Bombay Bicycle Club is a very unique—and uniquely complex—pop group. A series of three albums over as many years, supplemented by a handful of singles and EPs, brought BBC a slow rumble of appreciation in its native England. By rights, the band’s fourth album ought to be the one that brings it the recognition that’s so far eluded it in the U.S., because So Long, See You Tomorrow (Vagrant) is, even on first listen, an LP that announces a sea change in a group’s approach, in the vein of Revolver or Pet Sounds. That’s high praise, but So Long is, among other things, the most sonically complex of all the band’s records. BBC—guitarist/vocalist Jack Steadman, guitarist Jamie MacColl, drummer Suren de Saram and bassist Ed Nash—will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new feature on the band.
de Saram: When my dad left Sri Lanka aged 11 to come over to Europe, he headed to Siena, Italy, to study the cello. Because of this connection, we went on many family holidays there when I was younger, and so it holds a special place in my heart. We actually used to stay in the same “pensione” (guest house) that he stayed in many years earlier. Siena is a little medieval town in the hills of Tuscany. Its focal point is the Piazza del Campo, a big open square in the centre of the town. It is around this square that the Palio takes place twice a year. The Palio is a bareback horse race that dates back to 1656. (I’m not sure how many other regular bareback horse races take place around the world today; I’m guessing not that many.) Siena is divided into 17 “contrade” (districts) and in each race 10 of these contrade compete. Most of the contrade are named after animals, but there are a few more abstract ones such as Onda (wave) and Selva (forest). There is also a Chiaccola (snail), which might seem a bit strange for a race. Anyhow, in the weeks preceding each race, the town becomes a sea of colours as streets are decorated with banners and bunting showing the colours of the corresponding contrada. It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement of it all. The whole thing is taken very seriously by the locals. Italians are a passionate people to start with, and this is brought out even more when the race happens. Everyone supports their own contrada fiercely—the winning jockey becomes a Messiah to his supporters. On the morning of the race, each horse and jockey is blessed at a church in their district. I remember going to see the horse and jockey running for the Drago (dragon) district being blessed at their church. Later, we managed to squeeze into the square amongst the thousands of other spectators to get a glimpse of the race. Drago ended up winning. I like to think our presence at the blessing had something to do with it!
Video after the jump.
