VIDEO PREMIERE: Neil Cooper (Therapy?) takes on GodNo! with Hulk remix

VIDEO PREMIERE: Neil Cooper (Therapy?) takes on GodNo! with Hulk remix

Giving an avant-garde reconstruction to GodNo!’s dissonant but melodic noise rock single ‘Hulk’ Neil Cooper (Therapy?) has taken on remix duties, reuniting him (virtually of course) with former Cable bandmate Pete Darrington.

‘Hulk’ was the second single to be taken from GodNo!‘s debut EP Too Much Future, released on Reckless Yes in 2020, and has had a working over by Cooper which brings in orchestral strings, brass riffs, trumpet breaks and a re-recorded drum line to take the track in a totally new direction. Originally made available as a super limited edition clear lathe cut for early-bird subscribers to the Reckless Yes 2021 membership demand has led to a full digital release for the track, as well as a limited-edition reissue on black lathe cut vinyl.

GodNo! is already somewhat of a label supergroup with Pete Darrington (Cable, The Hudson Super Six and co-founder of the label), Shelley Jane Newman (Grawl!x, Mighty Kids), Dan Barradell (Pet Crow), and James Stewart (Merrick’s Tusk).

The remix is the first time Cooper and Darrington have crossed musical paths since their Big Beat project Cut Hustlers and further back as members of Cable, where the pair were members for the release of the band’s first album, 1996’s John Robb produced Down-Lift the Up-Trodden. Cooper then moved on and joined Therapy? where he continues today.

Neil Cooper said, “I’ve always loved what GodNo! do so having the chance to get my hands on a track and rework it was a real treat. Knowing Pete from our Cable days together, I knew he’d want something fucked up, not simply a rehash of the original with a Clyde Stubblefield/James Brown sample underneath it!”

Therapy? Released the ‘Greatest Hits (2020 versions)’ live session album in March 2020. With the album in the top 40 UK album chart, lockdown became imminent and all touring was postponed. He said, “We were in that first national lockdown when I started the remix and I was in the midst of lockdown psychosis with the walls closing in on me. I was chuffed to have something to get my teeth into and put the remix together in isolation on my laptop.

“I loved Shelley Jane’s vocal and the great guitar lines which I kept in the mix and built the new instrumentation from the ground up taking the tune in a new direction. I thought I’d aim for the aural equivalent of GodNo! on a ‘Class A’ ridden night out with a steroid soaked Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The serene vocal on top of bombastic orchestral string and brass riffs with big band jazz trumpet breaks, all nailed down by me pounding out a racket on the drum kit. I bloody loved being able to do it!”

Pete Darrington, guitarist and vocalist in the band said of the remix, “Those of you who know me will know I’ve worked with Mr Neil Cooper for many years now, firstly as the drummer for the first Cable album and then later as Big Beat duo Cut Hustlers, which scored us a minor hit in Japan, oddly. Well, we’ve somehow let 13 years slip by before coming together again.

“In the intervening years, Neil has occupied the drum stool for the UK’s most prolific alternative metal band Therapy? and has been way too busy for us to work together, until 2020 arrived and he found himself stuck at home with no excuse to hit things as hard as possible. It was over a virtual pint via Zoom that he mentioned that he loved my new project GodNo! and fancied doing a remix of one of the tracks. Seeing as ‘Hulk’ had had the best reception as our second single, it seemed the perfect choice for him to ruin that. Seriously though, I still maintain he’s not just the greatest drummer I’ve ever worked with, but probably the most talented drummer in the country today.

“He took off to a socially distanced studio in the countryside, armed with his drum kit and a trumpet player (yep, you heard that right!) and we were all delighted with what he came up with and hopefully you will be too.”

Watch GodNo! vs Neil Cooper (Therapy?) – Hulk remix – BELOW:

The single will be released across digital platforms on 26 March 2021 and pre-orders for the limited edition black lathe cut vinyl are available on Bandcamp now, alongside the band’s 2020 EP on CD and digital download.

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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