“I could be spending time fucking my wife instead of wasting it on you!” screams Anton Newcombe as he roundly barracks a journalist, just moments before Clash is due to fire their own questions at the explosive Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman.
But then what did you expect? This after all is Anton Newcombe. The same Anton Newcombe seen brawling onstage with his bandmates in Ondi Timoner’s now notorious rock documentary Dig! This is also the same Anton Newcombe that in one scene rips off his overcoat and kicks an audience member in the head after they shout: “Fuck your brother. You rock!” And this is the same Anton Newcombe who repeatedly flicks two fingers to the record majors throughout the film while his buddies The Dandy Warhols net a deal with Capitol Records.
New album ‘My Bloody Underground’ is up there with the best of them, smattering dirgy, scuzzy moments of hazy guitar brilliance (‘Bring Me The Head Of Paul McCartney On Heather Mill’s Wooden Peg (Dropping Bombs On The White House)’, ‘Who Cares Why’, ‘Automatic Faggot For The People’) with gentler, more melodic avant-garde instrumentals (‘We Are The Niggers Of The World’, ‘Who Fucking Pissed In My Well?’).
Looking ahead, Anton is keen to bring The Brian Jonestown juggernaut back to the UK later this year. “I would love to come over in the summer and play a couple of festivals because we would knock people’s socks off,” he smiles. “I wish people could see it because there are never going to be two shows that are alike. It’s just like watching a jazz band playing but we’re not paying attention to anyone.”
Clash has an exclusive listen to a new track from the band for you, ‘Extraordinaire Electronic Hallucinant Cave’