Pessimistic Pizza is the debut “mini album” from My Best Unbeaten Brother, a trio from South London. It includes brothers Ben and Adam Parker and bassist Ben Fry. The new material sees Ben Parker casting aside old insecurities in a quest for hope and meaning. The album has a 90s vibe that I particularly like, so I reached out to Ben Parker to find out more.

Interesting band name! I know that My Best Unbeaten Brother includes two brothers, Ben and Adam Parker. Are either of you the “best unbeaten” brother? What does the name mean to you?

The name comes from “I See A Darkness” by Bonnie Prince Billy, which is a marvelous song. Johnny Cash covered it on one of the albums he did at the end of his life. I’m a big fan of Will Oldham and records like “I See  Darkness” and, in particular, “Arise, Therefore” have had a big impact on my view of music over the years. So, yes, that’s where the name comes from – nothing to do with the fact that two of us are brothers, but that is a nice link. People that don’t know Will Oldham’s stuff should check him out.

The band formed after a “chance meeting” between Ben Parker and Ben Fry, who had worked together in the past. What were the circumstances of that encounter?

We are both dads and our children are in the same class at primary school. On their first day I bumped into Ben again for the first time in ages and then we got talking about making music – I’d started writing songs for the first time in ages so the time was right for someone willing to start a band with me to crop up!

The band consists of two guys named Ben and two guys named Parker. Does it ever get confusing?

Not for us. Maybe it will in time. Let’s see!

Your new song, “Time on Our Hands, Spider-Man” offers an interesting proposition: “I’ll be your Spiderman… If you’ll be my Superman.” Depending on who you ask, it could be read as an uneven trade. Can you comment on that analogy? 

My son loved Spiderman at the time of writing this song. When I was young my fave was Superman. And the song is kind of about fathers and sons – me being a father and me being a son – so it’s saying I’ll take the Spiderman role if my dad can take the Superman role. I do see what you mean though – Superman is much more powerful than Spiderman!

I also like the line that about VHS and Betamax, coupled with the idea that “Everything finishes given half a chance.” How might that line reflect the larger themes in your forthcoming album, Pessimistic Pizza?

Time is a big theme, and even when it feels like you have all the time in the world, that time is eventually used up.

And why is the pizza pessimistic? 

Things these days do seem to inspire pessimism. And it is kind of a stupid play on the film Mystic Pizza. I put the two words together – Pessimistic Pizza – and just liked the sound of them.

Pessimistic Pizza is described as a “mini album.” Beyond the issue of length, is there anything else that makes it a mini-album as opposed to an EP—or simply an album? 

Not really – it is mainly length! I think the songs sit alongside each other well and didn’t see the need to throw in a few more to force it to go beyond a “mini-album,” and become a more conventional “album.”

Your press materials say that the songs on Pessimistic Pizza “were inspired by the need to do something positive and creative in a world that is seemingly descending into something ugly and unpleasant.” I feel like a lot of weight might be resting on that word “seemingly.” Is it as bad as it seems? And how has recording the album allowed you to address at least some of the ugliness and unpleasantness you mention?

Well, some of the songs were written in the lock-down in post-Brexit Britain, in the bankrupt town of Croydon, so things didn’t seem great. But I cling to a faith in people – most people are decent really. I do hope there is hope in the songs. I think there is, amongst the anger and regret.

You’ve described your recent songwriting as the work of “once overly self-conscious men reborn as less self-conscious men, now too old to worry about indie credit.” How has being less self-conscious changed your approach to music? 

In the past, I set myself pretty strict rules when approaching music-making: no guitar pedals for one. With this new stuff, I’m just going with whatever comes and ultimately it all sounds like us somehow! I’ve even allowed myself a guitar solo on one song, which I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near previously.

Where do you see My Best Unbeaten Brother going next?

Might be a bit soon to start talking about them, as the new album is just about to launch, but we have another bunch of songs we are working on, and I am really pleased with them, so I would like to record these and have another album in the not too distant future. As long as the songs keep coming I want to keep a record of them and I want people to hear them. So yeah, more songs, hopefully more people listening to the songs, and more gigs where they can go and hear them. We are too old these days to do this for any reason other than we want to write songs and play them for the sake of writing songs and playing them!