“Paul Roland writes nice melodies and has a very particular personality, but he is too intellectual for me!”
(Frank Zappa, 1988)
1313 Mocking Bird Lane is the 20th album from Paul Roland, the man Record Collector magazine called a ‘Psychpop
genius’ and whom ‘Shindig’ magazine celebrated with a 7-page feature in March this year under the title ‘Return
of the King’.
Since the appearance of his first album ‘The Werewolf of London’ in 1980 (a John Peel favourite and a regular featured
album at the legendary Bat Cave) Roland has written and recorded 20 albums including ‘A Cabinet of Curiosities’
which ‘Rolling Stone’ named “one of the best albums you’ve probably never heard”, the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired
‘Reanimator’ and ‘Bates Motel’ with songs written for surviving members of the Velvet Underground.
For four decades Roland has been spinning twisted tales of Victorian villains, eccentric Edwardian inventors and the
supernatural against a backdrop of gothic-psych-baroque pop, earning him the title “the male Kate Bush” (a comparison
attributed to former label mate Robyn Hitchcock) and, more recently, “the Godfather of Steampunk”. His
highly literate lyrics, often macabre themes and strong melodic gift has attracted an increasingly large and loyal cult
following while his proudly independent ethos has ensured he has remained a cherished niche artist.
Paul’s first album for Dark Companion, ‘White Zombie’, was acclaimed ‘a masterpiece’ by RAI, Italy’s national TV
and radio broadcaster, and his last group album ‘Bitter and Twisted’ was nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ in a French rock magazine and ‘Album of the Month’ in several national magazines in Germany.
1313 is Paul’s strongest set of songs to date, taking in dreamy psych with a 19th century Parisian setting (‘Salon of the
Senses’), quirky sixties pop (‘My Next Life’, ‘Little White Lies’ and ‘Won’t Go Surfin’ No More’) and what a US rock
mag once described as ‘goth rock as cartoon’ on the title track, a paean to the souped-up hearse driven by cult 60s
TV family The Munsters.
1313 Mocking Bird Lane is a real Munster of an album. We are confident Frank would approve.
Track List
(1) Salon of the Senses
(2) My Next Life
(3) When Chet Baker Sings
(4) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
(5) She’s A Mind-Reader
(6) Voodoo Man
(7) Joe Strummer Said
(8) Another Ingmar Bergman Interlude
(9) Little White Lies
(10) Won’t Go Surfin’ No More
(11) She’s My Guru
(12) Summer of Love
(13) 1313 Mocking Bird Lane
