Organ’s, hooks, slide guitar, its all here “taking chances till we die” offers Warne here, and that surely is what binds these songs and this band together. Wingmen, the new band formed in pandemic lockdown isolation by Baz Warne (The Stranglers), Paul Gray (The Damned), Leigh Heggarty (Ruts DC) and Marty Love (Johnny Moped), are excited to finally take their studio bound creations out on the road and have announced a UK tour for January 2023. For those of us who’d been listening to the album, it was an absolute treat to hear the songs live – if anything they sound even better!

Wingmen announce UK tour dates for Jan 2023 | MusicMafiauk Wingmen announce UK tour dates for Jan 2023 | MusicMafiauk

I’d only ever worked with Marty before, and up until this day we’ve never actually played in the same room together – I knew Leigh but had never met Baz. Although unconventional in its creation, the good news is that Wingmen is not a just a studio project and will be a band that plays live.Although unconventional in its creation, the good news is that Wingmen is not a just a studio project – they will be a band that plays live! The Craufurd Arms accurately describes itself as “A Victorian pub building with a small stage for intimate live gigs in front of an up for it crowd”, and that was very much the experience. Backstage At The Opera” continues in the same vein, only this time social media “experts” are in the crosshairs, the “me, me, me” culture and Warne’s rant against “selfish northern smartarse bastards” at the end is genuinely fantastic. Down in the Hole’ is a nod to them, and those that live with the effects of depression to a greater or lesser degree on a daily basis. Formed out of pandemic isolation boredom and frustration, the group features The Stranglers frontman Baz Warne, guitarist Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC, The Damned bassist Paul Gray and Johnny Moped drummer Marty Love.

Wingmen | Wingmen | Louder Than War album review

What A Carry On has another distinctive melody and continues the political rhetoric Brexit style with reference to “some stupid numbers on a big red bus” and coming back to the question “where did it all go wrong? With live performance taken out of the equation, in that dark period between 2020 and late 2021, musicians had to get creative. Although we’d recorded various parts at our homes for our respective bands before, none of us had employed this process to make a complete album! A Stranglers song was played as one of several covers, ‘ Long Black Veil’ from 2004 album ‘ Norfolk Coast’, which Baz dedicated to his late bandmate Dave Greenfield’s widow Pam, who was in attendance. The addition of Rob Coombes on keys brought an extra dimension to the live performance (they keyboard parts on the album were recorded by Paul and Baz), and he fits into this band so well you’d think he’d been there from the start!The band couldn’t have chosen a better variety of cover songs – we had Bowie’s ‘ Hang On To Yourself’, a fabulously adapted ‘ The Model’ by Kraftwerk, and a punk banger in the form of The Stooges’ ‘ I Got A Right’. No rehearsals, no pre-production, just us winging ideas to and fro, with the drums going on last of all in the studio – which is completely the opposite of how things are usually done, of course.