Before the Bunnymen had a name, a club on Mathew Street was rewiring what music would become in the 1980s. Eric’s dealt in the Doors, in Can. The room was full of people who all seemed to be starting a group. Cassius Wolf and Don Watson were there. Formed in 1978, Cassius Wolf & Das Abs existed largely in private for the decades that followed, Cassius recording on a Tascam Portastudio. Now, with debut album An Afternoon in Bedlam due in May, those cassette-archived songs from 1981 are finally meeting an audience. Jason Barnard spoke with the duo to talk about teenage angst and why the themes of 1981 feel uncomfortably at home in 2026.
You were both working at Eric’s when bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and OMD were coming up around you. What was it actually like being in that room night after night with those acts?
Thank you for asking Jason, hope you’re well, we love the podcast.
I should start by mentioning that Eric’s was never a punk club as such, the music was always a bit more influenced by some of the 60’s psych bands such as Love and the Doors as well as some of the Kraut Rock bands like Can or Neu rather than the three chord thrash of the UK punk bands.
Really, the Eric’s scene was the first scene and group of bands in Liverpool since the Beatles / Merseybeat . I think there had been over 10 years where the Liverpool music scene had sort of stagnated, probably due to the mop tops phenomenol success, it had become a bit of a millstone around the necks of any bands trying to break out of Merseyside.
It certainly was a crucible of creative energy although at the time it just seemed to be the normal, everyone was in a band or was about to start one. You’ve heard the story of The Crucial Three, Wylie , Mac and Julian, a super group in reverse. Egos so great that one single band couldn’t hold them 😂 and of course Big In Japan who were the de facto house band. Although it was still seen as an alternative lifestyle to be in the music industry, no music business degree courses back then, I suppose because of what the Beatles had achieved you always felt that music could be an option and I think everyone felt that, though we didn’t want to replicate the Beatles. Roger Eagle, the creative force behind Eric’s, was such an inspiration. Like a Malcolm McLaren, a Tony Wilson or a Hilly Krystal every scene needs an engine driver. We were very fortunate to be a part of that era and seeing the amount of bands that achieved success and becoming influential certainly gave us confidence back then.
When you first played back those original cassette recordings, what did you hear that surprised you?
Just how good the songs were 😂. I was always inspired by artists who managed to keep creative control, as a kid I was impressed with Roy Wood and then people like Matt Johnson from my era. I was one of the first to get a Tascam portastudio and I had a Boss DR1 a very basic drum machine. The cost of producing listenable music back then was prohibitively expensive, I preferred working on my own or just with Don.
The lyric “I can’t reply” describes a kind of communicative paralysis. Was that distinction clear to you when you first wrote it, or did its meaning sharpen when you returned to it decades later?
Cassius Wolf & Das Abs has been a long time studio project, because I got to work with so many brilliant bands as a promoter I’ve always kept my own work to myself until now.
‘I Can’t Reply’ was one of the first songs I wrote, and it is probably most influenced by the music of the time. Our video for it pays tribute to the Fall and Joy Division who we were lucky to hang out with at Eric’s.
It’s full of teenage angst, I take it now as an introduction to my songwriting which has changed a lot over the years, as everyone does, but for people who don’t know me it’s a good start.
You’ve described the forthcoming album An Afternoon in Bedlam as exploring themes from the late post-punk era but through personal storytelling. What are some of those stories? Are we talking about specific relationships, places or moments?
Yes all of the above really. An Afternoon in Bedlam refers to the practice in the Victorian times of visiting the asylum for entertainment. I see parallels in social media today and it reflects upon a darker side of human nature. It’s our debut album of songs from 1981 so it may be nostalgic to some, but the themes are very relevant today, so hopefully people will be able to relate.
How is the album sequenced? Is it front-loaded with energy and then pulls back, or does it build to something?
We’d like to have a double sided vinyl for people to experience in the traditional way as a complete set of songs in a particular order. Unfortunately we can’t afford physical product at the moment so we are at the mercy of the streaming services. If the demand is there, things will change. We’re thinking of giving away the album to any label willing to press up a run of copies, kind of like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard did, so if any labels want to chat give us a shout.
If An Afternoon in Bedlam reaches a 19-year-old who’s never heard of Eric’s or post-punk, what do you want them to feel rather than understand about this record?
That’s a very good question. I’d like to say that we could reach across the divide of the generations and inspire a younger version of ourselves like one 19 year old to another. Values and ideas have changed so I’m not sure that’s possible however because music is timeless and as we were inspired by previous generations so I like to think it could happen.
