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Lagwagon.
Pop punk stalwarts Lagwagon were one of the first signings to Fat Mike (he of NOFX fame)'s notorious punk label Fat Wreck Chords. They have been kicking around in one form or another since the late 'eighties, and while guitarist Chris Rest joined the band later in the piece he features prominently on their latest full-length release 'Resolve'.
"It was actually Joey [Cape, Lagwagon's front man]," Rest explains when I ask about the producer of the new record.
"He's done heaps of other bands before, and he ended up doing this one for us. We got Jason Livermore from The Blasting Room to do the drums which gave them a really open sound but Joey did the rest."
Typically the producer's job on an album is to be an objective reference point for a band - another set of ears, if you will. The band brings all of their ideas into the studio and then puts their faith into a producer to tell them what's actually working and what should go in the bin. Hence, having a member of your own band producing the album could surely give rise to some artistic conflict, and thus I was curious whether this was the case with the recording of 'Resolve'.
"No, not really..." Rest replies me with a wry laugh that suggests
I've hit on something. "It was pretty much the same as usual.
That's because even when we actually had a different producer,
if Joey didn't like what they said he would make the final decision
for himself."
Because Lagwagon have been around for so damn long they have written some almighty albums (for evidence see 'Duh', 'Hoss', 'Trashed' and 'Double Plaidinum'). Given this excellent body of work, I ask Rest whether - as with most bands - his favourite album was always the most recent release.
"Definitely," he insists. "It's because it's the album that's closest to you and you can remember putting all of the work into it. That's always been the case for me."
He pauses for a moment before adding, "Except for the 'Feedback' record [1999's 'A Feedback Of Truckstop Poetry' EP]. I was never really keen on that one, I didn't really like the songs from the beginning."
Lagwagon's old-school punk sound doesn't suggest a band imbued with a huge dedication to new fashions so I ask what sort of music is currently sitting in Rest's CD player. He doesn't disappoint me.
"There's a lot of older stuff like 70s metal and then there's also a lot of 80s metal..."
But what of newer music; what does he think bands that are around at the moment?
"I've been listening to a fair bit of The Wilhelm Scream lately - they're pretty awesome. But I can't listen to a lot of the newer bands, they're all too emo and I can't handle it," he sighs.
"I guess the fashion punk bands of today just are what they are: they're the whole product, but I don't really think it's going to last all that long."
Perhaps they're just saying it to flatter journalists, but most bands seem to love Australia. Lagwagon have already been here four or five times, and so I was curious for Rest to give me his opinion of our fair country.
"I love it!" he predictably responds. "Australia's always given us a great response," He pauses, adding "And you're not all insane."
Hold on: we're not insane?
"Well, Australians do go pretty crazy - but there are some places like Italy where the crowds are completely insane and it's a bit scary."
So what can Australian audiences expect in a Lagwagon set, given the sheer size of their back catalogue?
"Well, I like playing the older songs a lot because they're easy to remember just since I've played them so many times before. But we've been playing a lot from the new album at shows recently and they've been going down really well. I think when we play in Australia you'll hear at least something from every album that has been released."
Except the 'Feedback...' record?
"Yeah, except the 'Feedback...' record."
Sam Vinall
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dB Magazine proudly presents Lagwagon at the Adelaide UniBar on Tues 14 Feb.
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