THE SAND BAND.

Transcription

THE SAND BAND.

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The Sand Band by Jennifer Pellegrini
The Sand Band
Mugstar
Indica Ritual
The Loud
The Seal Cub
Clubbing Club
Sound City
FREE
Bido Lito! June 2010
Editorial
So, first things first, let’s get the important stuff out the way – I’m off to Berlin this weekend and I’m shitting myself. Not
because I’m afraid of Germans, I’m pretty fond of them to be honest. Not because I dislike Berlin, I’d say it’s my favourite major
European city and I love it. Neither is it because I’m going to Berlin on my own stag weekend and the chances of me being
bound, gagged and publicly humiliated by some Bavarian dominatrix are terrifyingly high. Nope, my concerns are closer to
home, over on the Wirral to be more precise.
Tranmere play Milwall this weekend and, in reality we need to win to avoid relegation. Our infamously short-tempered
cockney chums from the New Den also need to win to maintain their very plausible push for automatic promotion at the
expense of Leeds. They’ve sold out their away allocation n all. Great.
By the time you read this, we’ll know what fate Tranmere have met at Prenton Park and for that matter, I’ll know only too well
what fate I’ve met in Berlin. Fingers crossed that Les Parry’s men come out of the weekend’s festivities in better shape than me.
Go kind dear, frauline, go kind.
If you’re starting to panic, thinking that there has been some horrid mistake at the
printers and this editorial has been written for a very different publication than the
music magazine you hold in your hands, calm down. I constantly need to juggle my
affections between the sounds of our city and the disasters of lower league football
grounds so I feel it’s imperative that you understand my plight from the start of this,
hopefully long lasting, relationship.
Because yes, this is the start. After hours of painstaking planning, trawling across
the venues of our city in search of the finest new scouse sounds and burning the
midnight oil - admittedly having far too much of a good time in the process - here is
Issue One of Bido Lito! I’m going to resist the urge to run off some Jim Jones or Michael
Foot-esque mantra and calling card. Instead, I think you’ll already have the gist; Bido
Lito is a magazine for the music scene of Liverpool. The bands, DJs, promoters, producers, cloak room assistants, designers,
photographers, record shop staff and, most importantly, the revellers who make up Liverpool’s buoyant music scene.
This is a magazine about, and for, new music in our city, what’s going on now. Liverpool’s musical history is consistently
lauded, packaged and exported - I’ve got no problem with that, I’m proud of our past - but Bido Lito is for the now. The scene,
musically, is buzzing at the moment and hopefully the pages of this first issue bear testament to that. But, in comparison to
other major cities, the independent media to support it is thin on the ground. Which is the reason why Bido Lito has been
launched; to celebrate the new music of our city and provide a media through which it can be explored.
Just as our friends over at North By North West are seeking to do with their online radio show - myspace.com/nxnwshow the first instalment features many great local acts, including Bicycle Thieves, Vasco Da Gama, James Kelly, Emily and the Faves
and The Loud – and as Obscenic are looking to do with their musical films – obscenic.co.uk - Bido Lito is here to provide a local,
enthusiastic voice of support for our artists.
On a more sober note, it’s important to spare a thought for everybody affected by the fire recently at Korova. The promoters,
staff, DJs, management and everybody else who have lost their jobs in the short term, and the people who’ve lost a hell of a
lot more than that in the long term. It’ll be a hard hitting loss for the local music scene. Hopefully, in whatever form it may be,
Korova can come back from the fire stronger than ever.
I’d like to extend a massive thanks to all the writers, photographers and illustrators who have contributed to this first issue
and to all the bands featured for providing the inspiration. Thanks must also go to Bido Lito’s designer Luke. I’ll leave you alone
now man…for a couple of weeks at least! Enjoy Sound City and see you next month (if I make it back!)
