Inca Babies - Ghost Mechanic Nine
Manchester post-punk death-rock rockers Inca Babies release their ninth studio album, aptly titled 'Ghost Mechanic Nine' via their Black Lagoon label. Here, frontman Harry Stafford (guitar, keys, vocals) revisits the raw guitar sounds of the band's 80s output, joined by Rob Haynes (drums, percussion), Jim Adama (bass) and Kevin G. Davy (trumpet).
Driving for the sake of it driving to escape. Headlights in the dark: red and blue dash lights; wondering why anyone but you is driving this late. The ghost on the highway, the grease-ball mechanic who says you’ll keep going for miles and miles. It’s number 9, the ninth Inca’s album the first of nine songs on the album. The rush of energy from the first track sets the tone for the rest of the album.
The Inca Babies began in 1983 in the now-legendary deck-access flats of Hulme in Manchester. Intended as executive ‘cities in the sky’, they quickly became cockroach-infested slums inhabited by students, artists and druggies. Their 1984 debut single 'Interior' presented an unusual sound for Manchester, which was then associated with Joy Division, Buzzcocks, The Fall and The Smiths. With a nod to their influences, Writer CP Lee dubbed them "the Hulme Cramps" for their Gothabilly twang.
A vibrant part of Britain's early postpunk / goth /death rock scene, they amassed a steady following through touring and releasing a further six singles and four albums in the next five years, all entering the UK Indie Charts. They also recorded four sessions for BBC's legendary John Peel show between 1984 and 1988 before calling it quits that year. The band reformed in 2007 and hasn't looked back since.
'Ghost Mechanic Nine' is Inca Babies' first record in three years (after ‘Swamp Street Soul’), continuing their explosive exploration of goth, punk and death-rock jazz-blues, while paying tribute to the strong riffing and cool, dead-pan delivery of the dark wave scene at the time.
The Incas most recently shared the single ‘Ghost Mechanic 9’, a driving guitar blast, whose powerful sound recalls the Incas' early music. With its singular hypnotic bass rhythm, it could have fit neatly on their 1986 album ‘Opium Den’. Earlier, they released 'Spacewalk', a timeless Rockabilly groove inspired by Link Wray, Alan Vega and Brian Setzer (set to a Sci-Fi space opera), together with its B-side 'Monster In The Deep'.
With Simon ‘Ding’ Archer (The Fall, PJ Harvey) at the controls, this album's production offers an analogue, yet contemporary, zing to the production. Recorded at 6Db Studios in Salford, Archer and Stafford recorded and mixed this album over two years, with 'Ding' also contributing sonic and dub flourishes. Marco Butcher mastered this record at his Boombox studio in North Carolina.
These darkly invigorating tunes visits a similar place as where Inca Babies started back in the 80s with their raw and spiky psychobilly trash rock, reconnecting with their roots, where The Gun Club and The Cramps met - the very intersection where Inca Babies found their most passionate and loyal following. ‘Insect Symphony’ is a Stooges lead-riff tribute to all those bands that are no longer with us. The inclusion of a longer and remixed version of the fan favourite ‘Opium Den’, now called ‘Opium Dub’, is a masterful example of Archer's sonic dexterity at the dub controls.
Since reforming in 2007, they've released three albums and toured extensively around Europe, Russia, North America, India and beyond. Renewed interest in the Incas was propelled by Cherry Red Records 'Best of’ compilation release ‘Inca Babies 1983-87: Plutonium’. After Bill Marten's death in 2008, the band decided to continue creating music, subsequently releasing their Death Blues Album Trilogy - 'Death Message Blues' (2010), 'Deep Dark Blue' (2012) and 'The Stereo Plan' (2014).
As of November 29, the 'Ghost Mechanic Nine' album is available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. Also released on vinyl and digitally, it can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp and the Louder Than War shop.
