Copy Haho are a band from Stonehaven in Scotland. You probably won’t have heard of it, but in the Wikipedia era that’s easily rectified. In short; home to the deep fried Mars Bar, the inventor of the fountain pen and Mel Gibson’s adaptation of ‘Hamlet’. Easy way to remember this; an anti-Semite’s arteries clogged with greasy ink. Anyway, don’t think about conjuring an image of four small town guys easily impressed by big lights and the idea of 24 hour supermarkets, because all but one of the band now live in actual, bonafide cities. The other has visited actual, bonafide cities in the past. It’d be easy to say that coming from a small town resulted in isolation or an insular method of working. Growing up with Napster and Megabuses to Glasgow somewhat dilutes this claim. To summarise so far – band, four friends, small town (not a hindrance, not romanticised).

Previous releases include a 7″ single on Too Pure and an EP, ‘Bred for Skills and Magic’, which were well received by the press, the public and the band’s parents – the latter also being fans of the band’s debut, self-titled album. ‘Copy Haho’ was recorded outside Glasgow at Chemikal Underground’s Chem19 studios – home to recordings by Life Without Buildings, Arab Strap, the Delgados and Mogwai to name but four. Songs: Ohia is another one. Produced with Jamie Savage (The Phantom Band, James Yorkston…) and mixed by Simon Ward of Errors, the band were more-than-keen to avoid the oft-trodden path of ‘throwing together a bunch of our previous songs to form a debut “album”‘, with only two previously heard songs appearing on the record. Two songs that were always meant for the record, at that. Copy Haho took advantage of both those who had left equipment in the studio (“Hey, a vibraphone! Hey, a Rhodes piano!”) and those who didn’t mind playing viola in an industrial estate for the day (thanks, Michael). They went about it in the most charming way possible, it should be noted.

The album is being released on Richard from the band’s own, and brand new, label, Slow Learner. Named after a collection of short stories by Thomas Pynchon, the title continues Copy Haho’s perfection of self-deprecation, whether in their lyrics, live performances or this very press release. Some will be thinking, “it’s been quite a wait for this album”. Well, they’re right, it has been. There are no exciting stories about master tapes thrown into the sea, for example – but do feel free to quote that as “…master tapes thrown into the sea…”. The band are very excited about the amount of times they may have to answer “To be honest, real life things got in the way a bit” to such a query. They’re really just excited about holding vinyl copies of their album in their hands, though. As you all should be, too.

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