The Mutants (UK band)

This article is about the punk rock musical collaboration with an all-star cast of guest musicians. For other uses, see mutant (disambiguation).

The Mutants
Background information
GenresPunk, new wave, ska
Years active2014–present
MembersChris Constantinou (bass/flute/vocals)
Rat Scabies (drums)
Paul Frazer AKA Space (guitar/keyboards/backing vocals)
various guest musicians
Websitethemutants.co

The Mutants is a punk rock supergroup based around Chris Constantinou (The Wolfmen, Sinéad O'Connor, Adam Ant), Rat Scabies (The Damned) and Paul Frazer (Never Not Nothing, Subsource), hosting an all-star cast of guest musicians.

History

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In January 2013, Chris Constantinou developed in a discussion with Eugene Butcher, editor from the magazine Vive Le Rock, and Dave Collins the idea of an album set out to retrace the roots of punk, new wave and ska, featuring all-star punk musicians.[1] It materialized in the creation of the musical supergroup The Mutants, with the first album, Rhythm and Punk Review, being released in July 2014.[2] A subsequent album, Tokyo Nights, released in May 2015, had all the songs fronted by a rotating set of Japanese guest stars.[3] The third album, Your Desert My Mind (October 2016), is a collaboration with Californian rock musicians from the desert rock scene.[4] All the albums are released through Killer Tracks. With the third album having again a creative chemistry in a different musical area, The Mutants acquired the image of a band exploring unexpected musical genres, each album having a different musical flavour that reflects the territory, and the style of the musicians that contributed to it.[5][6][7]

Rhythm and Punk Review (2014)

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The debut album Rhythm and Punk Review was written and produced by Chris Constantinou and Paul Frazer and recorded at Raezor Studion (now Sugar Cane Studios) in London. The songs feature guest musicians from the late 70s punk and ska scene (who also co-wrote the songs).[8] Rat Scabies has played all the drums for the album. Other musicians featured in the album are Norman Watt-Roy (Ian Dury and The Blockheads/Wilko), T. V. Smith (The Adverts), Charlie Harper (UK Subs), Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers), Knox (The Vibrators), Neville Staple (The Specials), Judy Nylon (John Cale/Brian Eno), Beki Bondage (Vice Squad), Texas Terri (Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones/Texas Terri Bomb), Preston Heyman (Kate Bush/Tom Robinson Band/Massive Attack), Tim Smart, Jonathan Read (The Specials), and Joe Atkinson (Flipron).[2][9]

The album reunited after many years Wayne Kramer (MC5) and Wilko Johnson (Dr. Feelgood) (they first collaborated at The London Rock and Roll Show at Wembley in 1972, a meeting that Wilko mentioned it changed his life).[10][11]

Rhythm and Punk Review received 7/10 ratings from Vive le Rock[12] and from Classic Rock[13] magazines and 8/10 rating from Big Cheese magazine.[14]

Tokyo Nights (2015)

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In the album Tokyo Nights Chris Constantinou and Paul Frazer,[15] joined by Rat Scabies and Steve 'West' Weston (Wilko Johnson, Roger Daltrey), have teamed up with musicians from the J-Punk scene, among them Guitar Wolf, The 5.6.7.8's (featured in Kill Bill Volume 1), Mika Bomb, The Neatbeats and Jackie & The Cedrics.[16] The concept of the album developed as the British musicians forming the core of The Mutants supergroup wanted to know more about artists who achieved cult status outside Japan and also discover bands and music that had not ventured further than the Tokyo live house scene. The songs from the album were played live with all the artists in Tokyo.[17][18]

In reviews, the album was considered a success, noting the chemistry with the guests, the pan-generational mashup,[19] the genres ranging from surf to garage[3] managing to reflect the surreal atmosphere of the underground music in Tokyo,[16][20][21] "a rollercoaster ride across a dark J-punk landscape".[22]

The album received 7/10 rating from Classic Rock[19] and 8/10 rating from Vive le Rock[23] magazines. The song "Bamboo Moon" was included in the soundtrack of the TV series Money Heist.[24]

Your Desert My Mind (2016)

