Classic Trucks is a project about discovery and challenging oneself. Drummer and vocalist for Langkamer, Josh Jarman decided to pick up the guitar and, 2 years and £10 on Gumtree later, Century Songs arrives in all its glory. Here, Josh talks us through each track.
Mary Troy
Whilst cycling down Feeder Road one day, my thoughts start to wander. I begin pulling at the threads of the tapestry, until eventually I feel them going slack. They become completely loose and start to unravel. I stop and go over to the railing and look down at the river. I feel unfettered.
Looking at the river. I see my family’s history stretching out behind me. Hundreds of years of god-fearing Bristolians, living, working, dreaming and dying along the banks of this river. My great uncle Joe drowned in this river. Somewhere in town, I think, near the church on the corner. By the bridge. The river carried his body downstream. And here I am, 2025, a strong swimmer, on my way home from work. I am completely untethered, totally insane, and somehow entirely lucid. All at the same time.
Letting In Too Much Light
Still cycling, still south of the river, this time closer to home. Afternoon now. The sun is brighter than ever before. A bright, sunny afternoon. Vague swathes of muddy white light start drifting across my vision. It’s so bright. I am half blind and my head is screaming in agony. I start feeling incredibly anxious, convinced something is wrong with me. I am half blind. Something is wrong with me. I’ve spent a long time repressing these thoughts but they somehow always manage to come back to me. Absolute cowardice. I need to find somewhere to shelter. I need to lie down in the dark.
I write a song about this feeling and put the song on the internet. It is the first song I have released under the name ‘Classic Trucks’. My mum listens to the song and she says to me ‘I can’t figure out what this song is about.’
Two Turn
Back on Feeder Road, this time I’m riding in the opposite direction. I’m surrounded by ravers and construction workers. The bulldozer of progress pushes forward. More high-rise student accommodation than we could ever have dreamed of. The cranes are all vying for real estate in the sky. In the distance, Cabot Tower juts up above it all. There is a little blinking red light at the top. It’s been years and years since I first noticed this light. For some reason I find it reassuring.
The cold light of dusk, January or thereabouts. The love of my life is unhappy and I can’t quite put my finger on why. I know it’s something to do with change. She doesn’t like change. She is scared of change. We both are. We are both trying not to be scared of change any more. It’s easier said than done.
If only I were still a student, with my whole life ahead of me. Change didn’t feel so scary back then. I felt like I was swimming with the current, not against it. If I were still a student, I would have so much student accommodation to choose from. It would be like a beautiful buffet of high-rise flats. How could I be scared of change with all that amazing student accommodation to choose from?
Oil
Once again I am fixating on my family history. Different branches of the same tree. Different branches of different trees. The roots span from North to South. North again. South again. Historical misery.
On some branches you can see I had family in the navy. Rosebank offshore oil field. A joint venture of Equinor ASA and Suncor Energy Inc. Fossil fuels. Billions of barrels. North Sea oil rig pollution linked to seafloor biodiversity decline. Levels of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons also elevated.
I am writing a song in the key of C#. I am trying to learn how to play guitar but the progress is slow. I am trying to get better. If you look a certain way, it seems like nothing ever gets better. Myself included. Things often seem to get worse. Things can always get worse. There’s plenty more oil in the sea.
Bats In Barton Hill
I’m not cycling any more. I’m driving. I’m in my rusty old car, at dusk. The gamble wagon. I’m driving through Barton Hill. It is dusk. This time of year, the dusk comes down early. How long has it been since I was afraid of the dark? Am I still afraid of the dark? Life is so strange. Waiting at the traffic lights, something catches my eye. A little black against the blue. Shapes moving fast.
It’s been 5 years since I stopped drinking. Sometimes a party is a lonely place. Sometimes a planet is a lonely place.
Later on, as I’m recounting the events of the weekend, I realise how insane I have become. The words I’m saying don’t sound quite right. They almost sound like somebody else entirely. Who is it? I’d like to meet that guy, I’d like to fight him. I’m stronger than him.
I’ve written a collection of songs. The idea is that these songs span the centuries. They look backwards. They look forwards. Century Songs.
Listen to Century Songs by Classic Trucks now.
