The Kingpins – Plan Of Action

Plan Of Action - The Kingpins

Plan Of Action – The Kingpins

Most bands naturally evolve in some way. Often what they are listening to at that time will greatly colour their musical choices. Usually these changes are made with a disdainful dismissal of their previous work, as if what they are into now could only be relevant so long as they  spit on whatever they were doing up till then. In the case of Plan Of Action, they felt that not changing would be betraying themselves and their fans.

The Kingpins had become the best version of what they were (the Let’s Go To Work band) not too long before. I had witnessed the best show I’d seen them play up until that point at The Rivoli in Toronto. Their grooves were thick and relaxed as they pulsed through a pretty strong catalog. We were joking after the set about hatching plans  for various theme EPs of trad ska, Biblical ska, Asian ska…etc… and then I didn’t hear much from the band.

Paddy Walsh, who was the lead singer most of the songs and one of the main songwriters, had left the group and was replaced by JFK from Winnipeg. Then Bobby Beaton, the other half of the songwriting front with his distinctive guitar tone retreated from the band without a word to reform The Gruesomes. The band had recorded about 16 songs as pre-production which comprised mostly of JFK material as well as 2 Beaton numbers (which were as solid as any of his previous Kingpins contributions). Overall, it was different in tone, but still sat in the retro pocket they had occupied for so long, touching on some early ska, as well as other sixties touchstones. The material needed weeding through and some additional writing, but I was already envisioning sixties throwback sound. I was going to find out how to get those sixties sounds and push the band further into that place, and one thing was for sure, Lorraine Muller had to have more songs to sing. She had jumped up to the front on the previous recording, but there was little evidence of her voice on the demo CD.

My trip to Montreal put the brakes on all that. Jordan Swift (Kingpins bassist, Stomp Records co-founder) took me out for drinks and laid out his plan while he got very drunk on cheap draft. Jordan felt that the band was settling into a group that “covered” itself, like impostors pretending that nothing had happened. He felt it was time to push the band into a different direction, drawing more on the late 70s and 80s and infusing those influences into their ska. To him it made sense to take from what made the current Kingpins excited instead of trying to re-create the Beaton or Walsh version (unconvincingly, he added). So we agreed to meet a week later in Montreal with new material and see where it went from there.

This is where I became a songwriting contributor for the Kingpins. I brought in 5 songs. The words were mostly gibberish, but I had sketched out melodies, chord changes, some drum/ bass roughs…etc… we took it from there. JFK was not present for most of the 5 weeks we spent in pre-production. He was stuck in Winnipeg and it was difficult getting a commitment from him with regards to his return. He eventually made it back before we were to record the beds. His place in the band was a strange one. He was essentially  Paddy’s replacement. A male presence in the band. During that last week of prep I asked JFK what his plans were and he told me that he would stay if the record did well, but that he had his own thing going. At that point, I felt we should tackle the issue with everyone. My feeling was that JFK should not be present on the CD as a band member because Lorraine was already on almost every song and she should take the position as lead singer. This made some of the members queasy including Lo, who was very reluctant to occupy that position. It was impossible for them to think of the band without a male singer. To me, it was a more focused approach to stick solely with Lo and avoid future trouble with an already turbulent lineup. Then there was the songwriting issue. We agreed (everyone except JFK) to split the original material with each other to help create feeling of mutual investment. JFK took issue with this as he had 2 original songs in the running and didn’t want to share them. Honestly, I think it’s perfectly fine for a songwriter to keep their royalties and credit untouched, but the split was there again and I know he took issue with it later. Enough of this, here’s the record.

1. Plan Of Action – This is a song by The Shambles (B. Mendoza). It was our call to action. Eric  Boom Boom Boulanger (drummer) selected this song. We used a cut from the Portuguese radio broadcast of the ‘74 revolution. I had it on vinyl and we were looking for interesting sounds to sprinkle throughout the record. To make the drums come alive, Claus Frostell (engineer) got us to track them upstairs in the studio owner’s apartment loft.

Plan Of Action is a straight cover, but it suited Lo’s voice so well it was hard to pass up. She managed to blow her voice on the numerous scream takes.

2. Designated Driver – like a number of the songs, we pulled ideas from our lives. I was inspired by Lo’s “mother hen” position in the band. If you know the Kingpins (and there were many of them) you’d know that they could be a needy bunch. Lo was always there to look after her family, sometimes to the point of wearing her out completely. I started there when writing about this long night out.

The B section came while working on the Mad Bombers’ CD in Edmonton. A little nod to Split Enz in there. Love the Farfisa (played by JFK).

3. L’Aventurier – this one (by Indochine) was fresh for me, but to everyone in the French community it was as familiar as the air they breathed. The chorus of the song is a weird shift that bends the ear. The Kingpins were so enthusiastic about doing this, I think it bubbled over into the recording. We took a more direct approach (different decade), less reverb, a little more in your face, but we were careful to include sweeping and pulsing synths, handclaps (real ones) and a flanger effect for good measure.

