The Test Drive: Ponderosa Glee Boys – Demi Gods Of Bedlam

Ponderosa Glee Boys are set to drop their new album titled ‘Demi Gods of Bedlam’ on May 5th.From the gutter and the grave comes for a solid resurrection with a band and signature sound that spans decades as well as eras. A band that cannot die, not only because it utilizes fresh blood, but takes said sig-sound and evolutionizes it with a few updates while retaining that time honored angst and rhythm with a fresh set of tracks varied in mood and enough in style to make each anthemic and all endearing. Some bands were meant to survive.

About Ponderosa Glee Boys

The Ponderosa Glee Boys sprang out of Liverpool’s Eric’s scene in the late 70s along with Echo and the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and Wah, amongst many others.

The band formed in 1978 and were well known for their live shows and their antics on and off stage.

The band cut it’s teeth early on, supporting Gen X , Killing Joke, Theatre of Hate & Echo & the Bunnymen, along with many others around that time, they also played some high-profile gigs including the Futurama Festival in 1981.

The Glee Boys were signed by local independent label Inevitable Records along with Pete Burns Dead or Alive and both bands were managed by Doreen Allen who needed to have the patience of a saint as the Glee boys were so unpredictable, unreliable, and hard to manage!

They were sent into numerous recording studios but the band weren’t fans of being so constrained , much preferring playing live. The idea of playing the same song over and over and just sitting around didn’t appeal to them and they would often just not turn up to sessions. They did however record a single called Ritual but Inevitable Records went under before the single was released.

Regardless of this the Ponderosa Glee Boys were voted best Liverpool band in 1981 by Merseysound and John Peel was an early fan, the band recorded a BBC session for his show in 1981.

Original singer Steve Thompson left the band leaving bass player Carl Eaton to take over on vocals after auditioning a string of singers. The band line ups changed and they played a few more gigs in 1982 before calling time out and drummer Steve Coy then joined Dead or Alive.

The lack of recorded material proved to be a potent mix for creating a mystique that kept the band in the minds of those involved in Liverpool’s music scene at the time. The band were often asked to reform however this never seemed likely.

Fast forward to 2017 when Carl was asked to reform the band for one last time and perform at a charity benefit gig to raise money for the homeless in Liverpool. At first, he refused until he was persuaded it would be a good thing and an opportunity to meet up with old friends and do something for a good cause.

The new line up included Eaton on vocals and original guitarist Dave Banks, but also included the mercurial talents of Mike Mooney, a Liverpool guitarist who can include Echo & the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, Spiritualized and Massive Attack on his CV. Bass player Phil Hartley from Space also joined the line up with Mark Robson from Rain joining on drums.

Eaton decided to write an entirely new set of songs that had to have the Glee Boys DNA and also sound relevant for the gig in 2017, Eaton (now living in Australia) flew over to the UK and the songs were written and rehearsed ,all within 6 weeks.

The gig was a massive success, and they were asked to play other shows before Eaton headed back to Australia.

The idea of the AWAKE album was born, once the sleeping creativity had been reawakened, the desire to carry on came with it. Eaton himself said “We carried on because music got its claws back in us and the buzz around the Ponderosa Glee Boys thing was back again.” In December 2018 the Glee Boys played again in Liverpool, this time to promote the new album.

Awake had been recorded in Liverpool and also in Australia with the band members flying down under, enjoying the music and the sunshine.

Awake was an album that delivered on all of the band’s early promise, Eaton: “AWAKE was a monster in that the songs were all written, only ever to be heard once, live at The District in Liverpool.. We were then supposed to fade back out into normality after that. The idea of an album surfaced, and we thought it would be a solid document of the bands existence by finally recording something.” The upshot of all this is that, after a four decade long wait, momentum was again building up for the Glee Boys.

Then along came a global pandemic that kept Carl and the rest of the band on different continents so no gigs in 2020/2021 only Covid Lockdowns and international travel bans.

Carl decided to continue writing and recording in Australia during this time and the result of this is the second album.

About SOURCE: Official Release

LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/PonderodaGleeBoysOfficial
https://ponderosagleeboys.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD48mkRPs5-sjnZbOHyZyuQ