Track By Track : Voodoo Bloo - Dead-End Rodeo
By John A. Wilcox



Rory McDonald from New Zealand's Voodoo Bloo contacted me to see if I had any interest in covering the new Voodoo Bloo album. Of course I was! I suggested we do a track-by-track. McDonald said he'd be happy to. Here are the results...

Track 1: We Cannot Afford Sinatra
RM: Based on an image I found online. Seemed to be from an old Chuck E Cheese, and there was a character and a kid in the photo, and he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Dick The Birthday Boy." It really creeped me out, so I made a song about it.

Track 2: Hot Garbage
RM: Made about someone I know who just turned into an absolute twat, but oh well. This was one of the first songs we recorded for the album, and it really set the tone of how the rest of the sessions were gonna be, just pure and utter fun. As it was produced by the band we were able to try all sorts of things out, crunchier and fuzzier sounds, and Hot Garbage was a great testing ground for all these things.

Track 3: Ambassador
RM: This was originally just a song I made on an electronic piano, and all of the lyrics are using the words I found on it. I've come to see it more as how we portray artists in general, and the struggle to get exactly what we want out of art. It took me a while to find an actual voice for this song and how it should be orchestrated, but turning it from a ballad to a Strokes-esque tune almost seemed like a no-brainer once we started putting the work in.

Track 4: Cardboard Box Office
RM: Complete and utter nonsense, however it is the definitive sound of the record.This started life on a drum machine I found and after entering random combinations for 15 minutes, the drums for the intro just sprang out of it. I was originally nervous to release this as a single, it was just so out there in comparison to any other release we've done, but the reception has been overwhelming. It's really the first time I've heard the audience sing lyrics back to me at a show, so I'm very grateful to this track in many ways.

Track 5: La Belle
RM: Based on an art piece I found. It was a face mold of a girl who was unable to be identified in the 1800s. This was a bit of an exercise for the band, we wanted to make a song with no discernable melody, however we did have to break up the noise with the bridge section that made its way into the song, as it was just too nauseating to have dissonance for that long.

Track 6: You Were Never Here
RM: A return to some thoughts around the first album, and a more mature view on what my teenage years were like. Sometimes I feel embarrassed of how I expressed my emotions on Jacobus, but I know that's silly. I was only 17 when I wrote all of those songs and everything was still so raw, so I guess this song was made just so that I could lay those feelings to rest, so that I could move on a little bit.

Track 7: Mystery Flesh Pit National Park
RM: Made as a reminder to not put time into those people who get on your nerves, let go of your beef and live a happy life. We tried to make this album fun, and I think in previous records I would've made this song a lot more serious than it needed to be, but I'm glad that we were able to turn this one around and make it more about turning a new leaf rather than feeling bogged down by people. Not that the subject matter isn't serious, but a perspective shift on how we'd usually talk about these things felt refreshing and necessary.

Track 8: Good Day
RM: I asked my friend to describe drug addiction. New Zealand has got a massive problem in this regard, and it has taken over so many people's lives, it just made sense to talk about it a little bit. I talked about personal problems I had with this on Ritalin from the last album, but I think a broader talk on the issue was something I really wanted to tackle.

Track 9: Wingboy
RM: A song for a friend, as I find it easier to vocalize how I feel in lyrics more than conversation at times. There's not too much I want to say about where this song came from or what it's about, however these are definitely my favorite vocal takes on the album, everyone brought their A game to this one.

Track 10: I Don't Want This Scene To End
RM: My leaving gift for Ollie for when he left for New York, just as a way of getting out my feelings right there and then, so I could remember how it felt. This was one of the last tracks we recorded too, and one of the last songs to be written. We didn't even have an ending to the album before this point, and as soon as I brought it into the studio we just knew that this had to close everything out. One big celebration of life, friends, happiness, fun, and smashing you in the face with kindness.

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