London garage rockers The Blue Carpet Band have released their first new music in a couple of years in the shape of an excellent new 7in single.
The Slow Death Of Camden/B-Movie Boogie is out now on Bomber Music, digitally and in a very limited edition of just 300 vinyl copies.
The songs are the first taste of The Blue Carpet Band’s long-awaited (by me anyway!) second album, which they hope to release later this year.
They are the first released by the new line-up of the five-piece, who were voted Best New Band by Vive Le Rock magazine at its 2019 awards.
Formed in London in 2015, they released their first album, Rock ‘n’ Roll Carpet, on Flicknife Records in 2018.
They spent the next couple of years playing live up and down the country, and Bomber Music released their first 7in, Back In The Trash/Ain’t Got No Damn Rock’n’Roll, in 2019.
The band were just starting to build a following withb their electrifying rock ‘n’ roll when Covid-19 intervened, and the new single is their first offering since the pandemic.
As well as vocalist Djamel Abina, Napalm Beth on bass and Brendan Stitch on guitar, the band now features ex-Demented Are Go pair Stan Standen on guitar and Ant Thomas on drums.
The Slow Death Of Camden deals with the gentrification and changes happening on the streets of what was once London’s alternative music hub.
Working and socialising in Camden Town, The Blue Carpet Band’s frontman Djamel watched it gradually become a sterile, pretend version of itself.
Christmas trees up in October, major brands taking over from indepent stores and the loss of iconic venues and bars erased much of its edginess and excitement.
Death of Camden
Djamel said: “Lyrically the song is a lament – where have the rock ‘n’ roll bandits all gone? What has Camden Town become? The death of Camden reflects the death of London as the alternative capital of the world.”
The other side of the single is B-Movie Boogie, which was released on digital platforms in October 2021 as a Halloween nod to the vampire, wolfman and Frankenstein films loved by kids of a certain generation.
Djamel added: “We are completely ecstatic to finally be releasing new music again, it feels like it’s been a lifetime.
“Now that we have Stan and Ant as latest additions to the rock ‘n’ roll madness that is The Blue Carpet Band, things are really starting to click.
“They both bring something special that adds the missing pieces we have been looking for over the past few years. We’re really looking forward to getting the album finished and out there.”
You can get your hands on The Slow Death Of Camden/B-Movie Boogie from The Blue Carpet Band’s Bandcamp page HERE.
