Steampunk subculture’s most literally-minded spawn, The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing are on a mission to “put the ‘punk‘ into steampunk”. On 2010’s triumphantly titled debut ’Now That’s What I Call Steampunk! Vol 1’ the band dragged the DIY sounds and spirit of 1977 into the future, as it was imagined by the science fiction novelists of 1877, and did so with such force that not even a legal challenge from ’Now That’s What I Call Music’ trademark holders EMI could stop them.
Selling out of the album’s original pressing mere days after news of the major label dispute broke, the Victorianarchists swiftly repackaged their first record as ‘The Steampunk Album That Can Not Be Named For Legal Reasons’ and set about launching their second on the world. Released in March, ‘This May Be The Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing Cannot Be Killed By Conventional Weapons’ was greeted by a chorus of praise from such diverse quarters as Bizarre magazine and The Independent on Sunday.
The group’s improbable story now continues with the release of new single ‘Margate Fhtagn (Cockles & Mussels mix)’, which will be made available as a limited-to-200 download on 27th August. With previous single ‘Free Spirit’ being issued exclusively on the archaic wax cylinder format (complete with instructions on how to build the long since out-of-production phonograph required to play it) the chosen route-of-release for ’Margate…’ may initially appear a quite shocking shift away from the loyal allegiance to the physical format the band have displayed before now. However, this is an anachronistic release of two parts, as with every morsel for the modern MP3 player purchased there comes a tasty symbol of bygone times by the sea; a specially produced stick of rock with the letters ‘TMTWNBBFN’ stamped through its centre! Let any nostalgic souls longing for records you can ‘hold in your hands’ chew on that!
To warm the auditory sense, the ‘Cockles & Mussels mix’ of The Men’s death metal / musichall number serves up an even fuller flavour of end-of-the-pier entertainment than the version to be found on ‘…Conventional Weapons‘. Aptly Chas ‘n’ Dave-esque pub rock piano now peppers the tale of a beach trip gone awry thanks to the arrival of Cthulu, which is already an established live favourite. Fans can claim one of 200 unique download codes and a dose of tooth rot at; www.freewebstore.org/blamedfornothing.
The Men make their much anticipated return to the live circuit in September, playing at Bestival before kicking off a UK tour on September 28th at London’s Lexington; their first hometown show since ‘…Conventional Weapons’’ release. Combining comedy, metal, punk and goth, the live show is as eclectic as the backgrounds of the band members. While Andy Heintz (vocals / musical saw) paid his musical dues fronting Creaming Jesus and Giant Paw, and Jez Miller (drums) his bringing up the rear in Lords of the New Church and Showgirls, Marc Burrows (bass) and Andrew O’Neill’s (vocals / guitar) credentials come from the comedy circuit. In his ‘occult comedian’ guise, O’Neill has made ‘em laugh at events such as Download, Sonisphere, Metal Hammer Golden Gods and Torture Garden, whilst The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing have been seen everywhere from Detroit’s World Steam Expo to the Edinburgh Fringe, and major London fetish event Club AntiChrist.
See them for yourself at;
2nd September – Really Red Roar Festival, Gravesend, (supporting Breed77)
5th September – Green Door Store, Brighton
6th-9th September 2012: BESTIVAL, Robin Hill County Park, Isle of Wight
28th Sept – LONDON, The Lexington w/ Kremated
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