4.52am Issue:054 5th October 2017 - The Breeder Issue

theFretBoard is a forum for guitarists, and the occasional bassist.
It’s run by guitarists, for guitarists, and covers just about all the “stuff” that interests
guitarists, including guitars (!), amps, fx, learning, playing, buying, selling and anything
else that comes to the minds of thousands of guitarists every day.
It’s completely free to read and free to join – membership allows readers to see
additional areas of the forum which aren’t visible to non-members, to start their own
discussions and post their own comments.
Best of all, there are NO ADVERTS.
Join the UK’s busiest, most interesting and most diverse guitar related forum for free
(did we mention that it’s free?) at theFretBoard.co.uk.
Now.

Welcome
Welcome to Issue 054
OK, I don’t mind admitting that I was a
little premature in announcing the end of
the current format of 4.52am last week,
but there we are, it has always been wideeyed
optimism that keeps this ship afloat.
Instead then, we are going to give
ourselves a fortnight and will be back with
the new-stylee magazine on the 18 th of
October, of which I hope you will approve.
This week then is a bit of a scamper
through the bluebells of mine mind and we
lead with a wonderful new song from The
Breeders and then lots of other bobbins.
See you on the 18 th , but until then…enjoy!
All at 4.52am

We are pleased to announce that 4.52am is no longer homeless and sleeping on
the sofa over at Guitar Quarterly, and that you can now get your weekly dose of
Vitamin452 at our new home at www.452am.co.uk.
Every week you will still be able to read our mix of the coolest new music and
unusual and boutique guitar bobbins, along with a few new wrinkles just to
keep us all on our toes.
Visit us now HERE

Contents
THE BREEDERS
LEARN TO PLAY: ‘I’M WAITING FOR MY MAN – VELVET UNDERGROUND
LEARN TO PLAY: ‘HIGHWAY TO HELL’ – AC/DC
DUESENBERG CC
TAPED: WORLD PARTY ‘PRIVATE REVOLUTION’
KIT WALKER
BREAKFAST MUFF
LA CONTESSA PRESENTS
- 1960S: UNIT 4+2
- 1970S: PATTI SMITH
- 1980S: PREFAB SPROUT
- 1990S: NEIL YOUNG
- 2000S: STEREOPHONICS
- 2010S: REBECCA FERGUSON

FEATURES

THE BREEDERS
Wait In The Car
I’ve raved a few times about just what a
fantastic songwriter Kim Deal of Pixies
and Breeders fame is, and so here in the
452 Shelter I have to say it got a little
over excited when the news that there
was a new single hitting the airwaves and
err, interwebbybobbins.
It is always a little worrying when a band
you love does something new (as let’s
face it a lot of them mess things up), but
no such problem here and I am seriously
looking forward to the new album and
tour that are in the offing.
The song, ‘Wait In The Car’ has
everything you’d hope for in a Breeders
song, dirty lo-fi guitars, excellent slackercentric
singing and lyrics and a wonderful
sense of melody that is instantly
recognisable.
I’m sure we’ve said it before, but it is only
when you listen to the Breeders that you
realise just what Kim brought to the
Pixies and it is no surprise that luminaries
such as a certain Mr Cobain of Seattle
cited her influence on the band that
inspired him to start Nirvana.
The single will also form part of a series
of 7” releases. Single One will be
available at the band’s upcoming tour
dates, starting October 15 (pressed on
orange vinyl, featuring a cover of Amon
Düül II’s 1970 track ‘Archangel’s
Thunderbird’, recorded with Steve Albini
in Chicago). Single
Two will be available exclusively at
select independent record stores from
October 27 (pressed on red vinyl,
featuring Kim’s dreamy reimagining of
Mike Nesmith’s ‘Joanne’). Details of
Single Three (featuring a cover of
Devo’s ‘Gates of Steel’ and pressed on
yellow vinyl) are to announced later in
the year. Each version is limited to
1,500 copies worldwide.
The artwork and visuals for ‘Wait in the
Car’ come from Chris Bigg (formerly of
the v23 team
who worked on the band’s previous
4AD releases) and Martin Andersen,
with the video piecing
together 800 still images.
“It all started with a brick,” the pair say.
“We both liked the idea of using
something iconic yet quite banal. An
old brick has a story and it’s a beautiful
raw object. We started collecting more
and more (some intact, some broken)
and realised how different they all
appear, each one having its own
identity.”
Find out more,
Web Site
Twitter
Instagram Facebook

LEARN TO PLAY
Velvet Underground ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’
I’m not sure whether there has ever been
a better song than the Velvet
Underground’s seminal ‘I'm Waiting For
The Man’ and to be totally honest, I don’t
care if there has as I am more than happy
to be able to listen to this. And if that is
settling, so what.
Needless to say, it isn’t the hardest to
play but yet is well worth your time and
we thought it was a decent excuse to
include a few of the band’s songs even
if you don’t need the lesson.

