Restoration Tragedy sees Attila and his band BARNSTORMER 1649 creating an album fusing the music of the 17th Century with the sounds of '77 buzzsaw punk, inspired by events just after the English Revolution, when Charles I was beheaded, the country became a republic, the ‘world turned upside down’ and unprecedented radical ideas spread across the land.
This album of 'Roundhead Renaissancecore' features numerous early musical instruments, such as shawm, crumhorn, cornamuse, bombarde, shawm and five different recorders, jousting with guitar, bass and drums all played by Attila and the band themselves.
“Growing up and living in Southwick, the port town of Shoreham Harbour in West Sussex, I’ve spent my life next door to the site of a pivotal moment in English history,” Attila explains. “After his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Charles II travelled south in disguise, chased by the New Model Army, and ended up at Shoreham Port, sneaking off to France in a coal boat called Surprise from a spot 400 yards from where our house now stands. I’ve always been interested in the history of the English Civil War and its aftermath and like many locals, been aware of the story. Completely coincidentally, I’ve always loved early music, have taught myself to play many ancient instruments and believed those simple sounds could be harnessed to the energy of punk in the same kind of way that The Pogues combined Irish music and punk.”Attila The Stockbroker began performing as a poet in 1980 in Harlow, Essex alongside his mates NEWTOWN NEUROTICS. Since then he has toured widely, playing more than 3,000 gigs in 24 countries, including pioneering shows in East Germany and Albania. His acclaimed autobiography Arguments Yard (35 years of Ranting Verse and Thrash Mandola) was published by Cherry Red Books in 2015.
Restoration Tragedy is available on limited edition gatefold double vinyl and CD from Attila's website and at gigs. You can catch him on the road at...
10 Nov - SHOREHAM - Duke of Wellington
29 Nov - NORTHWICH - Salty Dog
30 Nov - ASHTON UNDER LYNE - Station
1 Dec - SHEFFIELD - Gardeners Rest
15 Jan - PETERSFIELD - Write Angle
Watch a full Barnstormer 1649 live show from Latest Musicbar, Brighton here.
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