Luton rockers ScreamingMechanicalBrain are rounding off a prolific year with the release of the final chapter in a trilogy of singles released through hometown label Vandalism Begins at Home Records.
Out today, ‘Jack’s Complete Lack Of Surprise‘ marks a sharp, aggressive turn for a band better known for sprawling, cinematic compositions, with the new single, by their own admission, “swinging from beat one”.
The song follows ‘Some Of You Need To Go To Church, I Don’t Want You In Hell With Me‘ and ‘Repair of Small Objects‘, completing what the band describe as their 2025 Phase Two, and draws heavily on the themes and imagery of novel and 1999 film Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
Containing all the mayhem and drama of the cult classic, this brawling beast of a song is packed with themes of dual-personality, panic attacks, and film terminology, all wrapped up uncharacteristically in under five minutes, for a band who major in track lengths of epic proportions.
Lead singer Nik Scott said: “The title is a quote from the movie or novel Fight Club. In the story the protagonist uses ‘Jack’ as a method of dissociation, and this song is about that process. Removing yourself from the equation, and instead observing yourself travelling through life as if on autopilot. As if you were a character in a film that you just happen to be watching.”
Musically, ‘Jack’s Complete Lack Of Surprise‘ is built around full-throttle guitars and relentless percussion, with the band deliberately challenging themselves to resist their usual slow-burn approach.
“This was always the intention,” Scott said. “All of our songs start out as 20 to 30 minute jams, and that has a tendency to drive the fact that the finished songs are quite long. We wanted to challenge ourselves for once to trim something all the way down to about five minutes, mainly to see if we could. And we also wanted to write something that didn’t build up, but instead came in swinging from beat one.”
The studio sessions leaned heavily into experimentation, particularly around rhythm and texture, with producer Tim Kramer encouraging the band to push beyond traditional set-ups.
“Because of the attack and the energy of the song, we knew we wanted to make a big deal of the percussion, taking a lot of inspiration from ’90s-era Faith No More,” Scott said.
“There are lots of different drum sounds in the final mix, but also a fire extinguisher and a bunch of kitchen implements. We played around a lot with mic placements in weird parts of the studio, and finding different nonsense to hit together to create a collection of percussive sounds in the background of the track that really keeps the momentum moving.”
Lyrically, the song ties together the themes explored across the trilogy, with Scott describing ‘Jack…’ as a counterpoint to the earlier releases.
“Whilst ‘Church’ was about escapism, and ‘Repair’ was a little nihilistic, this track is very much about using dissociation as a way to get through life,” he said. “There are also other references to Fight Club and its dual-personality themes, with references to mirrors, panic attacks and film terminology.”
There are also more unexpected nods woven into the track.
“On a less Fight Club note, there are callbacks to (2024 single) ‘Connie Was a Reptile’, pouring the wine and leading you down the lane, but this time with a cheeky nod to Sabrina Carpenter, because weirdly her albums have been a constant theme of my own dissociation this year,” Scott added.
Six singles into their recorded output, Scott believes the band have evolved significantly since their early releases.
“I would say that we’re a very different band from when we went into the studio to record ‘Connie…’,” he said. “You can hear a sonic difference between the songs in Phase One and the Phase Two songs that were written after (bassist) Rich (Davies) joined. We’ve really progressed as a live outfit too. We know now that people are willing to go along for the journey, and that has given us a confidence on stage that really comes across.”
Looking ahead, ScreamingMechanicalBrain have already mapped out what comes next.
“Next year’s tracks are planned for Phase Three,” Scott said. “Our output so far has been focused on mental health, and those themes won’t go away, but we’re going to spend the next phase exploring the concept of parenthood through different lenses. And expect a return to big cinematic soundscapes. ‘Jack…’ has been fun to create, but we all know where our hearts really lie.”
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