The Big Nose Attack – ‘69’: Sexy and not just in the name!

Attack from The Big Nose Attack. The mothership has landed! We listened to the first of two new albums by the band, titled ‘69’. An album as orange as it is sexy.

So come on then… MAKE OUT, now official and all!

And you'll say to me: ‘Easy now! We were just waiting for your permission, Jimmy boy…’ That's not exactly what I mean, kids. But I really like the way you think!

Blues music is perhaps the sexiest music on the planet. That twelve-bar pattern that started out on the plantations of the South and became a way to have a good time. Oh, yes! That's exactly it! Over the decades it changed a lot. It explored new sounds. And it always ‘put its best foot forward’ to adapt to the times and ‘reach’ more and more people. Even though it changed, though, from time to time we feel the need to go back to classic sounds. Sounds and musical principles that remind us of the original Delta Blues. Fairly dolled up, of course!

The Big Nose Attack: A Rock Blues band

And this is where the Big Nosecome into the equation. The brothers from Μπραχάμι have taken the ABC book of Rock music, touched it up, and offer it to us generously. The album is different from the band's previous work. The band was better known for its Alternative style. And judging by what we hear on ‘69’, they definitely want to shake off that label.

The album shows plenty of influences. Hendrix sounds, classic blues elements and lovely melodies make up a dynamic album. In this way, the brothers reveal their most personal musical style, which is none other than Blues Rock.

The music on ‘69’ doesn't stop there. We can also make out elements of late 60s – early 70s garage rock music. Finally, there are plenty of elements of funk music, which makes the rhythmic parts on some tracks really stand out.

So, in the end, is ‘69’ a sexual innuendo?!

It could be! Looking at the album, and the stickers that say ‘MAKE OUT!’, that's where my mind goes. Listening to the album, though, I start to change my mind. From a musical standpoint, I'd say it tends to be a nod to the year 1969! The era when Classic Rock artists reigned supreme. Rock Heroes who left their mark on our beloved music. And in a way, I might just be right… The sound, the influences, the Hendrix era… It all points to that date.

But there's something that won't let me stop there. The change in style. The band is moving toward new paths, more original and closer to what they're really into. And suddenly, an epiphany! I look at the cover and think: ‘Yes! It could be that too!’.

‘69’ is perfectly symmetrical! And that shows on the cover too. It's yin-yang. It's absolute completion, absolute harmony, it's good and evil, it's coexistence, balance, male-female. Practically, it symbolizes everything. In the end, it also fits the band members themselves. They're a power duo that complements each other, both musically and outside the band.

On the music

From a musical standpoint we've got some interesting little things! We definitely hear the original blues influences behind the sound. All of that, of course, in a new rendition. We've got the creamy fuzz and octafuzz tones (which started out with artists like Hendrix). At the same time, we also have softer melodies, which use effects like Rotary speakers (Univibe. It gives the sound a mini Doppler effect feel), Delay and Chorus. All of the above are classic elements, straight out of the Blues Rock textbook. At the end of the day, Big Nose offer a mix of classic sound with plenty of new elements.

The most impressive thing about ‘69’ is the fact that the sound is at once very ‘full’ and very simple! You genuinely feel like these two guys are in the room with you playing, while at the same time you get the sense that you're hearing a lot more instruments. On some songs that's actually the case. Sometimes there are keyboard melodies (like on ‘Adam and Eve’) and there's definitely some bass overdubbing on the album.

The two elements that stand out on every track by Big Nose Attack, though, are the way Little Tonnie handles the drums and the vocal lines of Boogieman. Tonnie has a distinctive style. He tends to emphasize an upbeat in his playing, which gives the drums a special edge. On the other hand, Boogieman has that distinctive voice, which is cut and tailored for this kind of music. That ‘light’ grit and his melodicism are elements made for blues.

On the subject matter

Here the tracks are mixed in terms of subject matter. Five tracks are hymns – loving and lovely. They talk about living, breathing love affairs. The other five refer to a period of breakup. So the album, here too, is perfectly symmetrical!

Editor's Choice: 'Dirty Emma'

Many wonderful tracks make up ‘69’. In my opinion, though, ‘Dirty Emma’ is the standout track on the album. It's a track that has all the hallmarks of the sound of The Big Nose Attack. Let's start with the fact that it's a track from the loving side (not that it plays a major role!). Beyond that, it's a very ‘danceable’ track, I'd say. The main riff sticks in your head like sand on the beach (and yes! I'm shamelessly referencing the track ‘Sand in my Shoes’ from the album!).

A song with lots of changes in rhythm and sound. It definitely deserves an extra mention.

‘Oh, Dirty Emma

Why can't you see

That you complete me’

Behind the album

Production of ‘69‘ was handled by Πάνος Τσεκούρας together with the band, at Top Floor Studio, in Athens. Mastering was handled by Στέλιος Εφεντάκης at Home-Sweet-Home Studio. The artwork was handled by Boogieman. Distribution of the album was handled by Lab Records, while the ‘cutting’ and printing was handled by WTF Records.

In conclusion

The Big Nose Attack, then! I've had the chance to watch them live a few times. Perhaps the most notable of those was the live show with Black Keys in Greece at Rockwave in 2015 (as support act) and the live show for the launch of Nightstalker's ‘Great Hallucinations’ at Gagarin in 2020. The second show, being more focused and more recent, was definitely a better gauge for the band's live sound. In fact, ‘69’ had already come out before then, so I had the chance to hear a lot of the album's tracks.

Their sound is fantastic and very close to the album's level. That said, it also helps a lot that Big Nose now have keyboard and bass help at their live shows (not to mention the highlight, the bongos!). With ‘69’, the brothers from Μπραχάμι (the Harlem of Athens, as they call it!), want to change their style. To head more toward the originals. Toward the roots. And in the end, I think they pull it off in a really great way.