The Locust have announced a special reissue of their final album, The Peel Sessions, on Three One G. Due out January 24, the reissue was newly remastered by Nathan Joyner from the original 2001 recordings. The Locust frontperson Justin Pearson is also sharing a cover of his Swing Kids classic “El Camino Car Crash” that he recorded with his new project Deaf Club. Give that a listen below.
“Recording a Peel session for John Peel was one of the many surreal things that The Locust got to do during its lifetime,” Pearson said in a statement. “In hindsight I wish we had planned more accordingly when we got the opportunity to do it, as we sandwiched the session in among a no-night-off tour we had in the UK/ Europe back in 2001.”
“I remember getting into London early in the morning from an overnight drive, recording all day, and then having to leave that night and travel to mainland Europe to get to Belgium or somewhere by the following morning,” he continues. “However it turned out very interesting as this was a document of old and new tracks with a major line up change, shifting from a five-piece to a four-piece band, most notably having Gabe Serbian move from guitar/vocals to drums, which redefined the band and its line up. Of course, the album was finalized for its vinyl release many years later, and included a layout and mock design by Sonny Kay of the traditional Peel Sessions we all grew up listening to. What an honor to be on John Peel’s radar and even more to record at BBC1 for the legend.”
The Locust formed back in 1994 and rapidly made a name for themselves for their unhinged live shows, aggressive blend of grindcore and new wave, and their onstage costumes as insects. Their third and final studio album, New Erections, came out in 2007, but they followed it up three years later with The Peel Sessions. While the Locust haven’t released any new music since then, they formally came to an end until 2022 following the death of their revered drummer Gabe Serbian.