Craig G Pennington
Editor
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Bido Lito
Volume One – Issue One
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Static Gallery, 23 Roscoe Lane
Liverpool, L1 9JD
[email protected]
Editor
Craig G Pennington
Designer
Luke Avery - earthstudios.net
Words
Craig G Pennington, Paul
Meehan, John Still, Christopher
Torpey, Andy Hill, Alan O’Hare,
Hugh O’Connell, Sean Fell,
Bethany Garrett, David Lynch,
Hannh-Grace Fitzpatrick, The
Glass Pasty, Nik Glover, Kadie
Dobson, Rebecca Jackson,
Nic Lowrey, Adam Hicks, Lee
Boyle, Amy Konate
Photographs
Jennifer Pellegrini, Chloe
Pattie, John Johnson, Simon
Thelwell, Scott Partridge, Greg
Brennan, Katherine Oliver,
Bob @ Probe, Mischa Richter,
Mark McNulty
Illustrations
John Biddle, Sean Wars, Luke
Avery, Rachel Veniard
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in Bido Lito please email the
publisher: [email protected]
Features
MUGSTAR.
‘Mugstar are a breed unlike any of their local peers in terms of sonic mastery, attitude and style.’
5
INDICA RITUAL.
‘Indica are nothing if not esoteric…their schizophrenic structures and no-holds-barred approach makes their sound refreshing,
and very much their own.’
8
THE LOUD.
‘The Loud’s scuzzy garage rock style is really finding some resonance.’
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THE SEAL CUB CLUBBING CLUB.
‘This is a band who defy categorisation. And indeed, that is somewhat the point.’
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THE SAND BAND.
‘For a band who’s music is so elegant, poised and delicate, they have a staunchly fierce streak when it comes to the power
of independent art and music.’
14
RICH FURNESS.
‘This man has become a staple of Liverpool’s electronic music scene, he is Rich Furness.’
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DELTASONIC RECORDS.
‘What is the state of the music industry in 2010 and how have we got here? Alan Wills (Deltasonic Records founder) was only
too happy to help us out.’
20
THE COMPANY STORE.
‘The Company Store have played host to some of the finest new bands from across the UK, with a real mix of Alabama
Stetson & Adidas Samba clad folks along for the hoedown.’
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LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY.
ACE
PL
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‘This is a new music festival that could change your life, whether you’re on stage on in front of it.’
D
EB
AT
OF PORTLA
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N
TL
THE BATTLE OF PORTLAND PLACE.
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‘The proposed closure of BBC 6Music has provoked widespread debate. Bethany Garrett and Hugh O’Connell lock horns.’
SMALL TALK ON HOPE STREET.
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‘Wherever pop and politics are mixed with great music, the shadow of Gil Scott-Heron looms large.’
Regulars
24 THE MIDDLE EIGHT
32 HOT IN VINYL
33 RANTS/COMMENT
36 REVIEWS
46 SPORTS
MUGSTAR
Words: Paul Meehan
Illustrations: Sean Wárs
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It is very often an educational
experience when you watch a band
that really knows what they are doing.
Liverpool kraut rock veterans MUGSTAR
most definitely fit into this category with
considerable ease. Their experience and
musical expertise exudes from their live
shows with them being in particularly
fine form at Korova for the launch of their
new album, Sun, Broken.
Broken
Bido Lito caught up with the band
before the gig and got a unique
insight into one of the best alternative,
underground bands to come out of
Liverpool since the Walking Seeds. They
are a band who considers acts such as
Sun Ra, Kraftwerk, Mudhoney, Devo as
well as John Peel (they appeared on
one of the last ever Peel Sessions) to be
major influences, have been compared
with the likes of Hawkwind, Pink Floyd
and Sonic Youth and have toured with
legends such as Mogwai, Acid Mothers
Temple and Onieda. Some big name
dropping there but this is not to say it
is not warranted or deserved. Mugstar
have built a reputation on improvisation
and forward thinking approaches to
music which then very much speaks
for itself. They have not intentionally
set out to sound like any of the bands
aforementioned with some critics even
daring to say that they have managed
to carve a genre of their own; creating
a unique sound that isn’t and shouldn’t
be confined to any specific musical
association. The guys themselves are
very much of this opinion. They don’t like
to pigeon-hole their sound: “I don’t think
we fit into anything. We are a band that
play together to create, we have a vision
that relies very much on intuition,” says
guitarist Neil Murphy.
