53mph by 53mph

Tracks written between 1999 and 2002 by Philip G. Hunt. Recordings c. 2000 with re-recording, remixing and remastering 2019.

Though Ivory Coast was the first single release back in 2001 on Fairmount Gas Records, it was Watery Grave that was always meant to be the front runner, hence it is the opener of the album. I remember a sales note was drawn up with Pinnacle for its release, but, when we came to recording, Blane took its place. Loser Babe was my final vinyl release back in 2003. Self-pressed in the Czech Republic, it became the 4th official single release in a three year period. The original version built around a drum loop stolen from Neil Young but since mixed out and replaced. Was played by John Peel in the last year of his life (RIP). Blaine (or Blane) was the third single proper from 53mph, on the short-lived Grasshopper records. Got airplay on Radio-One and Xfm in 2002. You'll B Found (or Found) should have been a single, but sadly was never cut. It was a favorite live song, with its low-down and dirty bass line (Dom) and slide solo (Dan). Found will always remain one of my favorite tracks. Ivory Coast was launched in 2001 (pre-911) and took on a life of its own. Before it was even officially available in the shops as a short run 7" vinyl as the second release on the Fairmount Gas label, Ivory Coast was being championed by John Kennedy on XFM, featured in Dazed and Confused magazine, even played under the soccer highlights on Sky TV. Originally intended as a B-side, once we had laid down the tracks in a studio in Brixton, the band knew we had a contender on our hands. Drunken Eyes was my labor-of-love. Painstakingly crafted beats (these are days before auto-snap and digital looping) and obscure instruments made it into this Pavement-esque tune. Still a favorite of James. 5:30am was the second and last single release on Fairmout Gas. A departure from the electric guitar driven sound of Ivory Coast, this track was as much an experiment in production as a song. I threw everything at this tune, fucking around with timings, stretching sounds, going for John Barry meets country meets indie. All done on an old copy of Cool Edit (go look it up). Despite its radio unfriendly length, John Kennedy gave this heavy rotation (good man) and an XFM session was set up. Unfortunately, it was around this time I was being pulled in two directions to release an album. FGR and Grasshopper both wanted to put out an album - in the end I chose Grasshopper because they had Pinnacle distribution behind them. On reflection this was just one of the many decisions I made around that time that resulted in the album never being released and 53mph coming to an end. Perish the Though (or Perish) was recorded in a practice studio under the railway bridges of Archway. As a band we would rehearse there for gigs, and I started getting into the habit of dragging an old Roland 8 track down to record drums. Perish became one of the tracks out of those solo practice sessions. Since I've Been Gone (or Gone) was the play out song on the last CD single Blane. Recorded mostly in the Archway practice rooms and mastered in Brixton. Another popular live track, it seems a fitting way to end this album.

XFM favorite in the 2000s, Wigwam Radio Best Folk Act 2022 nominee, and regular on Joseph Gordon-Levitt's HitRecord.