Autumn 2003 and in a moment of patent absurdity the unthinkable happens. Again. A telephone rings and a venerable cult lead singer answers to hear the voice of his fellow founder member and foil outlining an unlikely live show in Madrid. Considering the fact that their last rehearsal is now over ten years in the past, the singer is for a moment unnerved. Then instinct kicks in and, a few days later when the guitarist has had a chance to perform an unreality check, the plotting begins.

The band is The Barracudas and the story very much in step with a career wayward at best. But this time it is different. A reformation a decade before had come and gone accomplishing little more than bilious nostalgia; this time, with egos subdued and music to the fore, a momentum establishes itself and in little time produces a new single, THE glam turn “Don't Ever Say It Can't Be So”, a showcase in Madrid, a documentary and, finally, a new, eponymous album.

Their first in over ten years, The Barracudas is no nostalgia trip. For one thing, the engine room has been retooled, with new rhythm section Robert Coyne and Yan Quellien providing a backbeat of magisterial proportions. Coyne, however, will not stop at bass guitar, and also contributes a host of instruments, arranging and one remarkable song to add to the others written by Robin Wills and Jeremy Gluck. And fundamental to the resurrection, the return of former Flamin' Groovie and Barracuda Chris Wilson, returning in a guest star role with stunning vocals and a new song that nestles nicely in the 'cudas canon. Recorded largely at north London's renowned Cowshed Studio and a veritable living museum of prize gear, Berry Street Studios, and produced by Wills, this is the Barracudas album that not only fans but also the band themselves have been waiting for since "Drop Out", their legendary EMI debut launched them on a journey of sound that would take them from snotty surf punks to the new Groovies in a few years, then deposit them in no band's land until the CD surge and sundry attentions revived their fortunes.

As a cursory look at radio playlists and cult whisperings will attest, The Barracudas reappearance after so long could not be better timed. Garage music is in fashion (again) and so is surf (well, Brian Wilson, and let's face it they might as well be synonymous). Power pop, likewise, from a 45 grave, has risen to reassert its importance. Indeed, all the styles the band have mastered and made their own are now current and selling. And another thing: The Barracudas sounds younger than yesterday but with experience supplying an edge that cuts across time to the heart of the band.

The Barracudas is simply the sound of survivors with nothing to prove and their enjoyment audible in your ears and guts. In twenty-five years they have changed only to go back to where they started, with an irrepressible enthusiasm and unbending intent to make their own kind of music. From the stunning “Poor White Trash” to the kooky economy of “I Believe Everything”; from Groovie Chris Wilson's wonderful “Mirror” to Coyne's crunchy instant classic “Something New”, this is an album that will excite longtime fans and endear many more new listeners. It's the way it's always been: The Barracudas, a band determined to make it real...one more time.

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FEATURES

Poor White Trash

What You Want Is What You Get

I Believe In Everything

The Price You Pay

Something New

Always On My Mind

Don't Ever Say It Can't Be So

Not That Kind

A Little Imagination

I Wish There Was A Time

The Mirror

Take A Walk

Shipwrecked!

Don't Let That Feeling Go

Poor White Trash (Pee Wee Full Version)