“We start off with very loose
arrangements. Improvisation is a big
part of what we do” adds Neil. Drummer,
Steve Ashton agrees: “Yeah, we just start
kicking ideas around and then let them
develop organically. You know when
something sounds good.”
They don’t tend to buy into the
comparisons that have been made with
bands such as Pink Floyd; they very
much prefer to be enjoyed for what
Floyd however it is not something the
band believes is truly reflective of their
sound. “Psychedelic music has become
fashionable again. These music critics
can’t seem to make up their mind. One
minute we are experimental, the next we
are progressive rock or even psychedelic
rock,” says Neil. It is exactly this confusion
that makes Mugstar all that more special.
Their genre defying sound is something
they have been developing and nurturing
since their early days. The band, as the
four-piece they are now, have been
together since 2002 and consist of multiinstrumentalists Neil Murphy (guitar, flute,
viola), Peter Smyth (guitar, keyboards and
occasional vocals), Jason Stoll (bass,
saxophone) and drummer Steve Ashton.
This wealth of musical abilities epitomises
the talent within the band as well as
adding extra dimensions to their music
that makes them so difficult to categorise.
“You get used to how each other play. We
have all got different interests and it all
comes together in a sort of fragment of
noise. It’s hard to describe, it’s just felt,”
explains Neil.
Mugstar are a breed unlike any of their
local peers in terms of sonic mastery,
attitude and style. Their musical lineage
side steps the familiar sound of other
famous Liverpool acts such as The Beatles
and Echo and the Bunnymen and instead
shifts perspective from the pop route
to something much more cerebrally
challenging. The new record, which is
the band’s second album offering is
being released under the American label
Important Records. This may seem like
an unusual step for a British based band
who have had success with labels such
as Lancashire and Somerset and the
much celebrated Irish imprint, Trensmat
which released 2007s groundshaking
7” single Bethany Heart Star.
Star “This label
fits with the philosophy of the music. It
has a broad range of artists on the label,
the sort of sludge-rock and drone music
styles similar to us. We thought it would
just make sense,” says Neil. Their thinking
behind the new record is based very
much on trying to capture their live sound
on record, however, as Neil describes, it
was approached with an even more open-
they are. There is certainly no shame
in being compared with the likes of
minded philosophy than the first album:
“We had even less of an idea when we
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started this record. There was a lot
more give and take on the first album.
We would get the core of the track
and then tweak it and add layers later.
I would say that this album is much
more layered.”
With a band like Mugstar it is not
surprising to hear that their artistic and
creative energies are not just saved for
the music as they are currently putting
together a DVD which was inspired by
the Melvins, who the band saw a few
years ago in FACT: “They (the Melvins)
had been working with a film maker.
They played along to a live soundtrack
and Jason thought it would be a good
idea if we did a similar thing. We are
going to put together a soundtrack
with live projections for it which we
play along to. It’s going to be separate
from the album because something
like that has to be seen on its own,”
explained Neil. Mugstar are a band
who truly believes in the artistic
aesthetics of music. They see their
music as an art form and with the
incorporation of visuals into their live
shows they further expand on their
artistic capabilities.
“We have always liked bands that
have done it in the past, bands from
the 60s and 70s. I think because we
do instrumental music it just adds
another dimension. We are all quite
visual people; we are all into arts as
well as sounds so it just kind of grew
out of that”, explains Steve.
“A lot of it is quite abstract,” adds
Neil. “There is not any particular theme
for certain songs or anything like that.
Sam (visuals) has particular graphics
that he likes to use for different songs.
