After their first record, 'Plume,' garnered some very good reviews from some unexpected sources-who would expect a loop-and-rock quasi-Kraut record to appeal to Stonerrock.com readers?-the boys in Giant Brain figured it was time to make a new one. Brothers Andy and Al Sutton and Philip Durr enlisted the talents of one Eric Hoegemeyer , who had previously lent his drumming services to some of the songs on 'Plume.' As the trio became a quartet, and Andy moved from the Motor City to Washington, D.C. (Detroit lost the No. 1 spot as the Murder Capital, so he reckoned he had to move... to the new No. 1), the new album, 'Thorn ofThrones,' became even more of an experiment of action-reaction-thesis-synthesis than Giant Brain's first effort had been. The basic modus operandi of the first album was to establish a basic premise, deconstruct, demolish and re-construct it. On Thorn of Thrones this exercise was exaggerated by geographical separation. "It became a game of 'here's my idea, I'll email it to you, you react, I'll react, Hell! everybody'll react!" explains guitarist Philip Durr (Big Chief, Thornetta Davis, Five Horse Johnson, Luder), "so the recording became even more improvisational... most of the songs started out as rhythmic loops, no keys, no nothing." The addition of Eric Hoegemeyer (he last produced Gideon Smith's "South Side of the Moon" ) added another dimension to the Giant Brain Sound. Eric just happens to be not only one of the most sought-after beatbuiders, programmers and producers in the Detroit area, but he's a bit of an instrumental savant. "Eric is one of those people who can proficiently play any instrument you place in front of him within minutes of seeing it for the first time... disgusting!" says bassist and GB-ideologue Andy Sutton. Eric's musician- and programmership led to more in-studio-Improvisation, which had always been a major part of the Giant Brain. "It may not be apparent at first listen," says Al Sutton (producer: Big Chief, Laughing Hyenas, Don Caballero, Kid Rock), "but the songs on Thorn of Thrones are very organic. Asong like 'Gooser' started with just a small percussion loop. Phil basically jammed on it for some time, then Eric immediately sat behind a drum kit, and the song started to take shape. Or Relentful Resentless, where Phil and I drove to D.C., recorded Andy's bass and a simple guitar line in his living room, and Eric then improvised the keyboard stabs live a few weeks later in Detroit. Things like that happened often and over time, and changed the nature of the songs constantly." Also, as Phil adds, "with Eric around, there was less need to bring in guest musicians, which of course didn't stop us from doing so, anyway." Case in point, the inclusion of Don Caballero legend and every indie-rock drummer's wet dream, Damon Che on two of Thorn of Thrones' tracks, 'Asian Love Song, What?' and 'Space Mannequin,' and Small Stone Record's own chanteuse, Slot's Sue Lott. "With Damon, we let him hear the track once... then we recorded him twice. That's it. We wanted the immediacy, his reaction to our music, and that's exactly what we got. Sue's been a friend for years, we've had a mutual admiration society for that time, so when we needed THATsound, there was no one else we would call," says Eric. Thorn of Thrones will surprise fans of Giant Brain earlier work. While it retains the Teuto-American synergy, those Detroit-cum-Dortmund freak-out elements of 'Plume,' it is a darker, more dynamic record than its older brother. Even the lighter moments disguise a cynicism that wasn't present on the first album, as exemplified by the lone GB song to ever feature lyrics, 'Empyrian.' It may seem airy at first, but the lyrics are anything but... Some have attributed this new-found skepticism and doubt to the current state of the world, and specifically the current state of disarray in the Motor City. We here at Small Stone wouldn't know about that, but we feel that regardlessly, the sky will be blue, the flowers will bloom, and Giant Brain makes great records.