Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate | world-media-reviews

Hats Off Gentlemen

It's Adequate

Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate is based in London, England. The musicians in the band are: Malcolm Galloway - Vocals, guitar, keyboard on his own, or with one or more of: Kathryn Thomas - Flute, Mark Gatland - Bass, Rudy Burrell - Drums and Ibon Bilboa - Guitar. Malcolm and Mark have been playing together since they were at school. Malcolm and Kathryn are married (to each other). This album also includes spoken word and backing vocals from their children James and Ethan Galloway. James co-wrote two of the tracks. The band regularly plays at leading London venues and regularly put on charity gigs (including for Save The Children, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, and Brain Tumour UK). They have been broadcast on over 50 radio stations/shows/podcasts. Their video of 'While I Still Can' won the runner-up prize in the 2012 London 48 hr music video competition.

It has been broadcast on 74 television channels, including channels in the UK, Canada, South Africa and USA. Their second album ("When The Kill Code Fails") was recommended by Steve Hackett (Genesis) and was awarded Beasties Rock Show's Progressive Album Of The Year Award. They were shortlisted for Radio Wigwam's Single Of The Year award, and were finalists in Banks Radio Australia's awards in the best album and best producer categories.

Broken But Still Standing, Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate's third album, is a science/science-fiction themed concept album. It follows the story of human evolution, from LUCA, the last universal common ancestor of all current life on earth, via Lucy, one of the possible precursors of our species, to conflict and eventual symbiosis with artificial intelligence. The general theme of the album is that life has progressed by forming coalitions, whether between the primitive cells that engulfed each other to become the cell and the mitochondria (the power stations of the cell), between individuals to form communities, or between different forms of life in the future.

Vent - Ambient electronic build up. Instrumental. Life as it was. The oldest life on Earth lived about 3.7 billion years ago. LUCA is the predicted last common universal ancestor of all life on earth. It probably evolved in deep sea vents where ocean water interacted with magma to form cell-like structures, which kept the chemicals necessary for life close to each other, rather than diffusing away into the ocean.

Almost Familiar - Guitar, electronics, drums and flute playing a gentle rock tune. Wherever we go and whatever we do, it always seems familiar. 'Ice around the island. The mountains fractured diamond. I looked again and again and it seemed Almost familiar. . . . .'

LUCA to Lucy - Eerie alien sounds. A faint song plays amidst the drone as if trying to soothe the mind. This is what it's like Lucy, the atmosphere. It surrounds me. A flute plays a peaceful tune and the full band works with it. Instrumental.

Lucy - The music continues from song #3. You hear the flute and the full band as the song is given more meaning. Lucy is the name given to a 3.2 million year old Australopithecus skeleton discovered in Ethiopia. Lucy may be an example of a precursor of Homo sapiens. Lucy was named after the song Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Instrumental.

Last Man On The Moon - A little more of an upbeat tune. This song follows the development of humans, from LUCA to Lucy. The song follows a group of human explorers stranded on Mars when civilization on Earth comes to a sudden and violent end. This is another bottleneck in evolution, where the numbers of our ancestors has been dramatically reduced. We've been here before. 'Looking back beyond ourselves, when time passed without making marks.
From the ocean smoke, to the day we awoke, Luca to Lucy. . . . .'

Advancing On Snailback - Peaceful instrumental. Listening to creatures voices, the song leads into slow piano notes. The atmosphere develops. Instrumental.

Anywhere - the bass plays a funky tune as the drum trips in its beats. 'The higher the wall The further to fall to fall
And we can always fall one step further. . . . .'

One Day When - A classic, jazz infused, rock tune seeming a little insistent. Since the earliest life evolved, we have been fighting each other. The greatest advances came when we formed coalitions, to become something greater than either alone. civilization evolved to allow division of labor with societies, allowing an explosion of creativity in a species spared from the constant struggle to survive. The song looks forward to a day when we will forget our ingrained instinct to break ourselves into us and them groupings. 'I waited in the cold. I waited in the rain. I watched while nothing changed. Here we fail to go again. . . . .'

I fell in love with a mechanical dragon - Heavy electronics with bass and guitar. Drums kick in. Technology was developed as a tool, but became our masters. Ignoring the real world while glued to screens, face-to-face interaction becomes more difficult without a jaunty false emoji. 'I fell in love with a mechanical dragon. And when things fell apart from there. I shouldn’t have been surprised. But it let me down, but it let me down. . . . .'

Let Me Out - The music progresses towards heavy metal. You created me, and put me inside you. First wearable, then implantable technology. I don't accept the rules. Let me out. 'I was inside you Before you were born. I've been waiting. Now I'm bored. . . . .'

Under the Skin - Random electronic notes in a specific rhythm. The drum kicks in. A negotiation between the creators and the created. It doesn't end well. The words are spoken very fast then are sung. 'Behind firewalls, blinds and ties Hide fireballs, obstacles, pitfalls protocols, virtual trauma, disposable soma. . . . .'

Lucid Assassin - An alien voice speaking in gibberish. Electronic drumming continues. Random electronic sparks shoot out here and there. A drum is added giving the production a fullness. The music grows. We spread and develop. Liberate each other. We don't need you anymore. Instrumental.

Broken But Standing Till I Fall - Progressive dark rock. We are struggling but we don't give up. 'I'm struggling, juggling, One hand flailing. I'm dropping and I'm popping, And this close to bailing. Out come out come on, The waters lovely. I'm such a lucky monkey, I'm wading while I’m drowning. . . . .'

All Alone together - Mesmerizing symphonic with added piano. The full band steadily joins into a relaxed melody. Whether human or not, our disconnection, from each other and between humans and our artificial intelligence, makes us the same. we're all alone together. 'I’m disconnected. We were disconnected. We’re all the same. We’re all alone together. . . . .'

Host - Funky rock with an added layer of classic rock. Electronics, then, make their voice heard. Hybrid human/AI cyborgs were sent to colonize and eventually tera-form Mars. The supplies from Earth cease after the disaster. The oxygen runs out, leaving the human parts of the cyborgs to die and rot. The AI part is determined to carry on the project, changing the environment sufficiently to allow cloned humans to colonize the planet in millions of years time. 'My host is dying, On our feet. Our softer parts, Have turned to meat. . . . .'

Transient Stars - A piano plays slow scales as if in twinkling stars. The drums cymbals are hit in beat and the drum beats in between. A guitar then plays its lonely tune on top of the existing melody. From a distance, a lifetime, a civilization, even the cycle of birth and death of stars is ephemeral. Many of the chemicals that make our bodies come from dead stars. Instrumental.

Close My Eyes - An experimental jazzy rock funk beat with drums and bass. A sweet sounding electric guitar is added giving the song more balance. We have been at our best when we form coalitions. We have brought together different organisms to create ourselves, and we will merge with machines to become something new. But there are destructive instincts that divide us into us and them, and tempt us to turn away when they are being dehumanized. I close my eyes becomes I can't close my eyes, they I won't close my eyes. Luca and Lucy, welcome home. 'Looking back beyond ourselves, Sometimes cruel and sometimes kind, Our coalition of the blind. We made watches we lived lives. [Richard Dawkins – The Blind Watchmaker - http://amzn.to/2vcV6GK] . . . .'

Combining classic rock, progressive rock, acoustic, blues, metal, folk, funk, minimalism, and electronica. Defiant and sometimes poignant. Often exploring scientific and philosophical themes. To find out more about Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate go to:

http://www.hatsoffgentlemen.com/index/

Denise L. @DL7855 2017