Cult-favorite post-punk band And Also the Trees have had a rather productive year thus far. Hot on the heels of the release of their 14th album, Mother-of-pearl Moon. the band has embarked on a European tour, which is currently running through November, with stops in the Netherlands, Germany, and France still on the docket. Meanwhile, Faits-Divers Films is set to release an all-encompassing, career-spanning documentary on the band, due out just in time for the mid-Autumn chill.
The film, titled Slow Pulse Boys, The Story of the Band And Also The Trees, was filmed, directed, and edited by Sébastien Faits-Divers and Alexandre François. The feature captures the full essence of the band’s 45-year career, from their humble DIY punk beginnings in Inkberrow, a small village in Worcestershire, to their present-day triumphs, with every album and era of the band lovingly represented. The film clocks in at a hefty 2 hours and 36 minutes, and is chock full of interviews with brothers Justin and Simon Huw Jones, formative members Nick Havas and Steven Burrows, and current members Paul Hill, Grant Gordon, and Colin Ozanne. There’s even plenty of screen time with keyboardist/multi-instrumentalists Emer Brizzolara and Mark Tibenham as well as bassist Ian Jenkins, who performed and recorded with the band at various points in the nineties and early aughts, respectively. Other notable guest interviewees include William Faith (The Bellwether Syndicate/Faith & the Muse), producer Matthew Devenish, journalist John Robb, and even a quick moment with Laurence ‘Lol’ Tolhurst, original drummer/keyboardist for The Cure, who also produced And Also the Trees’ incendiary debut LP from 1984.
The film also features a large smattering of powerful live performances that span the band’s entire career, cleverly splicing older raw footage with modern live recordings of the same track. It’s delightfully impressive that the band’s passion and fury remains intact throughout the years, while their studio material has remained as intensely engaging as ever, even as the band has evolved and expanded their sonic palate to include Americana-tinged melodies, jazz-inspired chord progressions, ethereal guitar loops, and spoken word passages. With all of this content in play, Slow Pulse Boys serves as a thorough and balanced telling of the band’s prolific career and a deeply inspiring tale for fans of the band new and old. As an added treat, there will be additional online content available with purchase, which includes over three hours of remastered concert excerpts from 1983-2005 and multi-camera recordings of concerts from 2012-present day.
Pre-orders for Slow Pulse Boys are currently live via the official film website, while copies of the DVD can also be purchased at the remaining And Also the Trees tour dates, as supplies last. The film will be officially released on October 24th of this year, a slight tongue-in-cheek reference to the band’s tremendous live record, The Evening of the 24th. Watch the official teaser for the film and check official artwork below:
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