He likes to have a set list so he knows
when to use certain images. Stuff we
are doing now is more colourful and
psychedelic. It tends to be very well
approached.”
“Yeah it’s great. We always ask for
the lights to be turned down at gigs
so that we can fully appreciate the
visuals. It feels good on stage,” says
Steve.
Adding visuals to music undoubtedly
provides more for an audience at a
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that need visuals to make their music
more interesting. They are a powerful
live force with textually layered
sonic masterpieces that penetrate
your very consciousness. Their epic
soundscapes leave you mesmerized,
as their meticulously structured yet
equally frenzied songs provoke,
engage and bewilder. The complexities
and unrelenting intensity in songs
such as Technical Knowledge as a
Weapon leave you in agreement with
the fantastic analogy that “Mugstar
sound like 10,000 suns exploding.”
With a foundation of straight up rock
n’ roll riffs, swirling and dense bass
lines backed up by pulsating drums,
Mugstar are a cosmic entity in a league
of their own. Their experimentalism
truly pushes the envelope and creates
a multi generic cauldron of sound.
Underneath the huge noise they
produce are also some beautifully
arranged melodies. Their ability to
slow things down adds a strangely
uplifting darkness and moodiness to
their songs which they can then as
easily transform back into massively
atmospheric,
multi-dimensional
pieces of music. Epic is not the word,
they are grander than that. They are
a sonic juggernaut that impresses
enormously. They have crafted their
art to a staggering level that makes it
very difficult to understand why they
are not more recognised by the likes
of Kerrang! or Metal Hammer. Perhaps
that’s what makes them who they are.
They are a musical treasure and one of
those bands you love to still consider
underground and as selfish as it sounds
they’re best kept with a degree of
mystery surrounding them. They’re the
kind of band that you probably won’t
have heard of but will be completely
blown away by. Mainstream music
scenes probably wouldn’t understand
or even be able to handle the mighty
Mugstar, and anyway they’re too good
to be number 1!
mugstar.com
live show, however, needless to say
Mugstar are not one of these bands
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Indica Ritual
Words: John Still
Illustration: John Biddle
Since emerging in their current form nearly 3 years ago, INDICA RITUAL
have grown into one of Liverpool’s most popular underground acts. Through
exhilarating live shows, pop-hooks and memorable colour scheme, they have
become the party band of choice and garnered rave reviews from press and
fellow bands alike.
The Indica Ritual sound is difficult to categorise. Some aspects fall under the
already fairly general ‘post-punk’ tag, while elements of folk, electronica and
even hardcore are also detectable, all inside concise pop songs. Andre Hunt
(guitar and vocals), explains their approach to writing music. “Most of the time
one person will come with the basis of a song, and then we all come together
at practice and arrange the tunes, which is where the personality of our band
comes through. What we’re really into is dense arrangements, lots of things
going on simultaneously, while keeping focus on the cohesion of the song.”
This focus is evident on most recent single Seamless Ejaculation/Alpha
Male. Both songs are mini-prog epics,
containing multiple sections and
melodies, but clock in at under five
minutes. It’s a breathless song-writing
style, the most striking feature being
the ease of the interplay between such
disparate styles, without it feeling
forced or shoehorned in, “It’s the way
we like to do things. We’ve never
enforced many rules on ourselves,
just to not make it boring. Our only
real remit is to try to not sound like a
typical guitar band. Saying that, we’re
still making pop music. We just want
to carry on developing our own style.”
Indica are nothing if not esoteric,
and although there are touchstones
to be found in Devo, Deerhoof and
Dirty Projectors, their schizophrenic
structures
and
no-holds-barred
approach
makes
their
sound
refreshing, and very much their own.
