“Before we start the interview, I’d just like announce that we are changing our name to The Fantastic Fighting League,” says Joel Paine, bassist for the group formerly known as THE FIGHTING LEAGUE. “I guess it’s just our way of forcing ourselves to step it up a level, ‘cause if we don’t get fantastic we’re gonna look like idiots.”
Talking ahead of their comeback show at next week’s Gangbusters, and on the eve of Joel’s 20th birthday, there’s a palpable sense of expectation. Teen sensations no longer, the six Leaguers have regrouped with renewed focus and drive after half their membership spent the summer freewheeling around North America. “We discovered that it would be so easy to take over America,” declares frontman Dominic D Death. “It was a reconnaissance mission. I went to New York and man, everyone in New York is a wuss.”
The origins of the group are hazy; Dom leads me through a convoluted metaphor of the band as an apple, though that theory gets lost during talk of worms in the core and suggestions of being eaten up by their own fame. What we do know is the group formed from the ashes of Are The Brave All Dead in 2007 to play a house show and since then have captured the zeitgeist with their youth anthems. Mixing new wave, no wave and garage rock influences, their sound falls somewhere between the primitive electronic explorations of Devo and first wave punk like Ramones and The Misfits.
In many ways they’re the archetypal high school band; a ragtag group of friends from different points of the musical spectrum hanging out and writing tunes. There’s nothing calculated here. That it happens to be some of the coolest stuff going ‘round this town is pure coincidence. “Alex is a guitar player but he plays drums, Richard makes electronic music and Andy’s the jazz guitarist. Everyone’s completely individual,” says Dom. “I think a lot of bands would form and you’d get together and say ‘let’s listen to these bands’ or ‘let’s be like this band,’” Joel muses. “But the thing with us is we’re six pissed off dudes and we just want to express that somehow,” concludes Dom.
Their debut LP, recorded in September last year, was threatening to end up as one of the great lost records, but Joel assures me he’s finishing up the mixing and the record will see the light of day soon. “Clearly we don’t want to rush anything,” he laughs, “but it is coming out – hopefully in a month.”
Beyond the release of their LP, future plans for the group are loose. The self-proclaimed local heroes seem pretty happy at home. There’s talk of taking the message interstate, but they don’t seem wholly convinced. “Why would you?” Dom wonders. “The best dudes are here!”
The Fighting League play Gangbusters at Bar 32 on Wednesday March 10 with Super Best Friends and Beat Hotel. Doors open at 9pm, entry is $5. To download their debut EP, head to www.dreamdamage.com.
