Northern Ireland rockers The Bonnevilles are renowned for both their incendiary live shows and soulful song-writing skills. Their music is full of heart, smart, and always fun. On Dirty Photographs their second studio album for Alive that comes out March 16th, they display their love for gritty blues, primitive rock ‘n’ roll and Irish folk.
While their new effort still traffics in a similar garage-blues-rock vein as their previous 2016 studio album, Arrow Pierce My Heart, the mood has shifted as Dirty Photographs is more of an upbeat affair. As singer-songwriter-guitarist Andrew McGibbon Jr. reveals, “There’s an emotion of positivity on these songs, rather than the usual tales of woe. Most of the tracks are upbeat, or have a positive message, a message of love or even just plain old fashioned sex. I know others have written a world of songs about those things but we haven’t, so we thought it was our time to jump in.”
Today Glide is excited to premiere “The Rebels Shrug”, a dirty punk blues number that starts off quiet and acoustic before growing into a dark, cello-driven meditation. The song captures a more intimate side of the band, showcasing not only their more vulnerable vocals and lyrics, but their ability to actually arrange songs that are nuanced and layered instead of straight up rocking out. Of course, both of those things are good and lucky for us The Bonnevilles know how to nail them.
Sharing the story behind the song, singer/songwriter and guitarist Andrew McGibbon Jr. has this to say:
“‘The Rebels Shrug’ is a quote I read in a book about the film The Big Lebowski. The song isn’t about the film though, the quote just rung my bell.
We wanted a cello on this and Laura McFadden, a cellist from Donegal, was brought in and what a job she did. I’d like to say she played what was in my head but that would be a lie. She absolutely made it her own and I could not have imagined what she did to the song. Makes the song in my opinion.
The song is about the state of the world at the minute and our relationship to it. Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer… all that stuff. And how we are to respond to it? Protest? Vote? Violence? Or just say “meh.” That bit in the film where the Dude says ‘ah fuck it’ and gets his rug anyway. That’s the Rebel Shrug – he got what he wanted. To be fair, there were also a lot of unintended consequences but for him it worked out. The song isn’t an attempt at a solution, it’s just an observation that a lot of people are getting to that place. I didn’t like to see Donny go though.”
LISTEN:
The Bonnevilles’ new album Dirty Photographs will be available on Limited Edition Vinyl, CD, digital and streaming formats March 16th via Alive Naturalsound Records. Pre-order the Starburst Vinyl and T-shirt bundle HERE.