Andre and fellow Indica Ritual
members Tom, George, Ferg and Nick
are active in various other projects
such as Balloons, Stig Noise Sound
System, Gorton vs. Berger, APATT and
Pariah Qarey. These projects are among
those in a Liverpool underground
scene, which has a small yet devoted following, and through bands such as
Indica Ritual and The Seal Cub Clubbing Club is beginning to receive a small
amount of attention in the national music press. “The Liverpool scene is still
under the radar in terms of the UK industry, there are still preconceptions
people have about ‘Liverpool bands’ that aren’t true. There is a small but fertile
scene in Liverpool trying to do something new, where the only priority is to be
progressive, but in terms of reaching a wider audience, I’m not sure it has yet,
which can be quite frustrating.”
This year the Sound City Festival returns as many of music’s current big names
descend on Liverpool. Both Sound City and Liverpool Music Week have grown
into huge events in recent years, attracting talent from around the world. As part
of Sound City, Indica Ritual will play a show with Domino Records’ Max Tundra
and Holy Fuck. “That’s a great show for us. The whole Sound City event does
offer some good opportunities for local bands, but the emphasis they place on
a locality seems fairly arbitrary. It’s a good event for the city to host, but in terms
of the publicity, little emphasis seems to be placed on local bands.”
Through their reputation as an exiting live band, Indica Ritual have earned
support slots with diverse acts such as Deerhoof, HEALTH, Crystal Castles and
2 Many DJ’s. US act Ponytail cited Indica as ‘one of the best bands we’ve ever
seen’ in their Drowned-in-Sound interview. “Live performance is good for us
as a band. The way we play and the way we are, it’s definitely a live thing.
Personally, recording and arranging is my favourite part, but playing live is a
great part of the experience.”
The band describe themselves as ‘gig-keeno’s’ on their website, and have
toured both in the UK and into Europe, although everyday life sometimes
restricts how much they can do. “We haven’t toured as much as we’d like,
given we have jobs and other commitments. But the tours have been great,
especially into Europe. There’s a lot more collaborative, progressive music and
art scenes, and so many council or government funded events, which it’s been
a privilege to be involved in. Playing at the Mars-Attacks festival in Marseilles
and playing Rome were amazing experiences. We tend to play more electronic
events in Europe, not exactly sure why.”
Although these fleeting excursions into Europe haven’t bought world-wide
recognition, they’ve proved worthwhile to the band “We sold a few records and
made a few friends, so definitely a positive experience.”
Despite this, touring isn’t the immediate priority for the time being, the band
are taking a short break from live shows to concentrate on finishing a new EP
for release towards the end of 2010. “We were going to do an album, but we
decided to cut it down, probably to about 6 or 7 tracks. We always seem to
want to record our newest material, which poses problems for composing an
album! But the EP is nearly done, and we’re hoping to maybe be touring again
in June.”
With the band currently releasing on the POSTMUSIC/Samizdat label, the
business side of the music industry has not become a concern as of yet,
“We’re just happy getting our music across to as many people as we can, I’ve
no particular problem with becoming a part of mainstream culture per se, but
we certainly wouldn’t want to endanger our ideals about making music. We’re
much more focused on making music than selling product, which is a good and
a bad thing. Maybe we can improve on the business side, But for the time being
our focus is on our music.”
You can hear the results of this focus on the Seamless Ejaculation/Alpha
Male single and catch Indica Ritual live at Sound City 2010
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Words: Christopher Torpey
Photos: Chloe Pattie
“There have been no good bands in Liverpool since The
Coral,” announces THE LOUD’s bassist Matthew Freeman
halfway through our interview, as he hangs out of the
window of his band’s tiny rehearsal space, blowing smoke
in to the air outside as seagulls wheel overhead. There is
a beat while the three band members look at each other
as if to confirm this statement, then turn to fix me with a
steely gaze.
No big statement? No declaration to be the ‘next big
thing’? No need. The Loud don’t prescribe to the myth that
the more you eulogise about yourself the more successful
you’ll be, as bands with lesser talent tend to do. Instead
they are happy to let their music do the talking, and their’s
is certainly getting tongues wagging around the city at
the moment, more so with the release of their first EP last
month. “We’re definitely seeing more new faces showing
up at our gigs,” says singer and guitarist Pennington Lee.
