Skinners Cage" is the name of Big John Bates' new album and name and artwork symbolize the musical core. How do you overcome loss and loneliness? Big John Bates deal with these questions in their independent mixture of post-rock, rock'n'roll, symphonic punk and Americana Noir and demand open-mindedness and cross-genre thinking from their listeners. In the album opener "Devils in Hell" John Bates sings about the devils of a modern world who rage in this new kind of hell. In the very dark, intense and at the same time danceable version of the Marianne Faithful hit "Broken English" Brandy Bones tells of difficult communication and cultural conflicts at mid-tempo. Another cover song is the "Dead Moon Night" sung by Brandy, an energetic homage to the West Coast punk legend Dead Moon. Farewell is what "Harrow" is all about; it brings together influences of dark, traditional North American music and a nuance of orchestral borrowings from Eastern Europe that boil up in Bates' characteristic sound. The title song "Skinners Cage" forms the epicentre of the entire album, which after a Morricone-suspicious intro builds up into a hypnotic complete work. "Skinners Cage" creates a dark and heavy atmosphere and at the same time this album sprays with energy that everyone* who has been to a Big John Bates concert knows about the band and will relive on Skinners Cage tour.
