Due for release 18th April 2025 via Easy Eye Sound
CD / Std Black & White 'Smores' Vinyl / Ltd Dinked Edition No. 330 LP
Dinked Edition No 330 features:
White with black marble coloured vinyl
Signed A6 photo insert
Numbered edition
Limited pressing of 500
Electric War marks an electrifying collaboration between British power trio, Little Barrie, composed of Barrie Cadogan and Lewis Wharton and acclaimed producer/drummer, Malcolm Catto, fusing unique talents into a mesmerizing exploration of raw, experimental sound. And they are also the band behind the opening theme to Better Call Saul.
Electric War delivers a blend of sharp guitar lines, thunderous drums, and swirling textures that evoke a post-apocalyptic soundscape teetering between chaos and harmony. Tracks range from pulsating, fuzz-heavy anthems to moody, groove-centric pieces and are underscored by each musician’s seamless interplay. Channeling their shared love for analog warmth and raw, unfiltered sound, the album creates a visceral experience that invites listeners into a world where rock, funk, and psychedelia collide. For fans of boundary-pushing, instrumental-driven music, Electric War is a potent testament to the power of collaboration.
Over a 20-plus year career, Little Barrie, led by guitar ace Barrie Cadogan and bassist Lewis Wharton have proven themselves to be one of the UK’s most respected and resilient bands, cooking up a genre blending sound that touches on the ’60s British blues explosion, deep funk, hip hop and the best rock n’ roll of the last six decades, all leading them to their new long player ‘Electric War’, the second collaboration with drummer and producer Malcolm Catto.
Barrie is one of the world’s most respected musicians, having worked on music for film and television, composing and performing the main title theme for the award winning Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul and acting as the go-to guitar man for some of the music world’s most successful artists, serving as an integral member of Primal Scream from 2006-2015 and more recently as a member of The The, co-penning two songs with leader Matt Johnson on the band’s critically acclaimed 2024 comeback album ‘Ensoulment’, not to mention his stint as guitarist for Liam Gallagher at his historic sold out Knebworth shows and as bass player for Liam and John Squire’s 2024 world tour.
He’d already started gigging as Little Barrie in the early 2000s when he met Lewis Wharton at mod clothes store Merc on Carnaby Street, where the band’s future bassist was running the record department. With Lewis on board they debuted with 2005’s blue-eyed soul/funk blueprint, ‘We Are Little Barrie’ and returned with 2007’s rockabilly-tinged ‘Stand Your Ground’, with The Guardian championed Barrie as “a compelling frontman, pitting street-corner punk vocals against volleys of reverb and twang”.
Little Barrie would shore up their ranks with the arrival of Virgil Howe, son of Yes guitar hero, Steve Howe, on drums in 2007 and two further albums diversified the Barrie blueprint, moving into ’60s surf-pop (2011’s ‘King Of The Waves’) and the darker soundtrack-style Krautrock of 2014’s ‘Shadow’, “an effortlessly exciting album, taking rock back to its thrilling basics” as lauded by the NME. Album number five, 2017’s ‘Death Express’, packed a heavy punch, a raw, DIY outburst covering themes of greed and CCTV generationalism that lead to Louder Than War praising it’s “classic sixties r’nb garage rock with 21st century thrust”.
Following the untimely passing of Virgil Howe in 2017, Little Barrie underwent a healing process where returning to the studio and reconnecting through music, without seeking an end product, became therapy, an opportunity to work on bits and pieces Barrie had written for fun with zero pressure. Aligning with drummer Malcolm Catto, The Heliocentrics co-founder and a leading figure in the UK’s underground jazz and Psych scene, the band slowly but surely emerged from this emotional exile.
The first album from Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto, ‘Quatermass Seven’, described as “a mesmerising collaboration” by Shindig! Magazine, won plaudits from the music press and the bands fanbase, pulling together the wealth of influences and phenomenal talent of each player to create a deep, funky & expansive psych-rock experience. Following live shows to promote the album the band headed back into the studio to capitalise on becoming a tight-knit musical unit.
New album ‘Electric War’, their first for Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label sees Barrie, Malcolm & Lewis push the boundaries even further, expanding their rich sonic palette and proving that the chemistry imbedded in the grooves of their debut was no fluke. From
the lysergic, laid back funk of ‘Creaky’ to the shape shifting arrangements of ‘Spektator’ and the heavy funk bounce of ‘My Now’, it’s an album that draws on years of collective musical knowledge and sets the trio apart from their contemporaries.