LEARN TO PLAY
AC/DC ‘Highway To Hell’
I think this song more than any other was
the reason I wanted to play guitar, and
although it was years after I first heard it
that I finally ordered myself an Epiphone
SG – in cherry with a bolt-on neck – from
my Mom’s catalogue, it arriving is still a
moment I can’t forget. Not least because
I was gutted, I wanted one of those big
SGs Angus played and against my sixfoot
frame, the Epiphone one was
definitely the smaller version.
Regardless of that, I still love the song
and as it is kinda easy think that
everybody should have it available for
when the chance to duck walk or
headbang arrives.

DUESENBERG
CC
I’ve been wanting to treat myself to a
nice semi-acoustic for ages now and have
been constantly dithering between those
that Gretsch have on offer and then the
more Gibson-like offerings from
Epiphone.
I don’t want to spend a shedload of
money as basically I’m always going to
spend more time playing my Jazzmasters,
but it is proving a pain to nail down. In
truth, I love Eddie Cochran’s sound, but I
also want something that is a little more
flexible, and dare I say it, ‘blingy’.
All of which, after months of this inertia,
I decided to try a couple from the left of
the field, with the Duesenberg CC
catching my eye.
For a start, I just love the look of them
and shallow that I am, that does play a
big part in all of this.
I also have used a Duessy tremolo on a
couple of builds and put one on an LTD
Gold Top and they are beautifully
engineered ‘bits of kit’, if we’re getting all
Top Gear about it.
The CC then seems to tick a lot of boxes,
I love the looks especially the orange
trans amber whatever the colour is
called, although the black too looks
mighty fine.
Borrowing one from a friend for a few
days, I loved the playability of it right
from the off. Duesenberg have nailed
that old looks/modern playability ratio
and it is a perfect feeling guitar.
Needless to say the equipment –
tremolo, tuners and the rest are as
stable as an old Gretsch isn’t and if I
was doing three hour rockabilly sets
this would definitely be the one for me.
As for the pickups (which being a total
snob I wasn’t expecting much from)
these really are good.
The humbucker at the bridge is tasteful
and you could see Ronnie Wood
playing this for the rest of his life with
a smile on his face, but it is the P90 at
the neck that really made me think.
OK a humbuckerish sized pickup would
have to defy physics to really get the
tone 100% right, this is as close as I
have ever heard to that sex-in-yourface
growl of a gorgeous P90. This has
Eddie Cochran on tap, but then
everything from Jazz to Billy Duffy
leads are available as well.
This is a stunning guitar, beautifully
made and hot-rodded as standard.
I think I may have started a Christmas
list.
Find out more Here

TAPED
World Party ‘Private Revolution’
Talking about the Waterboys the other
week, it is easy to forget that one of the
greatest achievements of the band is the
way in which Mike Scott has consistently
managed to work with a procession of
fantastically talented musicians. If the
‘Big Music’ period is something we look
back on as perhaps the most original
period, it was during Karl Wallinger’s
tenure in the group that is probably seen
as the best of the lot. Wallinger left of
course as Scott moved to Ireland and
reshaped his world, but quickly proved
himself to be more than capable of
writing songs that at least equalled those
of Scott, with ‘Private Revolution’ being
his debut album under the ‘World Party’
moniker.
And what an album it was. The lead
single was ‘Private Revolution’ itself,
which with its Beatles/folk influences
defined the scope of the album. Truly the
finest song John Lennon never wrote
post-Beatles, it was and is a masterclass
in straight forward song-writing that is
impossibly difficult to do, although when
people like Karl do it, it of course looks
easy.
It was the second single from the album,
‘Ship of Fools’ that really set a new
standard though and even now looking
back I can’t see just how it didn’t reach
the uppermost of the charts or more
importantly, wider critical coverage.
I remember seeing World Party at an
unlikely glitterball of a club in
Birmingham supporting the first album,
and it remains one of the most
impressive gigs of my life for many
reasons. And yes, looking back I
appreciate that World Party will no
doubt be best remembered for writing
‘She’s the One’ which Robbie Williams
murdered, and for giving Guy
Chambers a job in his pre-Lemon Trees
days, ‘Private Revolution’ and ‘Goodbye
Jumbo’ which followed soon afterwards
are probably two of the best kept
secrets album-wise of the last forty
years.
Do the Mind Guerrilla, Baby.

