Revenge of the Astro Lounge: Smash Mouth Reignite Their Surf Punk Roots for New Record, ‘Mercury Comet’ [Exclusive]
· Vice
It has been nearly 15 years since Smash Mouth released a full album of original music. The last was 2012’s Magic, which was sadly their last with original singer Steve Harwell. That streak ends today, as the band has unveiled Mercury Comet, their seventh full-length studio album.
The new record finds the band revisiting their surf rock roots, harkening back to the days of their first two albums: Fush Yu Mang (1997) and the musical juggernaut that was Astro Lounge (1999). I had a chance to chat with Smash Mouth bassist Paul de Lisle, who is the band’s primary songwriter, as well as its last remaining original member.
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During our conversation via Zoom, he shared what went into crafting Mercury Comet with Noisey. He revealed that it was the band’s longtime manager, Robert Hayes, who urged them to start writing new music and suggested they draw inspiration from their past.
Smash Mouth’s longtime manager urged the band to write some new surf punk songs and get back into the recording studio
“The idea for [Mercury Comet] actually came from our manager,” De Lisle said. “He told me about two years ago that we need a new album. ‘You need a new album of full original material. It’s been a long time,’ he said.
Hayes pushed for the band to “make it like the first album” Smash Mouth released, back in the late 90s. “Make it like Fush Yu Mang, man. Get back to some surf punk,” De Lisle recalled Hayes saying. The tough love worked, because De Lisle said the band knew Hayes “was right” and that it was “time to get back to the first album and, dare I say, surf punk stuff.”
Since it’d been so long since the band worked on an album of new music—in addition to this being their first time writing original songs with new singer Zach Goode—I inquired if making Mercury Comet was similar to making Fush Yu Mang.
“It was similar to making the first album,” De Lisle admitted. “We did have a lot of time to make this record, as we did the first one. You know, as they say, you have your whole life to make your first record and six months to make your second.”
“This album took about a year to make,” De Lisle continued. “We took our time with it, and having that sense of not having the pressure to deliver, having a deadline or anything like that, we wanted to keep rolling on it, keep moving.”
‘mercury Comet’ was mixed by grammy-winning engineer Robert Orton
Something that certainly should not be overlooked is that this record was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Robert Orton, who has worked with artists like Lady Gaga, the Police, and Pet Shop Boys.
“It did remind me of making the first album because it had that freshness and youthful enthusiasm that everyone brought to it,” De Lisle explained. “I think it comes out because we really took our time with the mixing and mastering.”
“Robert Orton did a great job of mixing the record, and so there are a lot of similarities between this record and the first one,” he added. “I’m just pleased with the result. It sounds like a complete album. It flows together nicely. The sequence and everything is good.”
Every member of Smash Mouth contributed to crafting the sound of their new album
In regard to writing the record, De Lisle is credited as the main songwriter. However, he’s quick to point out that this was no one-man project whatsoever. He and his bandmates work as a unit, and all contribute. He did note how both Goode and keyboardist Michael Klooster “really stepped up” on Mercury Comet. “I hope they keep writing more,” he said. “They were both trying to write a Smash Mouth song, and they did, and it was fun to work with them together.”
De Lisle also praised the work of guitarist Sean Hurwitz, and added, “I got to give a lot of credit to our drummer Randy Cook for the punk rock sound. He really set the tone on this record. Once we had the drums down, it just set the tone for everything else. He deserves a lot of credit for really creating the foundation of the whole thing.”
Finally, offering his overall feelings on the new record, De Lisle said, “It all came together really, really nicely, and we took our time making it. There was a lot of care put into it, and then when it all came together, I was really pleased with the way everything stacks up.”
Mercury Comet is out now and available to stream.
Photo courtesy of Impulse Artists
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