soundCHECK 319 – October 8th 2015

I’ve never been asked to star in a film. If I was I would request my own private trailer on set with a monkey in it called Julian. Julian would be a monkey that could write poetry and perform magic and he would make everyone laugh because I would make him wear a spandex catsuit. He would have to hide when I went in to get changed though. I’m scared of monkeys.

Not only have I not starred in a film, I don’t watch them either. I much prefer sitting on my own in silence. Recently my housemate bribed me with pizza into watching a film called About A Boy. It really was about a boy, so I needn’t have bothered. Luckily I didn’t mind because I didn’t know the name of the film beforehand. I also love Hugh Grant. He looked just like he does in my bedroom posters.

Despite not watching films or acting in films, I still know that being asked to record the theme tune for a James Bond film is a big deal. Which is why everyone should be proud of former North Devon band Spectres (now living in Bristol), who released the eponymously-titled theme tune for Spectre two weeks ago. Facing stiff competition from floppy-fringed moron Sam Smith, Spectre has become a YouTube phenomenon. Mostly because the three North Devon boys and one Exeter boy are wearing suits that they borrowed from ASOS and they look really smart.

It’s also an incredible song. Feral howls of feedback dovetail with sweeping violins. Grandiose chord changes invest the song with the kind of opulence you’d expect from a decent Bond song. Joe Hatt excels in the role of anti-crooner; spectre-based puns peppered throughout his haunting, web-thin vocal delivery. Best of all, Spectres haven’t been flapping their gums to every media outlet under the sun about how they wrote the song in twenty minutes.

At the time of writing the video is just short of 13,000 views on YouTube. You should open up your internet portal and go and add to that tally. Spectre is one of the songs of the year. And Julian has choreographed his own little dance routine to accompany.

CONTACT: Please talk to anyone but me, unless you have local music news: jharper[at]northdevonjournal.co.uk | @testforpulse