I still love anagrams! (And have too much time on my hands...)
OK, it's time for an update, because An Ear has recently released a new album!
The eighth studio album, "Yeti Hunk Quest", is a concept inspired by Ms. R.J. Mae's 1911 short story, "Raunchiest Gents". The story itself, as well as its 1957 film adaptation, "Hot Feeding Month", has always held a special place in Colin Elvan's memory and, not surprisingly, with its gloomy mood and a decent dose of the supernatural, it served as a perfect material for the next "An Ear" release. Jim Hellnotch suggested the title and the band got down to work.
The track list:
1. Ed, The Ski Monster
2. Is It Thom Who Coded It?
3. The Furbish Food Flop
4. Huh? Loving It Bites Too?
5. Connect Our Acne Hen
6. A Merchantman's Gin Pork
7. Yeti Hunk Quest
8. A Fathered Bop Nephew
9. Tourist Menu
10. Resurrecting The UN
11. Expanded New Cut
12. Larva Beer Welter
As you can see from the tracklist, this gloomy story takes place at an Après-ski and there's a lot of drinking and eating involved. It's about Ed (a gifted skier, who's jokingly called 'the ski monster' (and coincidentally also the name of Ed Snoworb, former singer of the band)) and his nerdy friend Thom who are on holiday in the French Alps where they search for the abominable snowman. Thom, who is a hacker, wrote a code to enter the main computers of the ski resort. He finds out about the hidden agenda to bring down the United Nations with food poisoning.
This album is a rollercoaster ride adventure with wild pursuits, maniacal cooks, chickens suffering from acne and yetis. All of this in Prog Rock style in the broadest sense. Thanks to the new bass player Sako Manly (who replaced JoJo Twinth (who replaced Nial Mason)), Arena finds themselves exploring new musical territories. "The new album still rocks and there's some very heavy stuff, but there's a bit of Bebop here too." says Jim Hellnotch, who also plays a fantastic sax solo on Tourist Menu. "Oh, and there's one track where we try to sound like It Bites, I wonder if you can spot it!" Colin Elvan comments: "We've also adopted some Ska and Reggae elements which works remarkably well. We even got a new name for it: Ski-Ska!".
The band are currently on tour. They will also be part of the Oktoberfest where they give a special gig in lederhosen.