The Montgolfier Brothers - All My Bad Thoughts

The Montgolfier Brothers - "All My Bad Thoughts"

RPM Quigley and Mark Tranmer are back with a new work, "All My Bad Thoughts", which brings them back into familiar territory. This is a stunning meditation on infidelity and existence. The album unfolds over the course of ten tracks, telling the end of a relationship, dwelling on the period after it, reassessing life as it becomes precious. There is a specific pattern, a specific course of events here that charts the free fall of an aggressor. The album begins with RPM Quigley's rich voice, recalling wet Northern English days, as he narrates the tale of a man who is not 'cheating' but rather, 'seeing someone else' in the song "The First Rumors of Spring". All the songs recall memories of a former lover, as the person's absence becomes more palpable, more of an albatross around our hero's neck. Constant apologies mixed with pure hate are the order of the day early in the album. Songs like "don't get upset if i..." and "all my bad thoughts", show a wretched, insufferable side to our hero. A light instrumental track, "stopping for breath" gives us a few moments to reflect on what has happened before diving into the much more contemplative final five songs.

The latter half of the album is composed on longer meditations of time and memory. The narrator remembers stories of childhood and is awakened by the contemplative nature of the surrounding architecture. The song "Koffee Pot" calls for 'drowning your sorrow in damp tea, while telling your problems to the window' (a different version of which can be heard on the Journey's End EP), while "brecht's lost waltz / summer is over" is a bizarre waltz filled with dirty ideas and regretful incidents.

The Montgolfier Brothers latest effort works well as a whole, as it chronicles the moments in the life of a modern romantic hero with musical echos of Wim Mertens and the Durutti Column, as well as the literary touch of J.P. Donleavy.
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Interview with RPM Quigley by BBC Manchester
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all my bad thoughts
(10 track cd album)

the first rumours of spring
don't get upset if i ...
all my bad thoughts
sins and omissions
stopping for breath
koffee pot
brecht's lost waltz / summer is over
quite an adventure
journey's end
it's over, it's ended, it's finished, it's done.

Vespertine and Son.
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The Montgolfier Brothers will also be on tour in Spain shortly:
Spanish Tour * january 2006

wed 18th castellon, teatro del raval
thu 19th tarragona, sala zero
fri 20th lleida, cafe del teatro
sat 21st madrid, cafe la palma
sun 22nd barcelona, sala apolo
mon 23rd zaragoza FNAC, plaza de espana
tue 24th guadalajara, teatro buero vallejo
wed 25th conciertos de radio 3 (tv recording)
thu 26th el puerto de santa maria (cadiz), sala poniente
fri 27th seville fun club
sat 28th granada, tbc

(most dates shared with southern arts society and the otto show)