INTERVIEW: Baker Island

The last time I sat down with Sean Dodds, the mastermind behind Newcastle fuzz pop marvels Baker Island, his band, like the world at large, was in a state of flux. It was the summer 2020 inter-lockdown reprieve. Eat Out to Help Out – helmed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, at that point Britain’s most popular politician – was at its ill- advised height (no revisionism here: we took full advantage) and our conversation centred on Baker Island’s stalled comeback, some three years since their last show. With neither a fixed line-up nor venues to play in, it was a relaunch staged without a launchpad – not that that did anything to dampen Sean’s aspiration. “I remember saying we’d be doing a double-album, because we had so much recorded,” he recalls sheepishly. 

Not entirely surprisingly, that sprawling opus never quite materialised. This time, though, Baker Island are back for real, with a settled, dynamic five-piece line-up – Sean (vocals/guitar) joined by Chris Old (bass), Emma Reynolds (drums), Jemima Short (keys) and Matt Weaver (guitar/backing vocals) – with a year of live shows under their belts, and the brand new Stone Age Riot EP ready to roll. “I decided we didn’t need to be quite so self-indulgent,” Sean admits. “We’ve homed in on a single album’s worth of material, but didn’t want to just throw it out there after being away so long. We wanted to put out something shorter first – if only to say ‘Hello! We’re still here!’” 

The maiden release on Tenth Ave. Records, a new imprint from local stalwart Rob Savage, Stone Age Riot presents five typically ramshackle remnants from the original monster album, alongside one cut, the title track, set to feature on the completed full-length. “[The song] Stone Age Riot is about the death penalty,” Sean reveals. “I wrote it after Brexit, when social media was becoming flooded with mental right-wingers. One particular post stuck with me. Somebody did something bad but then this guy commented that ‘Any decent human being would want you to suffer,’ and it made no sense to me at all. You can’t wish that upon someone and still call yourself a decent person!”

I know I’m contractually obliged to say ‘this is the best thing we’ve ever done…’ but I really do think this is the best thing we’ve done!

A vintage Baker Island nugget loaded with distortion, wry lyricism and, despite the subject matter, ebullient melodic charm, it’s a glorious appetiser for the as yet unscheduled main event. “I know I’m contractually obliged to say ‘this is the best thing we’ve ever done…’ but I really do think this is the best thing we’ve done!” Sean insists.

“It feels like a return to the spirit of [debut] Bobby Hundreds, which was a bit all over the place and stupid at times. It’s not like we’ve turned into John Cale, but I found it more interesting than another standard rock record.”

While both EP and album were recorded between line-ups (“we basically turned into The Fall and whoever happened to be there at the time played on it!”), Sean is keen to see where this new, settled iteration leads. “A friend once told me that all the best bands have dictators. I kind of get what he means, but also don’t want that to be me!” he insists. “The new stuff we’ve written has been more collaborative, We’ve played some of it live already and I’d love to start recording, but it already feels like we’re catching up with ourselves. We don’t want a continual backlog!”

Baker Island’s Stone Age Riot EP is released on Saturday 1st March with a show at Two by Two Taproom, Newcastle.