Lester Square "Invisible Man" - New Solo LP from former Monochrome Set guitarist

 

Lester Square, the original guitarist with Adam & The Ants and The Monochrome Set is back with another eclectic and thoroughly satisfying solo instrumental album called "Invisible Man" which could well be the soundtrack to an imaginary movie. First track "Who The Gods Destroy" sets the scene of what's to come perfectly. It's packed with buzzing analogue synth and keyboard sounds, tinny drum machines and all topped off by Lester's trademark twanging guitar riffs. I'm reminded of early Wall of Voodoo, who were originally a soundtrack/score composing collective before they added the vocal talents of Stan Ridgway. "Invisible Man's" evocative songs conjure up images of robots, old computer games and vintage Sci-Fi movies complete with spliced dialogue, swooping aircraft and special effects. The mix of styles flows effortlessly throughout the album, there's the pulsing 90's style Techno of "Disco Bizarro" and then we're on more familiar guitar-led territory with the excellent "Trudi French (Slight Return)". The shimmering, glacial wash of oriental synths in "Shinjuku" is reminiscent of Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Neo Geo" album and certainly brings the 24-hour neon-lit Bladerunner atmosphere of Tokyo's pleasure district to life. "Leaf" is a particular favourite and the crunching chords and jazzy guitar-riffing are reminiscent of The Monochrome Set, all underpinned by some nice Arabic percussion. Lester brings things down to Earth with the bumpy crash-landing of "COP26" which is shot through with chilling sound-bites regarding the failure of the powers-that-be to tackle the effects of climate change and suddenly the outer-space of "Invisible Man" seems quite appealing. The mood is lightened by an unexpected bonus track to end with, a version of John Barry's stirring "Zulu" theme however, Lester has subverted the genre and relocated the action from Rorke's Drift to the Wild West with an uptempo Ventures style Spaghetti Western romp. Lester plays all instruments and has written all the tracks except "Zulu" which was composed by John Barry. "Invisible Man" was recorded at Liberal Elite Studios in Islington and will be available in February from Lester's Bandcamp page. You'll be able to hear a track from the album in our forthcoming episode of Retrosonic Podcast so please subscribe at Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts to ensure you don't miss out.

 

Lester with The Monochrome Set at Retro Man Blog Night, The Half Moon Putney - Photo Paul Slattery

"Invisible Man, his 5th solo album, sees Lester move to a more cinematic arena. Employing synthesised sound and sampled aural collage, he reels in the reels, brings Sci-Fi to the Hi-Fi, terror to the turn table, romance to the dance floor... and a re-look at some old favourites. The whole is rounded off with a more serious look at science fact, a reaction to the failure of COP26 as well as a 'live' bonus track! So, expect phasers set to stun and more ear worms than you can shake a stick at. Pop some corn, put the headphones on and settle down to an instrumental blockbuster: from Sulu to Zulu, a Saturday matinee of movie mayhem and mirth with a sobering twist. Schlock & Roll!" 

 

"Lester Square's guitar style influenced The Smiths, the Glasgow and Edinburgh Post Punk scenes, and then their successors, Franz Ferdinand." - Ian Bourne, Gig Soup

"Kind of groovy and danceable, but extremely bookish as well: very clever." - Graham Coxon

Lester Square "Carcass" - New Solo Album from The ex-Monochrome Set & Adam & The Ants Guitarist

Lester Square photographed by Paul Slattery at our Retro Man Blog Night back in 2014

Lester Square, the original guitarist in Adam & The Ants and co-founder of The Monochrome Set has just released a new solo album entitled "Carcass". The title track features Lester's trademark twanging riffs that will of course be familiar to fans of The Monochrome Set. It's a great opener, like Dick Dale or Link Wray performing the soundtrack to an Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western movie. Another personal highlight is "Time Flies" which is a beautifully pastoral song with vocals from The Chefs' Helen McCookerybook that reminds me of Goldfrapp's "Seventh Tree" album and it wouldn't have been out of place on the soundtrack to "The Wicker Man". Although by the end the peaceful landscape seems to get shattered and polluted by the sound of screaming fighter jets. The rest of the album features a diverse set of evocative and mainly instrumental songs that range from pulsing funky brass to baroque orchestral pieces. There's even some Gaelic Pipe Folk rubbing shoulders with organ driven tracks that touch on The Senior Service or James Taylor Quartet's output. But of course it's Lester's instantly recognisable and inventive, yet still seriously underrated, guitar work that is the star of the show. As well as recording eleven studio albums with The Monochrome Set, Lester has also recorded with The Invisible, Jesus Couldn’t Drum, ...And The Native Hipsters, Victory Through Sound and Helen McCookerybook. The official description of the album goes something like this: "Carcass, is a product of its times; a collection, if you will, of protest instrumentals; sound poems to chart these extraordinary times. Whether imagining the insect winners of a post nuclear winter, or the secrets of the Trump penthouse, these works are in equal measure poignant, sarcastic, angry and hopeful. It has been said that revolution today has no soundtrack in the same way that the anti-Vietnam draft resistance of the sixties did. For what its worth the redress starts here". You can order the CD of "Carcass" from Lester's Bandcamp page here.

Lester will be re-joining The Monochrome Set for two very special gigs at The Lexington in Islington to celebrate 40 years since The Monochrome Set formed. The band will be playing their first two albums "Strange Boutique" and "Love Zombies" in their entirety and a set of favourites, over two nights, Saturday 10th February and Sunday 11th February next year. The gig is being promoted by Bizarro and support on both nights comes from The Would-Be-Goods Two who feature Jessica Griffin and Peter Momtchiloff of the original WBG's playing a stripped down set of songs old and new. You can order tickets in advance from We Got Tickets here. There's no news yet if Lester will be playing any solo gigs to promote the release of "Carcass" but in the meantime here's the title track.

Lester Square photo copyright Paul Slattery. You can see a feature, including more of Paul's excellent photos of our Retro Man Blog Night featuring The Monochrome Set and The Fallen Leaves back in May 2014 at the Retro Man Blog archive here. 

Retrosonic Podcast Episode 8: "The World's So Far Below Her, It's Not Her Scene"

Steve from Retro Man Blog, Adam from The Jetsonics and Rock Photographer Paul Slattery with the usual eclectic mix of tunes and waffle...In Episode 8 we have some Garage Rock from The Fallen Leaves, Les BOF! and Shocking Blue, raucous Punk Rock from The Phobics, The Cortinas, The Snivelling Shits and Adam & The Ants. Some classic Trojan Reggae from The Fabion, a Clash favourite from The Equals, a Power Pop hidden gem from The Tours, influential Rockabilly from Charlie Feathers, some Psych-Folk from 5th Dimension, Mod Soul from The Fay Hallam Trinity and a Glam stomping riot from Giuda...!

There's also chat about the stunning Giuda gig at The Buffalo Bar, the Joe Strummer London W11 Mural unveiling party, ex-Sparks and Revillos members get together as Crash 74 at the 12 Bar Club and there is news about our exciting album launch party for THEE SPIVS at The Half Moon Putney on June 29th. This Episode is available to download for FREE from our Retrosonic Podcast Soundcloud site...Enjoy...!

Coming Soon..."Sparks: the Early Years" a Retrosonic Podcast special edition with Harley Feinstein, the original drummer with Sparks, or Halfnelson as they were then called. Harley gives us a fascinating insight into the early formation of Sparks, their first two albums on Bearsville and their very first visit to the U.K. Harley also tells us about his latest band Crash 74, featuring Nicky Forbes of The Revillos, and their triumphant London gig at the 12 Bar Club last month.