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Baltimore freakbeat popsters The Smashing Times weave in another charmingly offbeat psychedelic treat on "Ben Jimeny the Green Grocer," the second single from the group's forthcoming album, Mrs Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys, out November 1st on K Records and Perennial Death Records. While The Smashing Times serves as the songwriting vehicle for pop-eclectician and 12-string guitar slinger, Thee Jasmine Monk, they are joined by scene stalwarts, Zelda-Anais, Britta Leijonflycht, Blake Douglas, and Paul Krolian. Across their catalog, the group's melodies have the ethereal quality and all the most colorful '60s sounds of The Creation, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and The Bonniwell Music Machine. To dive deeper, we caught up with Thee Jasmine Monk to discuss how the new album embraces familiar traditions, the stories behind some of its tracks, and how the band is preparing for a run of shows in the UK and Paris.
First tell me what you've been up to lately? What have you been listening to, reading, watching, or spending a lot of time doing?
Thee Jasmine Monk: I've been listening to The Clientele, Peel Dream Magazine's Pad, which is a masterpiece, a couple of the Cherry Red compilations, and the Climb Aboard My Roundabout and Come Join My Orchestra comps. I also just got a great covers tape of Mods Mayday '79 (my all time favorite collection of tracks, the other recordings are shite) by Sharp Pins, called Mod Mayday 23. It's even better than the original. I've been watching: Cathy Come Home, A Kind of Loving, The Fog, The Saint, and Jim Henson's The StoryTeller. I've been reading a Japanese haiku compilation put together by William Scott Wilson who wrote a lovely book on Santoka Taneda a couple years back.
How did your recent run of shows go with The Clientele?
Amazing, they (The Clientele) just keep getting better and better. I'd been sober a couple of months too and I think the vocals and guitar were really good. We were tight and focused. ;) I think they might be our friends now, which is amazing. To have heroes such as they as campadres. They really are inspiring, we similarly don't really belong to a scene so it's great to have another individual, unrecreatable band to gig with.
It was great also seeing you live in action with The Lemon Twigs back in the springtime. What were some of the highlights from that tour? I enjoyed seeing some memories included in the "Tarts and Vicars" music video!
They are a great bunch of people. Cool seeing a proper band play every night. Similar to playing with The Clientele...it never gets old.
What's it like preparing for a Smashing Times tour since not all the members of the live band are in the same city?
It depends how much time we have to prepare and how close we are to a new record releasing. For the run of shows with The Lemon Twigs, we had just got home from the tour with Linda Smith and had about a week to prepare so we reverted to the This Sporting Life setlist since it's comfortable. But for the UK in the coming fall, we have a new album coming out and finally some time off in between gigs so the setlist has been disseminated and everyone will learn separately. Paul and Zelda/Alex and I will rehearse beginning late September, Alex and I will do some of the vocals stuff one on one. Britta will show up knowing everything and be spottles and as Noah would say "the queen."
How do you feel looking back on your catalog? Do you still like or relate to your past releases?
I am predictably always disliking the most recent effort. Come Along with Me, Bloom and Mrs. Ladyships' and the Cleanerhouse Boys are the only records that I have really enjoyed listening to that I've made. So get ready, they will be in the setlist for a long time.
One of your earlier songs that still stick with me is "Come Along With Me." What do you recall putting that one together? I was very happy I finally snagged the tape from your merch table last May.
That one is real Syd Barret, I was channeling that on Mrs. Ladyships so I think you'll like it. I've always wanted to play it live. It's so shambolic. I remember Ole, the bass player on that record, being mystified that I wanted him to play whole notes and have no quarter notes in it.
What insight can you share about your forthcoming album, Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys, and how exactly did it all come together?
This one is a masterpiece. I went back to the Bloom style of recording, everything was tracked song by song over six to nine months rather than laying down all the instruments in succession. The 12-string sound on it is good, like more Petula Clark than Byrds, I can't stand the Byrds guitar tone.
How would you describe working on this new album compared to last year's This Sporting Life?
Mrs Ladyships is full to the brim with the Come Along with Me aesthetic, it's rich in pathos and has the madness that Bloom and CAWM have. This record was made to fulfill my artistic vision and unsurprisingly, since the intent was honest, it's the best record I've made. Everything is a sort of performance art, each record is an attempt to try on a different hat, this one is a comfortable old hat that fits me well where I am at. It's an old coat, ragged and worn. And you love it.
Today we have the pleasure of premiering the album's second single "Ben Jimeny the Green Grocer." How did this one come about and what were the inspirations behind it?
It's about a kind of soulless bitter old man that has survived in the family business. He's a minor character and he knows it. It's inspired by Syd Barrett, The Creation and probably The Pretty Things.
