Failure to bring 'space rock' sound on June 3 to Pappy and Harriet's

If music lovers could bottle up the best parts of ’90s alternative rock made by bands such as Tool, Helmet and Soundgarden and put it into one, that would be the “space rock” group Failure.

Failure saw limited commercial success during the ’90s, but achieved notoriety and critical acclaim for its 1996 album “Fantastic Planet,” which inspired the bands Paramore, Deftones and Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland.

Musicians such as Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle, Maynard James Keenan of Tool, Bill Gould of Faith No More and many others have praised the group. Tool has taken the band on tour as an opening act several times.

The Los Angeles trio, featuring lead guitarist Ken Andrews, guitarist and bassist Greg Edwards and drummer Kellii Scott, will perform on June 3 at Pappy and Harriet’s.

Guitarist and bassist Greg Edwards told The Desert Sun he was very proud of “Fantastic Planet” after it was finished and “disappointed” it didn’t receive the same attention in 1996 that music lovers give it now.

“That was a hard thing to swallow,” Edwards said. “But I’m so grateful time has proven I wasn’t insane to think (“Fantastic Planet”) had some special qualities.”

The album features complex arrangements. Many songs start off slow before waves of heavy guitars sweep up the listener, some are straightforward heavy jams with punchy bass lines, other tracks are straightorward heavy rock songs.

All the lyrics are intuitive in line with a “space rock” theme, while others, such as “Smoking Umbrellas,” is about someone under the influence of drugs and alcohol. “The Nurse Who Loved Me” is a reference to the James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

In 2006, vocalist Phil Ritchie, a contestant on the reality TV show “Rock Star: Supernova,” performed “Smoking Umbrellas,” which surprised Edwards, who described it as an “album cut” and doesn’t hold the same status as “Stuck On You” or “The Nurse Who Loved Me.”

The band released 'Wild Droid' last year

During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Failure moved into a rehearsal space to record its sixth album, “Wild Droid,” which involved over 30 hours of improvisational sessions to write. The album features new instruments the band had never used on previous albums, such as a six-string Fender bass and a baritone guitar.

This approach is similar to what Radiohead did while recording its 2000 album “Kid A.” Edwards described it as an “amazing process.”

“It’s more about letting things spontaneously arise,” Edwards said. “The second part of that was going back and listening to 30 hours of playing, picking out the best moments and whittling that down until we had ideas that turned into songs for the record. It was less stressful because every day you just go in and play. A lot of days felt like nothing was happening and it’s surprising to listen to it and find all these moments that were worthy of being expanded upon.”

Failure also took advantage of new technology using virtual amplifier software. The band could select from a multitude of guitar and microphone tones featured on the album to give each song a sonic boost or haunting mood. Edwards said it’s “an amazing and efficient way to work” and it can be used during recording and live performances.

“It’s miraculous, but there is something I miss about having a loud amp and the chaos of plugging in a bunch of cables to a bunch of pedals,” Edwards said. “Things may be wrong, batteries may be low and there’s all sorts of little ghosts in the machine that adds character. Technology has changed things a lot for us in terms of efficiency.”

The cover of “Wild Droid” is an original art piece by Beeple (Mike Winkelmann). It features a headless astronaut laying in the middle of the desert with a line of miniature people walking into it.

Edwards said in a release promoting the album that it “feels like a good place and time to abandon the space iconography and theme once and for all.” When asked if Failure is sticking to that plan, he takes responsibility for bringing the space theme to the band while recording “Fantastic Planet” and described it as “an ironic metaphor for attachment.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be this serious thing, and then we became ‘space rock,’ which is fine. We’re on this little planet floating in space,” Edwards said. “But I feel like it’s the mob and I’m trying to get out of it. I’ve said for the past three records that we’re done with the space theme. Our music sounds spacey, I suppose. I end up writing lyrics and things and just can’t get away from it. I said in that press release it was the end, but I don’t trust myself now.”

In 1997, Failure disbanded after three albums. The band reunited in 2015 and released “The Heart Is a Monster” followed by “In the Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing from Your Mind” in 2018. Edwards said there’s less conflict between the three members compared to previous years and “there’s less energy to go into all the conflict.”

“I don’t specifically know why everything seems more life or death and urgent when you’re younger,” Edwards said. “Everything is more precious and every little musical sensibility you have that is betrayed or oppressed, you’re going to react with violent indignation. I still might go through feeling those things as we’re working together, but I’m able to deal with it in myself and figure out what the best external manifestation of that is in order to avoid a complete physical altercation.”

When asked how abandoning the space theme could affect the group's next albums, Edwards said Failure always tries to move forward doing things the band has never done before while maintaining creativity and emotional impact through the music.

“The nice thing about (“Wild Droid”) is we let it be so open and free in the way we wrote it, and there were no preconceptions,” Edwards said. “I think that’s the way to move forward rather than having some set idea of how you’re going to change your sound, what you’re going to do, what you want to sound like or using other bands as references. I’d rather let it arise spontaneously.”

If you go

What: Failure

When: 6 p.m. Friday, June 3

Where: Pappy and Harriet's, 53-688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown

How much: $30

More information: pappyandharriets.com

Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Failure to bring 'space rock' sound on June 3 to Pappy and Harriet's