Online, I’ve read both damning and praise for this version. Happy it provoked some kind of reaction.

4. Sick Valentino – this was the first song I’d written for Lo’s voice. It was a delight trying to write material for her to sing, to even want to sing. Liam O’Neil on a lovingly out of tune upright piano.

5. Takin’ It Uptown – a JFK number from the original demo. Claus had him doing his vocal through a Sennheiser 421 microphone to bring out some more bite. This song also has J.B. Britton (Me, Mom and Morgentaler) on congas to keep it rolling forwards.

6. Matchbox – this song came directly from the band jamming in that first five weeks, the music came fairly easy. I love listening to Josh Fuhrman popping out those sax riffs like he’s breathing them. It sounds effortless, but always exciting. I played the guitar parts for the most of the CD (except for the JFK songs), but there were times (like this solo) when we had to bring in the bigger guns. That job was left to Simon Angell (Patrick Watson band) and he had to endure contradictory instructions as I attempted to make him play something that at the time must have felt counter-intuitive to him. In the end I was very happy with the double tracked solo using purposefully missed notes played at an intense pace and ending in my detuning his strings as we recorded.

The lyrics were tough to make fit. Jordan had reference points he wanted touched on, but we only had 8 verse lines in which to encapsulate that period scenester history. The first line about John Hughes junkies was a nod to Lo. I think Breakfast Club is still up there for her. Can’t help but roll my eyes and laugh.

7. Bordel – the second French song and this one was spearheaded mostly by Lo. She had the initial chord change and we went from there. While working on it together we managed to come up with the B section. I remember being there and working on the lyrics well into the night. I just can’t remember how I was of any help with the French. I think I mostly nodded my head while she worked it out.

We wanted to get Jean LeLoup to do the Chorus. Thinking it would be perfect for his voice. It was not to be, but we did get Marc-Andre Pilon to stroll in and deliver this bizarrely creepy vocal. He was the devil himself. In the intro we used a synth that Claus brought in. One of the many flavours that Lo teased me about on this record. She does a great impersonation of it if you’d ever care to hear it.

8. The Main – this is Josh’s contribution. A great chance to relax. Some nice turn arounds and an opportunity to bring out some more traditional touches, like the upright piano rhythms. Brought in some more horns – Josh arranged them for the record. One of my favourites on the CD.

9. Goes A Little Like This – another JFK song with a great groove from Eric and Jordan. As this was mixed away from the band (Sound Of One Hand in Ottawa) so I never got the ok from JFK for the copious tape echo that we got from the 1/4″ one track machine. I was excited to include DJ Aerosol on this CD. Lo had more to talk about especially with how underused he was. I was only looking for something to push the song forward and accent, much like a cabasa would be implemented. And that was what he gave us. Not a feature or solo part, but a simple stab here and there that was part of the rhythm section. I’m on the defensive , ha!

10. Consequence – true story involving love, betrayal and dismemberment (or partial removal of the male privates). The details are too lurid to get into, but it’s a Mississauga story that deserves a song. We did it as a duet – JFK playing the victim of said injury, Lo singing the part of the disgruntled partner whose sense of justice was sharp enough to make a grown man wince. I kept the details vague. JFK’s verses were written the morning of the session in an inspired (albeit close call) burst of … duty.

In the video for this song, Josh fills in for JFK as he had left the band by that point.

11. All The World’s A Cage – this is a song by Adam “Bix” Berger (Me, Mom  and Morgentaler). We took this opportunity to lean in another direction. Eric programmed the beat which we tracked using several sources at my home on a Fostex reel to reel machine. I brought it in and we dumped it to 24 track 2″ and built the track from there. This is the only song I played bass on. We used a very small amp for both guitar and bass with Josh playing his sax as quietly as he could manage.

12. End Of The Parade – this was meant to be another duet with Lo and JFK. It was too difficult to pull that together so we went for it as a Lo number. This was about the end of the Kingpins and everything else. This features a wonderful sax/ guitar break played by Josh and Simon. Claus’ synth returns in the chorus – don’t get Lo started! We filtered the part through a Moog at Sound Of One Hand and that’s where the squishy loop came from – thanks to Martin Longden (Furnaceface). Martin also brought in the stereo spring reverb just for our mixes. What a guy.

13. Supernova – these lyrics were inspired by a stalker that had indirectly come in to Lo’s life. I wish some of these songs were as vivid as the stories I was treated to by all the band members. Regardless, this song returns the record to the tone of the first track. Eric at his heaviest like he’s going punch a hole through his skins.

Recorded in 2 weeks in Montreal, mixed in Ottawa.

recorded and mixed by Claus Frostell.