"TOUCHING THE PROPELLER" track-by-track
by Paul Vickers

HOLLYWOOD HILLS
This song was a beacon of hope during the wilderness years - a bright little elegant swan from out of the blue. It was the start of a writing process for a new album that would take over two years to complete. To add to the fun, it was all about a gang of witches flying from the chimney pots of the Scottish Borders to the busy bustle of LA, their aim: to start a new life.

LEAVING TOWN
This song was heavily influenced by the Johnny Cash number '25 Minutes To Go', about a man waiting to be hung, and contemplating his impending doom whilst counting the minutes away. Our song is about an overwhelming urge to leave a small town, stating all the major points as to why this must happen. I must add, Roger jumped at the chance to play bendy country pickin' guitar, while Carrie Jo Jackson blasted out a couple of loobeeloos on her harmonica.

SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE
A bit of an epic this one, nearly 6 minutes of hypnotic groovery and lilting Hawaiian melody. God only knows how it all turned out the way it did but sometimes you just have to thank your lucky strikes. This is the first of three songs on the album featuring the musical virtuosity of Susi O' Neill, who trades under the name Hypnotique and has a frightening mastery of such beasts as the theremin, N'Orleans clarinet and the hammond organ. Here she rummaged in her leopard-skin handbag, producing Tibetan cymbals, melodica and spooky sci-fi theremin swoops and flutters.

BLACK AND WHITE RAINBOWS
This song is about wounded pride and triumph in the face of adversity. Boxcar Willie once said, "The only thing that can really hurt you is a good slap in the mouth". But a few years in the music industry and life in a small Scottish Borders market town can also rattle them old bones.

SWEET LITTLE NOWHERE BLUE
This swamp rock blues hawk has a Beefheartian groove, Grant Pringle's drums sounding more like 50 suitcases falling down a tin mine than a finely tuned kit. We wouldn't have it any other way, of course. Very reminiscent, I feel, of our second album fare - raw, redneck and in your face, cutting dangerous shadows on the dungeon walls of adventure.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER, 1932
I'm sure the workers who built the Rockefeller Center, had to muster a state of carefree abandon to help them make it through the job. I think this song captures that feeling. Inspired by the famous photograph of the same name, the image shows a gaggle of good-old boys being handed out smokes and whisky as they balance precariously a few thousand feet above Manhattan. As Dixie Duck Lee once said, "Well, cut my legs off and call me Shorty".

TROUT FISHING
This song mixes the production values of the Velvets' 'Venus In Furs' with the sound quality of 'White Light / White Heat'. It's all about an appreciation of the smaller, more abstract qualities of life. When Roger first pieced together the backing he worried that it sounded like the 'Crocodile Dundee' soundtrack. I thought it was more like 'Rainman'. Sadly, with more overdubs, these impressive qualities were lost in a mist of distortion.

NO ROOM AT THE INN
This song reminds me a little bit of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Roger thinks it's more reminiscent of The Baycity Rollers. Both these could be seen as slightly un-positive aspects but a quick dip in the reverberation honey pot and a gentle wisp of crisp acoustic is pretty vital at this point in the record. Playing with Biblical themes, this deals with rejection and unrequited love - always notable staples in pop and rock. 'No Room...' climaxes with Sonny 'n' Cher-esque call and answer vocals and a melting pot of high-speed skiffle guitars (provided by Grant and Roger), and bubbling bass (Donald), which often cements the end of most modern relationships.

FALLING DOWN
The only true ballad on the album, comes on like a tipsy jazz faerie, knocked from its barstool by a likeable wizard. Heavy on metaphors, laced with despair and hope in equal proportions, aided by a sleepy horn section and a whistle while you work melody.

AFRAID OF THE GROUND
For a while I was convinced this song should remain an instrumental but I'm glad Roger encouraged me to persevere with the vocal as it adds an important lyrical twist to the album - a kind of "it's a crazy old world but you've just got to get on with it" closing sentiment. Musically it's unlike the rest of the record - a dubbed out skeleton of minimalist keyboards and stabbing echo guitar. It has an optimism to it that closes the door on the album and leaves you awaiting the soundscapes of the next chapter. "If that don't break a hole in the night then the window of the world is barely open" - the words, of course, of the original Pinball Wizard, Tall Hand Kelly.