Back in 2010, Frank Turner and Jon Snodgrass set themselves the challenge of writing an entire album in one day. The result was ‘Buddies’, an unpolished record that became a cult favourite. Ten years on and the song-writing friends have done it again. ‘Buddies II: Still Buddies’ was once again created in a day, with the pair working remotely during the lockdown. This time around, they enlisted two more ‘buddies’ to help out: Stephen Egerton (Descendents/ALL) on drums and Todd Beene (Lucero, Chuck Ragan) on pedal steel.
This latest single from the album is a melancholy reflection on isolation. Snodgrass says: “While we were writing this record, my dog Carlos was at my feet scratching himself. It reminded me of a great George Carlin bit, about how the world would end up shaking us off like a Bad Case Of The Fleas.” Turner adds: “When Jon and I write quick songs together as Buddies, sometimes they can be pretty frivolous, given the time constraints. But sometimes we stumble across something a little more serious, like in ‘The Fleas’. I really like this song.” If this is the apocalypse, at least it sounds good.