KIT WALKER
Kit Walker Save the World
TIGERCUB
If an ‘80s-tastic mix of the best of Quincy
Jones, Don Henley and Peter Gabriel has
you salivating in your snow-wash jeans
whilst trimming you mullet, the new
single from Kit Walker is absolutely up
your street. This is a complete feel good
and if I wasn’t just the wrong side of
Spandex, I would probably be doing that
Tiffany dance, or something.
Better still, to promote the song, they
have released the first part of a genuine
8-bit computer game, which sees you
defeating “Slime On Cowell” and his
putrid posse: Mylie Virus, Ronald Dump,
Justin Creeper, Jeremy Vile and Kanye
West in order to rid the world of the bad
taste virus!
It is cheesy, but can still steal an hour or
three from you (Play it HERE – more
levels are released with subsequent
songs).
The band themselves though, are not
some tribute act, with the single being
recorded next door to Harry Rednapp in
Sandbanks as the band explain,
"Mr Wright was one of the first tracks we
wrote. In order to find Kit Walker's sound
we all took a week out and stayed in the
most incredible house in Sandbanks (next
door to Harry Redknapp). Think MTV
cribs and picture incredible sunsets,
seagulls, yatchs, a mountain of LPs and
a plethora of whiskey.
To get the ball rolling we individually
brought with us a stack of our favourite
albums. Before putting pen to paper we
broke out the record player, sunk a
gallon of beers, smoked cigars and
talked about our favourite artists. We
were essentially wiping the slate clean
as we'd been playing in bands for
years. This was a real screening
process to find what music we all
equally loved and it became clear that
our passion for the 80s was
undeniable. We picked our favourite
artists (e.g., Peter Gabriel, Michael
Jackson, Phil Collins) and got to work.
Mr Wright is a song written to "the next
guy". When you've left someone you
love, this is the advice you pass onto
the next person in order for them to
know her little idiosyncrasies and how
lucky they are to have her. Mr Wright
is essentially a play on Mr Right".
Find out more,
Facebook Instagram Twitter

BREAKFAST MUFF
Eurgh! – Tour Dates
Over the last couple of months, Breakfast
Muff’s super-fine album, ‘Eurgh!’ has
been on constant rotation around here,
with its mix of lo-fi gorgeousness and
surprisingly intimate and fragile
songwriting, generally exploding into my
face just after I have dropped the kids at
school. Yes, it is that Rock ‘n’ Roll here,
telling you.
Needless to say, you need to own this
album. It isn’t just 45 minutes of filler or
even just brilliant, it is without a doubt
one of the best three or four albums
we’ve heard this year. (There may be a
sneaky clue for our end of year awards
there, in case you were planning to put a
couple of quid on U2 again.)
Anyway, buy the album, that is a given,
but luckily you can then see them play it
live and loud at a venue near you as they
are off on their holibobs and touring the
UK.
Seriously, Breakfast Muff should be
winning Mercury Awards but in truth they
probably won’t as they are just too
fucking good.
7 October - NL - Leeuwarden, Mokkes
8 October - FR - Paris, Le Motel
9 October - UK - Bristol, The Old
England
15 October - UK - Leeds, Temple of
Boom
16 October - UK - Brighton, The
Pipeline
17 October - UK - London, DIY Space
18 October - UK - Sunderland, Pop
Recs Ltd
7" Babyboomers/R U A Feminist is out
now HERE
Eurgh! is out now HERE
Tour Dates:
4 October - UK - Margate, Tom Thumb
Theatre
5 October - BE - Ghent, AFSNIS
6 October - NL - Rotterdam, Roodkapje

LA CONTESSA PRESENTS…
Songs of the Amber Lamber
Well, here we go again on the La
Contessa Express. Shooting up the M4
and then across the countryside into
Oxfordshire to deliver a locomotive-load
of joyous tidings along with some of the
toppermost of the poppermost tunes,
direct from the pen of her ladyship
herself.
This week we again take a frolic through
the undergrowth of La Contessa’s musical
past and she chooses some special tunes
which you may or may not know, but we
have no doubt will be annoying the hell
out of you for at least the next week as
they burrow into your brain and take firm
root.
Like bindweed but with a little more
panache, a modicum of Chanel-like style.
Enjoy!
This week’s runners and riders are:
1960s: Unit 4+2
‘Concrete & Clay’
1970s: Patti Smith
‘Because The Night’
1980s: Prefab Sprout
‘When Love Breaks Down’
1990s: Neil Young
‘Harvest Moon’
2000s: Stereophonics
‘Maybe Tomorrow’
2010: Rebecca Ferguson
‘Nothing’s Real But Love.’