Rock ‘n roll has been in an uneasy spot these last few years. With the oncoming trend of electro looking to dethrone the slayer gods of yesteryear, good ol’ fashioned dirty rock has keeled over into the dusty corner of lo-fi Brooklynites. A dismal place to be. Band of Skulls could be our last hope. Or not. Either way, in their second album, Sweet Sour, out this week, the rock songs are harder, the ballads are softer, the production value is pitch perfect. The album was recorded in Rockfield Studios, where such legends as Motorhead, The Damned, and Iggy Pop have laid tracks. The Skulls, made up of guitarist/vocals Russell Marsden, bassist/vocals Emma Richardson, and drummer Matt Hayward, re-teamed with first album producer Ian Davenport to take care of some unfinished business.

VMAN You worked with Ian Davenport again, to produce Sweet Sour. How was the recording process different this time around?
RUSSELL MARSDEN We definitely hadn’t explored all the possibilities the first time around. We made a record and got an option to release it. It felt like we had unfinished exploring to do together after the first album, so that was very natural. We moved studios to Rockfield, we had a new engineer who brought his influence and experience and complemented the team. We also had a new mixer. All of that went into our arsenal. It challenged us. Worked our ideas out. The stuff we kept felt right.

How do you see Sweet Sour complementing Baby Darling Doll Face Honey?
RM We’ve been playing the new songs in our shows since Bonaroo last year. Since then, whenever we’ve done shows they fit quite well with the rest of the tracks. The live show has really developed. How the band plays the old material now is what informs the sound and decisions we made on the record. They all sound like they’re from the same era and writers. That’s our idea for the future, that all our songs will align, including our future work. It feels good. Some of the slower songs-because they’re a bit more complex, it’s better that people get to experience it on the record first. We’ve played “Hometown” a few times, just to show people some new stuff, but we’re excited to now change up the set and play everything.

What was the recording process like? Rockfield is an important studio, any ghost of Freddy Mercury moments?
RM Now and again you go to these venues and everything and it’s rock history. It’s great. You get to be a tourist for a little while, but you need to put it behind you. If you get wrapped up in it, you can lose your mind a bit. You have to be grateful. It’s just a great honor for us. It’s the same playing a famous stadium or studio. You add your equipment to the history.

 You have two new music videos out. “Bruises,” features a bowling match between blue collars and luchadores. “Sweet Sour,” features what seems to be a gang of street dancing little kids wreaking havoc. Where’d these ideas come from?
RM With videos we just work let the directors do there thing. We put every video up for interpretation. We’re never gonna go with the conservative approach, we always like the crazier ideas. We always opt for the weird one. Those two concepts were the strangest that got pitched and they sort of came together in their weirdness.

Songs like “Navigate” and “Lay Your Head Down,” feature a lot of minor switches and unexpected drop beats. How do you add that flourish? Where’s it come from?
RM I think it’s always been within us as a band and as writers. It gives us a chance to explore melodic and harmonic ideas. “Navigate” took a lot of time to work out, almost two months. And it’s basically a great big build at a minor key and then pays off at the end. It was a lot of fun to work out, like a mathematical puzzle. “Lay my Head Down,” was almost the opposite, it was the first song and full of all these emotional great things. We just dropped the bomb in the middle of it. We didn’t let it go down easy for people. I’d hate for people to be bored by anything we do, these are reminders that we’re a rock band. We can have those drop out moments, but there’s always the big rock out looming on the horizon.

What can we expect to see on this upcoming tour? Do you know who’ll be opening for you along the way?
RM We’re going out in the US with We Are Augustine, and they’re doing the whole tour with us. We met them a few months ago, they’re great. They’re very passionate. It’s gonna be a whole new adventure. We’re going from SXSW to Coachella and stopping everywhere along the way.

The album was released exclusively on iTunes this Tuesday, and will get a full release next week. How’s it feel so far?
RM Really good. There’s always a bit of anticipation, but it’s gotten really good reactions. The videos are awesome, and we’re single of the week on iTunes, which really gives us a boost. It’s definitely making a bigger splash than the first album. It’s very exciting and hopefully paves the way for some great shows and festivals.

Do you write songs with a clear story in your mind? “You’re Not Pretty but You Got It Goin’ On,” is that about a certain person? Is “Hometown” about your actual home, or are these general tracks?
RM It’s always different, but what often happens is that there’s a feeling we want to get across. Every couple of lines is like a photograph of a moment. If you put them all together, they become something bigger. If you want the subject of regret, you put it all together and it becomes a more intense version than just an instance.

Is it going to be another 18 months or so, before we get another Band of Skulls record?
RM We’re definitely touring until the end of the year, but I think our world has sped up. We really had to concentrate on making a name for ourselves the first time out. That meant mentoring ourselves. Although we love playing shows, we hope we can come back with another great new record. We’re always writing. There won’t be such a gap this time. Going on the second tour with the second album, things will come more naturally. We’re prepared.