'FANGS' TRACK-BY-TRACK GUIDE
by Paul Vickers

Essence of Maureen
My brother Steven and I penned this song. It was back in the days when we used to book the local studio before we had even written the song. We were so young and cocky that we knew we could come up with the goods the night before. It kind of seemed more hassle getting to the studio than writing the songs. This is one of them old matchbox classics.

Oh, bumblebee
Roger went for a long bath while I nailed the vocal part for this one. He said from what he could hear from under the soap suds it sounded like I was ripping off 'Eye of the Tiger'. Later on in its invention Dave and Dottle gave it a disco groove with Steely Dan undercurrents. To think that when Roger first came up with the tune he was worried it sounded too much like Paul Weller!

Blue Bugle
The sweet sound of a brass band playing some of Mike's best blue notes.

Liqueur Lagoon
Us lot at Dawn of the Replicants h.q have been known to love a bit of jazz. With this number the club doors open once more for the best Replicants jazz number yet. Makes me think of ice mermaids melting in a sailor's glass. Hey kids, I'm going to use that.

Warp Flows
Hold onto your hats there's a hurricane coming. This Beefheart bush boogie popped out between gigs on our last mini tour. I nicked some of the words from an old Pluto Monkey number called 'Run Little Tiger Run'. We had demoed it but never used it and I always liked the opening lines. It's all about stealing from Jack to build Jane, you get me?

Fix The Air
A bit of a show stopper, this one. We finished writing it the night Greece won the European cup. Greek flags were hanging out of the windows in Langlee and there was a feeling even Scotland could win the cup. On a night like that Dawn of the Replicants could have a number one and in our own way we did.

Good Morning, its Midnight
The blues just keep returning. Mike seemed to turn into BB King the day we recorded this. It has a swamp groove from the low end of a smoking train and a hot belly full of coal.

Little Driver
Written in the London boozer of the same name with bass boss Dave Coyle. He was picking something odd out of his axe and the words seemed to flow to me. It's about some kind of bar room brawl where the little guy packs the hardest punch. listen watch

French Toast
Our ex-manager once told me I needed to get myself the body of a proper man and reinvent myself like Madonna. But you can't turn a turkey into a chicken. Only Madonna can do that. Anyway this song covers them old turkey morphing issues.

Fangs
There's a lot of meat on this girl's bones. This song grabs you by the horns and plays pool with a bull in a red room full of china wizards. I am grabbing at your mojo sister and the duke can't sit still. Fangs is about getting what you want.

Power Fitz
This song was written with a fella called Cameron Jack. He digs graves and plays the axe. We were digging through soil as soft as honey with this number. It's like a night at the movies in a strange town. Bizarrely for me that town was Stow.

Pterodactyl
This song has a B-movie plot about a dinosaur coming to town for dinner. He likes to munch on apples and humans. But the poor old pterodactyl comes to a sickly end when the choppers move in etc. In some ways it's a bit like 'Rapture' by Blondie and in other ways 'Expressway to Your Skull' by Sonic Youth. listen

Spear That Tear
This tango will have you dancing and pondering at the same time. It's the World's first thinking man's tango. Why can't people dance and think about war torn Poland at the same time? Keep your legs up!

Night Flight and Devilry
When recording this song, Roger developed a way of beating his chest to make the noise of a mating seagull. If he had been on a cliff top he would have been a busy manbird. Meanwhile Dottle honked like a mad tree-hopping monkey looking for walnuts. We had a great night.