L. Pierre – I Hate T-Shirts That Say 1977

Don’t be fooled by the title, this is music with absolutely no negative connotations. In fact, it’s as far from Aidan Moffat’s Arab Strap stereotype/persona (delete as appropriate) you could possibly wish for. Because his upcoming release as superhero enigma L Pierre is nothing less than a raucous, orchestral beach-party tune to lock into your summer with a groove the size of a 707. Backed with new B-sides, the ‘I Hate’ EP represents yet another string to Pierre’s bow and perhaps the most ‘up’ thing this artist has ever committed to record.

‘It sounds like an old disco track to me, and I hate t-shirts that say 1977. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good year, it’s when I first saw Star Wars, but I don’t think it merits a t-shirt. There are worse things to moan about though.’ Judging by the result of this particular pet peeve we’d encourage him to take on those bigger issues through the medium of 4/4. In a just world this would be invading your airwaves morning, noon and night.

That mid-USA bullet delivery isn’t the result of Pierre’s newest exploration of talent, either, but a guest spot from Texan rapper Notes. Speaking of this collaboration, Aidan says: ‘The track was a leftover from the last album sessions. It obviously wasn’t suited to the rest of the album but I wanted to finish it and do something with it ’cause it was a catchy wee thing, but I thought it needed a vocal. I was going to do it myself, and even wrote words for it but they were shit. Then I heard the Notes track on a Melodic compilation (It’s A Good Thing from Tracks For Horses) and thought it would be interesting to try a rap…’

As an EP, it’s quite a stylistic sidestep from his last full-length, Touchpool, as extra tracks Biblebash! and Black Disco Vista veer off into almost techno territory. Indeed it’s difficult to imagine that these cuts came from the same sessions, let alone that they didn’t make the record as was originally intended.

‘Touchpool was meant to be a bit more upbeat as a whole, but things developed differently and it became more apparent how the album was going to sound, and that the faster tracks didn’t fit in. All of these tracks were begun at the same time, and it seemed a shame to lose them, so we thought we should do a little cheery EP.’

In keeping with the white-label club feel of the lead track, ‘I Hate’ is to be delivered to stores almost as is, still cooling from the underground lab with a look just like a blank CDR that has been scrawled on in marker pen. Explains Aidan: ‘I wanted the CD to look the same way it does when I send the mixes to Melodic, as though it’s just been finished in the studio the day before and delivered straight to your hands, to give it a more personal sort of pre-production look.’ A bold move indeed, as he concedes ‘I’m slightly worried it’s a bit too convincing, and people don’t want to spend money on an expensive CDR’