Flamingods share new track ‘Dirty Money’
With ‘Dirty Money’ Flamingods commentary is channelled through satire and surrealism over a track melding psychedelia, electronica and punk. The band elaborates; “We were taking influence from Bruce Haack, Gonjasufi and Kendrick Lamar’s ‘For Sale? – Interlude’ sonically for this one, tracks that are hypnotic and repetitively bouncy. We loved making this one. It’s basically an anti-war song filtered through a world of wonky electronica, fuzz and a good dose of heady desert-psychedelia – ‘Your idols bleeding out your care – with dirty bills of air-to-air’”
The Head of Pomegranate album title comes from the Arabic translation of Ras Rumman رأس الرمان; the name of the Bahraini village where frontperson Kamal Rasool’s late Father grew up, a place where pomegranates were once cultivated. Kamal lost his dad to Covid during the writing process, which had a notable impact on the LP’s direction. Tributes are scattered throughout the record; which traverses themes of grief, spirituality, culture, identity and recovery. Travelling to balmy Atlanta, Georgia – the band spent a month in the studio with Ben H. Allen – with the sunny location paralleling the heat they grew up with in Bahrain. Rasool reflects that after a period of questioning the band’s future, the experience was a timely reminder of their roots, representing their“redemption moment” and only strengthened by the guidance of longtime hero Allen.
Alongside Rasool, Flamingods are made whole by Charles Prest, Sam Rowe and Karthik Poduval. Although still barely 30 years old individually, Flamingods have been playing music together under various guises since the age of sixteen. Grounded in their shared youth growing up in Bahrain, it’s this brotherly bond that underpins their near telepathic level of musicality, earning them their reputation as a singular fixture in the UK scene. Weaving kinetically through psychedelia, new wave, electronica and punk – often within the same song – is a bit of a specialty for the band, as is their knack for blending in influences from their unique cultural heritages and love of 70s British rock and roll; We’re a band of mixed-race boys making alternative rock music, something that’s quite rare within our scene” comments Poduval, “We aren’t engrossed in making traditional or obvious rock music. We’d rather make it our own.”
Fiercely independent, across their four albums and wider discography the band have released through prolific indie imprints including Moshi Moshi, Soundway and Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground. The band have toured extensively across the globe, with their highly-praised live show known for its euphoric high energy, including showcasing at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, and appearances at End of the Road, Field Day, Greenman and Glastonbury. As long standing favourites of BBC 6Music, Flamingods have hit the playlist multiple times, with sessions under their belt for Lauren Laverne, Giles Peterson and Vic Galloway. More widely, they’ve also appeared in sessions for KEXP and Boiler Room. With the announcement of Head of Pomegranate, Flamingods firmly plant the seeds for what’s to come next, an era set to blossom with the collective at the the height of their craft.
Flamingods – Head of Pomegranate – Tracklist:
01. Dreams (On The Strip)
02. Adana
03. The Dip
04. Dirty Money
05. Gutterball
06. Born Lucky
07. Volta Rocket
08. Tall Glass
09. Perfumed Garden
10. Eastern Cowboys
11. Head of Pomegranate
Flamingods – Live Dates 2023:
Tickets here
06 Oct | Guernsey | St James
03 Nov | Brighton | Mutations Festival
04 Nov | Margate | Elsewhere – headline
08 Nov | Cambridge | The Portland Arms – headline
09 Nov | London | Scala – headline
16 Nov | Birmingham | The Hare & Hounds – headline
17 Nov | Sheffield | Yellow Arch Studio – headline
