Barracudas

Their first in over ten years, The Barracudas is no nostalgia trip. For one thing, the engine room has been retooled, with new rhythm section Robert Coyne and Yan Quellien providing a backbeat of magisterial proportions. Coyne, however, will not stop at bass guitar, and also contributes a host of instruments, arranging and one remarkable song to add to the others written by Robin Wills and Jeremy Gluck. And fundamental to the resurrection, the return of former Flamin' Groovie and Barracuda Chris Wilson, returning in a guest star role with stunning vocals and a new song that nestles nicely in the 'cudas canon. Recorded largely at north London's renowned Cowshed Studio and a veritable living museum of prize gear, Berry Street Studios, and produced by Wills, this is the Barracudas album that not only fans but also the band themselves have been waiting for since "Drop Out", their legendary EMI debut launched them on a journey of sound that would take them from snotty surf punks to the new Groovies in a few years, then deposit them in no band's land until the CD surge and sundry attentions revived their fortunes.