“We’re 90 k’s out of Benalla, apparently,” Alcorn says after a quick consultation with the rest of the vehicle. “We’re going to Mount Beauty to play a wedding. We’ve actually got [washboard player] Ben [Clements]’s brother driving us this time, so we’ve got a driver. We’re moving up in the world.” The gradual accumulation of praise for Bloodhound has been pretty special, in that it seems to suggest many listeners were not originally fans of – or indeed aware of – the genre. “Everyone seems to like [the album] and we sell a fair few every time we play,” Alcorn says amiably. “We get messages on Facebook from people saying they haven’t taken it out of their car, running on two weeks now, so I suppose that can only be a good thing.”
I wonder aloud whether the rapid shuffle of the washboard and chugging banjo might prompt a few drivers to excessive speeds, and Alcorn gives his agreement. “It does, actually, I’ve noticed it does that,” he laughs.
The guitarist was touted as the ‘harmonies king’ in my interview with Wishy, and Alcorn sniggers but confirms he’s been working on songs for the new album. “Yeah I’ve been giving it a bit of a crack,” he says. “I don’t really consider myself much of a songwriter, it seems to take me about seven times longer than it takes any of the other guys to be able to pump ‘em out. Maybe I’m way too over-critical of myself. But yeah, getting there.” Alcorn admits that harmonies are definitely his arena however, and the wicked three-part choruses created by himself, Wishy and banjo player Daniel ‘Sudsy’ Sudholz are one of the stand-out attractions of the band. “I just sort of do them,” he says. “They’re not written as such. We’ll jam a song for the first time and… I find learning the words the hard part, over the harmony. I’ve got to remember all [the other guys’] crazy words,” he laughs. “I don’t know, they just sort of pop out.”
A clip for single Coat Tails has just been released online and it’s weird as hell, in the simplest possible way. Filmed in the gorgeous Scrap Museum room at Bakehouse Studios in Richmond, the band bash out the sly cracking track as they drip with sweat, but they’re standing almost motionless, staring directly forward with hard eyes. It must have been tough to do. “Yeah! Really hard,” Alcorn bemoans. “Although I seem to stand the stillest out of anyone. I think I took it too literally, the whole ‘don’t move’ thing, I actually didn’t move. But everyone else managed to get some sort of little swagger of little bop-along going on in there.” Double bassist Davin McDonald is the most jaunty, although admittedly it’d be difficult to play the massive instrument without some sort of counter-movement. “Dav, yeah, he’s full-time wiggle,” Alcorn says. “Too stiff and you’d fall over.”
Having played a number of shows in New South Wales a few weeks ago – the highlight of which was The Steyne in Manly, which Alcorn touts as one of the band’s favourites to play – the Dead Rats will shortly be putting on a show in our town at Pier Live. It’s a big venue, and coming along to support will be two of the band’s favourite acts: Merri Creek Pickers and Ramshackle Army. “[We] pretty much didn’t even think twice,” says Alcorn. “[Merri Creek Pickers] are a Melbourne band, and they’re pretty much protégés of The Grateful Dead. Oh yeah, we love their music. They’re dead set out of the ‘70s, the lot of them. Ramshackle Army we came across at Illawarra Folk Festival which is weird because they’re like a Celtic punk band.” Clements (AKA ‘Johnny Washboard’) used to play in a punk band, and Alcorn says the guy fell head over heels immediately. “I think [Clements] had his first band love affair, he’s so in love with them all. [He] used to be a punk drummer so seeing a bit of Celtic punk at a folk festival, he had a little stiffy going on.” Maybe don’t bring mum to this gig.
BY ZOË RADAS
