Aftermath

I've always believed that in order for a song to be truly great, what it needs most is that intangible, often elusive quality: context. Now, far be it for me to proclaim a song that I was involved with as 'great', but I do feel that 'Aftermath' was the most perfectly-formed of Tokyo Beatbox's repertoire. Lyrically speaking, the title derived from a double-whammy of influences, it having been the name of a Rolling Stones album and one of the names considered by James, Nicky and Sean (Richey hadn’t joined at that point) before settling for 'Manic Street Preachers'. It was at the stage of the band where we were trying to move on from our first crop of songs, but lots of petty irritations kept getting in the way. It was a dialogue inspired by The Libertines' 'Can't Stand Me Now' and encapsulated my relationships with several different people at the time. This song is also a perfect example of how Simon's music could instantly and perfectly complement the lyrical sentiments: the music is choppy, turbulent, chaotic. That we were completely in love with Bloc Party at the time is also pretty apparent.

 

This (live) video was shot and edited by my good friend Steve Naish at one of our soundchecks. You can tell that we're cold, rusty and that Andy hasn't brought enough drums and cymbals with him. You can also tell that Chris didn't have time to get changed, hence his 'travelling salesman' look. But I think you can also tell that there's a pretty good song in their too - with a sense of angst and frustration, but also of understanding and redemption. In many ways it was the great 'lost' TB number, as we never made CD copies and stopped gigging soon after recording. Please click and enjoy!