Harry Stafford and Marco Butcher - Rules of the House

"Unapologetically weaving their way through varied genres, Stafford and Butcher’s bluesy story-based music is raw around the edges, while sucking you willingly inside – a sonic diamond in the rough, so to speak" ~ The Spill Magazine

"The symmetry between the two artists is remarkable... refreshing, meshing the grit of blues with an urban thematic. This is dirty but agreeable... Goes down smooth like a good shot of bourbon" ~ Big Takeover Magazine

Manchester underground music icon Harry Stafford (Inca Babies) and US-based trash blues guitarist Marco Butcher present 'The Rules of the House', the second taster of their forthcoming album 'We Are The Perilous Men', out in September via Black Lagoon Records.

Directed by Harry Stafford with camera work by Marco Butcher and Jonny Stafford, the accompanying video was filmed in Wales and North Carolina in 2023.

On this track, Marco shows what a total stone rocker he is, with foot to the floor guitars and drums. Harry adds the story, which was inspired by a terse publican’s list of rules on the specials blackboard. Harry Stafford says, "I don’t remember them all, but 'get a round in' was definitely one of them".

Marco Butcher adds, "Rules of the House is a diabolical and swampy kind of song, mixing some sort of very solid groove with over-the-edge 'No Wave' type of guitars, cutting and dancing with the rhythm".

This single follows the release of the lead track 'Walk Among The Spectres', which explores our own fragile mortality, the video for which was filmed in the expansive Southern Cemetery in Didsbury South Manchester, which dates back to 1700 and was used throughout the Victorian era. Now a public park, people are invited to wander among the tombstones... to literally Walk among the Spectres.

Following the resounding triumph of their 'Bone Architecture' album in 2021, the duo present the second chapter of this exploration, upholding their lockdown-inspired tradition of sending ideas back and forth between North Carolina and Manchester. Creating this album unconsciously - perhaps even telepathically - their musical connection has ignited this album with an infectious energy and spirit.

Based in North Carolina, Brazil-raised trash blues guitarist Marco Butcher (Jam Messengers, Jesus and the Groupies) provides a solid backbeat, jumping with a frenetic rhythm. This foundation ranges from a mess of blues to a stumbling electro beat with Dwayne Eddie funeral guitar. His forages into dance and Hip hop see him mess with the rhythmic DNA, often inspiring the creation of a new dance shuffle at will.

'Rules of the House' is out now, available from fine music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The 'We Are The Perilous Men' album will be released on September 8 and will be available on black vinyl, as well as digitally.