Name: The Routes
Current members: Chris Jack (guitar, bass, percussion), Bryan Styles (drums, percussion), Toru Nishimuta (bass)
Interviewee: Chris Jack
Current release: The Routes's new album Surfin' Pleasures, a collection of surf rock arrangements of Joy Division songs, is out via Topsy Turvy.

If you enjoyed this The Routes interview and would like to know more about the band and their music, visit Chris Jack's official Instagram. The group are also on Facebook.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier The Routes interview about Joy Division.



Kraftwerk have been covered many, many times. Which Kraftwerk cover versions do you particularly appreciate? What, do you think makes some musicians better suited to covering than others?

For me Big Black’s “Model” was a personal favourite. That goes back to being a kid in the 80s with an older brother.



I also enjoyed the Ebony Steel Band’s Pan Machine album.



Personally as a listener, if I hear a band playing a cover, I prefer to hear them playing it as their own song, with their own sound. I think that’s what makes some musicians better suited to playing covers than others. People that make the song they’re covering their own.

It’s not down to technical ability, or how well you can mimic what someone else already did. To me that’s pointless, because the original song will always sound better. It’s about doing something that can’t really be compared to the original song.

What are the specific challenges for a Kraftwerk cover version in a surf rock arrangement?

I think rock music purists and people who are generally not into electronic music, do not realize the genius songmanship of Kraftwerk, and the complexity of what they did (in creating something so complex yet minimal sounding).

The main challenge for Kraftwerk was vocal melodies. Some of the melodies are monotonous, and some have only two or three notes per verse or chorus. Translating that to surf music was a challenge.

Underneath the vocals, there is so much going on melodically with the music that you can jump between the minimal vocal melody, and counter it with what the synthesizers are playing. In some cases the vocal melodies were completely left alone.

Intriguingly, Kraftwerk actually loved The Beach Boys. What do you think do these two seemingly so different bands have in common?

As I mentioned in the last question, I think the songmanship of Kraftwerk is very unacknowledged. They are rightfully praised for being electronic music pioneers, but I think that has always overshadowed the compositions themselves.

As a listener I never really noticed myself, until I sat down and listened like a maniac arranging The Twang Machine. For me personally, this is how I can relate Kraftwerk with The Beach Boys. The amazing sense of melody.

Kraftwerk were all about futurism. In a way, your cover versions are nostalgic. Yet they work incredibly well and feel entirely natural. On a line between Futuremani and Retromania, where would you place them?

The period of musical history which we targeted for our sound is certainly not futuristic, but maybe the concept of juxtaposing two such opposing musical entities is.

It’s a really difficult question for me to answer.

“Trans Europe Express” sounds absolutely incredible in your arrangement which is particularly surprising in its ferocity. Tell me about how it came together, please.

That song was really fun to arrange.



So you have the intro which is melodically the same as that of the original. Then there’s that part where the synthesizer slides down (sounding like a train going past). That’s just recreated with a chord being down 4 frets ( a common way to move to the next key in a lot of old 60s music).

There is not much that could be done with the vocal melody (as there is none), so I just concentrated on the main synth melody for the verses. There’s that, then we threw in the solo bit in the middle to break it up and add a bit of variation.

I think the ferocity just came out as those verses had a really exciting Dick Dale vibe to them.

The Twang Machine includes nothing off Electric Cafe - how come?

The drummer Bryan is a fan of it, but I personally struggle with Electric Cafe. The A-side has it’s moments, but the B-side is hard work.

I don’t like the subject matter of the songs or the lyrics.

How do you generally see that album in the Kraftwerk canon?

I’m not an expert, but personally I think after their 5 year absence since Computer World, popular music had caught up with them, especially in UK (Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Human League). I think they were no longer on top of their game at that point.

The whole album doesn’t really inspire me. I never feel I want to listen to it.



After immersing yourself in Kraftwerk for so long, what do you think the reason for their ongoing magic is – the songs, the sounds, the mood, the ideas?

I think I’ve mentioned it a billion times already, but their compositions and melodic sense were just incredible. They were just amazing songwriters.

Their choice of sounds and rhythms, and their way of counterbalancing them within the songs was pure genius. Whereas a lot of music from the 70s and 80s sounds incredibly dated, the original recordings of Kraftwerk still sound cutting edge.

On top of that of course there’s the concepts and their image. The music of Kraftwerk is simply timeless (minus Elecric Cafe for me hahaha).