Multi-instrumentalist Ross Clark first came to prominence as one-third of Three Blind Wolves, alongside Dave Cleary and Kevin Mackay. They formed in 2010 with debut mini-album Sound Of The Storm coming out the following year on Communion Records, the London-based label which gave the first big break to the now popular and famous Michael Kiwanuka. Three singles and an album, Sing Hallelujah For The Old Machine, would be issued by Glasgow label Instinctive Raccoon in 2013, and while the band gained a degree of popularity across Scotland, they never really got beyond cult status before calling it a day in 2017.
Clark has continued a career in music across many dimensions and fields, and he performs solo under the moniker Fuskur. The first, and this far only, release was the album Cold Hands Slow Burn, released in 2020 which was recorded and produced by Andy Monaghan, who is probably best known as being the guitarist and keyboardist with Frightened Rabbit.
A couple of years prior to that, Fiskur had recorded a cover of a Frightened Rabbit song. He wasn’t the only one doing so at the time, as plans were afoot to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Midnight Organ Fight with the release of the album being covered by some of the band’s favourite musicians and friends who had supported Frightened Rabbit along the journey from unknowns to a band on Atlantic Records who could sell out large venues wherever in the world they played.
The death of Scott Hutchison in May 2018 meant a bit of a rethink, but in due course the planned album was released in the summer of 2019 as Tiny Changes: A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s The Midnight Organ Fight, with the compilation now sharing its name with a tribute concert and a mental health charity, with the proceeds from both the concert and the album going to the charity. Fiskur had recorded his take on the third song on the album.
mp3: Fiskur – Good Arms Vs Bad Arms
Regular readers will know just how much I adore The Midnight Organ Fight, and while I admired the sentiments behind the idea of the covers, I felt it would be an impossible task for anyone to improve on the originals. Which, other than in one instance proved to be the case.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 