More information on that new supergroupy project from Arctic Monkey Matt Helders, his ex-bandmate Andy Nicholson and members of Reverend And The Makers and Babyshambles. According to reports, the band, Mongrel, have just finished recording a heavily political debut record 'Better Than Heavy', which will be released on 27 Oct.
It seems that the band are, in fact, a politically motivated project. Talking about it, (Reverend) Jon McClure says: "It's been refreshing working on this album because it's kind of good to get out of your comfort zone and do something a bit different. I think lyrically it is so much more combative than anything else that is around at the minute. The state of British music bores me to tears and I think it's time we reflected the greater British music scene rather than just middle class indie boys with guitars around their necks. A lot of the album questions the government and the way the media controls things. From there it leads onto foreign policy and the war in Iraq, conflicts in Afghanistan and Palestine. It is kind of tackling a lot of hard issues which people since 9/11 have been scared to tackle for some reason".
On the presence of former Monkey Nicholson in the band, he adds: "It's nice to have Andy back doing music because I think he was down in the dumps for a bit after the Arctic Monkeys. He is a brilliant musician who has a lot spirit and and a lot of feeling for what he does. It's good to see him indulging himself in some interesting music which is not the music most people know him for but the music he loves. It was also good to see him and Helders playing again together even if it was just in the studio. There's a lot of chemistry between them".
McClure has also confirmed that he won't be quitting music, despite his claim last month that he would as soon as the next Reverend And The Makers album is finished: "I got a bit mental when I got down in the dumps and said I was going to quit but I won't, I'll carry on. There's some people I need to put straight on a few things first. I will be back don't worry about that, I'm bullet proof".