Caw-pee Haa-hoe.
That’s how you say Copy Haho. In case you didn’t know, like. The Stonehaven lads have been bubbling under for years now, taking their charming, witty, acerbic indie rock across the country and back again in a rickety ol’ van.
Operating in a rather DIY fashion, the band have completed their debut full length have opted to release it on their own label. Re-working old material, throwing in new ideas Copy Haho have finished their most ambitious statement to date.
It’s a fascinating listen. For those who are familiar with the live set, the album comes as a relief – relief that the songs won’t fade into the ether, and also a relief that their energy has been retained.
Sure, Copy Haho aren’t breaking new ground – familiar touchstones such as Pavement abound – but what the band do bring to the table is character. Their debut album is steeped in very localised settings, the sound of a young band coming to grips with their own talent and the culture which surrounds them.
Expect a full review on the site later this week. Until then, ClashMusic have asked Joe Hearty to give us a track-by-track guide to their debut album…
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1. Factory Floor
‘Factory Floor’ is a relatively straight forward pop song. Lyrically it’s deals with my general lack of enthusiasm towards business and that odd power-based hierarchy that bleeds into personal relationships. It was a lot of fun to record, in part because we hadn’t demoed it, but also because we were able to use a lot of piano and vibraphone. At the time it seemed like a bit of a blind leap, but i’m glad we persevered as I couldn’t imagine the record without it.
2. Earthquake
This song had been sitting around on my computer, in various forms, for a long time. I hadn’t really thought about suggesting it for the album until we started to play around with it at practice – it came together really quickly, which is a good sign. Anyway, I have a few friends that seem to enjoy languishing in their own (largely self-constructed) pit of despair and alluding to it now and again in conversation. On the one hand it’s a little pathetic, on the other there’s the thought that they could decide to do something really terrible. If i’m honest, it’s something I’ve never really understood.
3. Wrong Direction
‘Wrong Direction’ was one of two older songs we decided to include. It came out as a limited single on Too Pure late 2009, but we re-recorded it with Jamie this time ’round. It seems to a have a lot more energy than the original… it’s definitely one we still enjoy playing live.
4. Waiting For Something To Happen
WFSTH was written last summer while i was living at my parents house in Stonehaven. At the time, I didn’t have a lot on (other than a summer job cataloguing 70s british jazz… snore-fest), so most of my time was spent being painfully bored. We were waiting to hear if/when we might be playing shows and recording the record – so I think this one fell out of my head as a result.
5. A Winter On The Run
This song was written just before we went out on tour across Europe with Los Campesinos. We played it every night and it gradually it found it’s feet. I guess it’s tempo and bitter-sweet mid-western lilt reminds me a little of Silver Jews, it’s fun to play live and tends to act as a much needed breath-catcher in the set.
6. Demons and Gods
‘Demons and Gods’ came out as a B side to the ‘Wrong Direction’ single – it’s another track we felt we had to include, mostly because it’s fun to play live and seemed to sit relatively well with the rest of the songs. Lyrically it’s about being psychologically unhinged and finding solace in paganism.
7. Dying Breed
‘Dying Breed’ started as an attempt to rip off Sheryl Crow’s smash hit ‘Every Day Is A Winding Road’, a task I failed miserably at. Basically, it had a slide guitar in it and that kind of Happy Monday’s drumbeat that everyone used in the 90s. When it made it’s way to the practice room, however, it morphed into it’s current state – complete with Weezer-esque middle 8 and drum/bass breakdown.
8. Pestle & Mortar
‘Pestle & Mortar’ is a very simple song, in terms of both it’s chord progressions and structure. I wanted us to have at least one Dino Jr.-style wail-o-matic pop rock song, so that’s where it sits in my head. I like mini’s guitar solo at around 2.23, it’s so classic rock. I think we should start wearing spandex and blow-drying our hair.
9. The Be Good
‘The Be Good’ is the last of three older songs we included on the album. It’s one we’ve never released before, but that’s been in our live set for ages. I remember demoing it in my room in Glasgow when Rikki, Stuart and I lived on Polwarth Street together – but I’ve got no idea where it came from. It just fell out of my head in much the same way that WFSTH did, and though it’s an older track, I still feel like I can relate to it’s sentiment.
10. When It Gets Dark
A lot has happened to us and those around us in the past couple of years, I guess this song is a bit of a nod to the friends and family members who are no longer around. It’s probably the song i have the biggest connection to on the album, for a number of reasons. I recorded it completely live using one of chem19’s old Wurlitzers, i remember the whole process feeling a bit like therapy, in a good way.
11. Accent Changed
We were originally going to use ‘Accent Changed’ as the LP opener, but somehow it got super-seeded by Factory Floor. I think it works pretty well as the closer too, though, so it’s all good. Recording the intro to this track using one of those old Space Echo units and a bunch of gain was a lot of fun, but other than that I can’t really remember too much about it’s creation. I still quite like the breakdown after the second chorus, the guitar part reminds me of The Beatles, or some kind of french garage rock band. If only we WERE The Beatles, then I could sleep in a real bed and eat ice cream all day long.
Copy Haho’s self-titled debut album is out on June 27th
