America was home to a generation of men who had journeyed to Europe and beyond during the Second World War and, having returned to their former lives, struggled to readapt to their safe yet mundane surroundings.

As a form of escapism they turned to the series of Men's Adventure magazines – a cheap pulp publication with a glossy cover – that recounted tales of war, survival, daring rescues, exotic safaris and the Old West.

This idea of escapism inspired east London-based duo Alfie Smith and Jimmy Casson, and they chose to go under the moniker Men's Adventures to reflect the Americana-tinged tales that their songs tell. 

Debut EP 'Solitary Trip' was recorded in the basement of the pub that Alfie manages and is comprised of four tracks that feature narratives set many miles away. Lead track and opening song 'BB Vulture' is, according to Alfie, "about a bad guy looking for love in all the wrong places. He finally meets his match and it changes him forever."

The EP was mixed and mastered by Rory Attwell, but all of the music was originally recorded and produced by Jimmy in their makeshift studio.

"When we started recording the EP we doing some new things which weren't really working, so we decided to continue recording on our own," says Jimmy.

"We built a pretty crude room in the basement of Alf's pub out of pallets, scraps of wood and some old mattresses our drummer had in his flat. Incredibly the actual room space sounds alright considering what it's made of. I always want our recordings to sound like they were performed live by a real band, even though it's just me. That's definitely what I wanted to achieve with this one."

Released today via Dirty Bingo, Clash has the exclusive premiere of the video for 'BB Vulture' – check it out below…

Men's Adventures play an EP launch show at Birthdays, London on Tuesday 25th June.

Words: Paddy Hughes

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