Britta, you're always very distinctive with your visuals. What was it like putting together the video for this one?
Britta Leijonflycht: Ah, well thank you. I asked if I could make a video for this song because upon hearing it I immediately had a bunch of ideas. We filmed at the pea patch near the Druid House. Some shots planned, some not. Some footage was sent to me later when the peas were all grown. Many subtle pop culture references…can you spot them?
Diving now into some of my favorite tracks here, I really like the opening title track. What can you tell me about this one?
Yeah, that's a song where it came together really fast and I had to stand back and think, hold on here, did I do that? That one, "June Rabbit," and "Wednesday, on a Hummingbird's Wing" are on a level with songs like "Shade," "The Changing Man," and "Mother Nature is Son." I'll probably keep them in the set for a long time.
What's the story of "Rupert Tingle, Button Thief"?
Rupert Tingle is a gnome that lives in Merton Knoll, which is on the property of this sort of rich landed gentry, barrister type family. He steals from their garden and takes other sundry items like buttons. He's a good hang too, if you dig moldy cheese, dandelion wine and drinks with lots of ice.
What was it like putting together "I Paint The Pictures"?
Brilliant. I wrote this one years ago and it popped back into my mind while I was assembling the tracklist. It's a classic track about a Billy Liar type office worker who just wants to paint pictures and stare at clouds all day. Merton and Sons Holdings is where he works and though he isn't really sure what his job is, it seems like he will be stuck there for ages. We've been opening with it the last two tours and it's great to get some of the early stage jitters out, since it is so manic.
How about the album's lead single "Tarts And Vicars"?
Tarts and Vicars Party! All good things must come to an end!
What can you tell me now about the album's closer "Saturn And Janus"?
You find yourself in an occult environment. You don't get to choose where you'd like to be. Only place you can be is where you're meant to be. And it might take some time to understand, but I can't wait to find out.
Which song from the record means the most to you (and why) or you're most excited for fans to hear?
"June Rabbit"! This will be the focus track during the week of release. It's another one where I was astounded that I was the one who got to channel it into creation.
What were the inspirations behind the cover art?
The inspo was The Wind in the Willows and Frog and Toad but I think it might have turned out more like a Celestial Seasonings tea box. I love it. Extra special thanks to Beck Levy and Hayes Waring for putting up with or rather eduring endless revisions.
What are the origins of the song "Breaking The Lawn" you released on the flexi that came with Issue #9 of RPB Magazine back in June?
It's sort of a pop rewrite of "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest. It was recorded in the Bloom sessions, but I thought it was too rock 'n' roll to be included. I think that the Priest song has some of the most beautiful verses, so I set their lyrics to different chords and melody and then rewrote the lyrics to make it about when I was in high school and ran away for a month and there you have a new song with none of the original left over really. Paul seems to really like this one, we share a love of heavy metal and Oi! music and it has a lot of that in it so I guess it makes sense. We played it on tour the first time we went to the EU. I'd like to plug the Raving Pop Blast! fanzines. This guy who lives in the UK, Arthur Jarett reached out to me out of the blue, his operation is really cool and he has some interesting curmudgeonly takes on things. I would recommend going to his Bandcamp and getting some of his zines. We also put a song from the Mrs Ladyships sessions on his previous CD compilation earlier from the spring called "What's So Good About Baby Blue Eyes?"
Other than the new album, you also contributed the track, "Cool Arthur's Pink Heaven" for our PCRF benefit tape that fans can hear later this month. What's the story behind this song?
So, the Mrs. Ladyships sessions yield about 140 minutes of tracks, all of them good. There will probably be a Mrs. Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys in a year or two, most of it is recorded, it just depends on if I lose interest in the meantime. I often get inspiration from comic books, poetry, and novels. This is my attempt to put to music the visuals in an arc of the nineties Shade, the Changing Man comic by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo. The vocals sound like vintage John Lennon/George Harrison. Not sure how I did that but I love it. It's critical in its own way of the racist society we inhabit. The genocide being carried out against the Palestinian people is unacceptable and the U.S. has been its biggest supporter. Burn this racist fucking system down.
Aside from the new album, what else is on the horizon for The Smashing Times? Are you all planning to tour the UK in the fall?
We are! Will also play in Paris at the end. We did a one-off show in London before Paris Popfest last year and so many promotors and people who put on DIY shows reached out offering to help, that Britta and I were able to book a whole tour without an agent.
Thank you for taking your time. Any advice or last words you'd like to share with our readers?
By this fooking record you wankers. Stop wasting your time with silly shit.
Mrs Ladyships and the Cleanerhouse Boys is out November 1st on K Records and Perennial Death Records. Tour dates below.