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The album Your Desert My Mind, released in October 2016, is a collaboration between the three core musicians of The Mutants (Chris Constantinou, Rat Scabies, Paul Frazer) and a series of guests from the Californian rock scene, among them David Catching from Eagles of Death Metal; Chris Goss from Masters of Reality; Brent DeBoer, Peter Holmström, and Zia McCabe from The Dandy Warhols; Sean Wheeler from Throw Rag; and Victoria Williams. The album was recorded at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California.[4][25]

The reviews characterized its style as "desert rock but with a garage punk edge",[26] "another drastically different musical direction" taken by The Mutants,[5] "an eclectic creative power",[27] "the rolling cast of guests all throwing something different in, from the almost spoken word and choral harmonies of 'Night Bus to Krakow' to the driving classic rock feel of Fidgety to the exactly-as-it-sounds 'Machismo Postura'".[6] Being another album unlike anything any of the core members have previously created, it developed the image of The Mutants as a band exploring creatively unexpected musical genres.[5][6][28]

Your Desert My Mind received 8/10 ratings from Vive le Rock[29] and Louder Than War[30] magazines.

References

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  1. ^ "All Hail The Mutants!". Vive le Rock. August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Punk rock supergroup THE MUTANTS are coming – are you ready to be mutated?". Über Röck. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b "The Mutants – Tokyo Nights (Album Review)". Penny Black Music. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b "The Mutants – Your Desert My Mind". MusicBrainz. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Album Review – The Mutants, Your Desert My Mind". The Punk Site. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b c Daniel Cressey (8 November 2016). "Review – The Mutants, Your Desert My Mind". PennyBlackMusic.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  7. ^ "The Mutants, Your Desert My Mind", Classic Rock Society, November 2016
  8. ^ Dave Collins, "Hey, hey, we're... The Mutants", Vive le Rock, p. 28, June 2014
  9. ^ "The Mutants – Rhythm And Punk Review (Album Review)". Hit the Floor. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  10. ^ "The Mutants – Rhythm and Punk Review (Killer Tracks Records)". Über Röck. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  11. ^ "In Studio: MC5 changed Wilko's Life (raw video)". YouTube. June 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  12. ^ Shane Baldwin, "The Mutants – Rhythm and Punk Review (Old school punk supergroup)", Vive le Rock, p. 89, June 2014
  13. ^ Terry Staunton, "The Mutants – Rhythm and Punk Review (From Motor City to Oil City)", Classic Rock, June 2014
  14. ^ Tiff Pelascos, "The Mutants – Rhythm and Punk Review (All-star punk album does it right)", Big Cheese, August 2014
  15. ^ "Interview: Chris Constantinou, The Mutants". Bass Guitar Magazine. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  16. ^ a b "The Mutants: Tokyo Nights – album review". Louder Than War. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  17. ^ Shane Baldwin, "New Houses of the Rising Sun", Record Collector, p.38-43, July 2015
  18. ^ Chris Constantinou, "No Sleep Till Tokyo", Vive le Rock, p.34-36, September 2015
  19. ^ a b Stephen Dalton, "The Mutants – Tokyo Nights (Anglo-Japanese punk supergroup find themselves in translation)", Classic Rock, June 2015
  20. ^ "The Mutants – Tokyo Nights (Killer Tracks)". Über Röck. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  21. ^ Ian Abrahams, "The Mutants – Tokyo Nights (I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so)", Record Collector, June 2015
  22. ^ "A front-seat ticket for a rollercoaster ride across a dark J-punk landscape... From high-rise guitar heroes to backstreet garage bands, Tokyo Nights is electric, and dangerous." – Ian Peel, Classic Pop magazine, July 2015
  23. ^ Eugene Butcher, "The Mutants – Tokyo Nights (First wave punk band return to form with aplomb)", Vive le Rock, July 2015
  24. ^ "Money Heist Seasons 1-4 Soundtrack: Every Song Featured". Netflix. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  25. ^ "The Mutants – Your Desert My Mind Preview – BBC6 Bobby Friction". BBC6. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  26. ^ "The Mutants – Your Desert My Mind". The Midlands Rocks. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  27. ^ "Review – The Mutants, Your Desert My Mind". Planet Mosh. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  28. ^ "Review – The Mutants, Your Desert My Mind". Repeat Fanzine. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  29. ^ Rich Deakin, "The Mutants – Your Desert My Mind", Vive le Rock, October 2016
  30. ^ Joe Whyte, "The Mutants – Your Desert My Mind", Louder Than War, October 2016
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