“That shows that we’re going in the right direction.”
Like The Coral, all three band members hail from our
country’s Leisure Peninsula, but that is where similarities
with the Wirral-rockers start and end. I had seen Pennington
Lee and Freeman play in their previous band, a more jazzily
Oxton, their scuzzy garage rock style is really finding some
resonance.
The dynamics of a three-piece are benefiting the songs
too, letting them evolve naturally and preventing them
from being pulled in too many different directions, with an
emphasis on a stripped-back, simplistic playing style that
creates one helluva racket (hence the name). Describing
their sound as ‘modern glam’, Lee draws a line through
their influences that connects T Rex, The Brian Jonestown
Massacre and The Black Angels, but it was their mutual
admiration for two bands in particular that really brought
them focus as a band: the fury of Knebworth-era Oasis
is there in spades, and their shadowy soundscape lends
heavily from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, giving them a
darkly threatening sound that grooves and thrashes until
your ears bleed.
Built on dirty, undulating bass-lines and the incessant
thrash-crash of the drums, The Loud’s music twists and
broils in a maelstrom of reverb, with Lee’s cutting guitars
soaring in to the mix and ratcheting up the volume still
further. Pity the bands who share their tiny attic-space
rehearsal room then. “Ha! Yeh, we do pretty much blow
psychedelic affair. The Loud are far from that and represent
them going back to basics and, with drummer Leroy
them all out of the water with this noise,” jokes Lee, the
band’s songwriter.
The
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In this cramped space they have the look of a 90s
American grunge band, stealing moments in between
school and paper rounds to sneak in to the garage and
bash out some tunes. It also lends well to their sound,
providing the acoustics needed to create that distorted
fuzz that makes them sound like they’re playing from
behind a wall of shadow.
With the lights turned down low, the boys retreat
behind their instruments ready to play, and this is where
they look most at home: any discomfort they showed
when answering questions seeps away when they start to
play, and they have a tightness, communicating more by
looks than by words. They obviously relish making music
together, which is a refreshing characteristic in a band
today; some are too busy blowing their own trumpets to
worry about picking up a guitar.
As a live prospect, you might think they would struggle
to fill a big venue when they are so used to being crammed
in to their matchbox-sized studio. But it is a credit to their
songs that they don’t look lost at all, instead swelling their
size so that they almost resemble a greyscale version of The
White Stripes, taking possession of the colours black and
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apocalyptic Five Years, are testament to this, but the real
highlights come in the glam rumble and roll of A Little
Taste Of Home and Good Intentions, sounding like a
sinister Beach Boys demanding that you dance to their
tune. The howling lyrics are spat out by Pennington Lee as
he moves through the gears, at times growling (‘You can
do what you want, yeh/You can do what you please’), at
times lamenting (‘every time I pick up a paper I see it’s bad
news’), and even occasionally showing that he does have a
generous heart too (‘Send a kiss out to every stranger who
hears this sound’).
I Am A War rolls in on the wheels of the heavy artillery
and explodes around you like a full-blown battle, with
glam shells going off in your face, and the siren-aping
guitar tearing at your eardrums. Make it through that to the
relative safety of I’m Easy, where your only danger is being
cut to ribbons by the razor-sharp guitar, and trampled to
death by the galloping rhythm, and you should be fit to
take on anything. The Loud may not be a name you’ve
heard of before now, but you will not escape their sound in
the coming months: it’s coming to get you, and you’ve got
nowhere to hide…
Loud
white and really bringing them to life with their music.
The bleak picture painted by It’s Nothing,
Nothing and the
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The Seal Cub Clu
Words: Craig G Pennington
Illustration: John Biddle
Wirral’s THE SEAL CUB CLUBBING CLUB are a unique
bunch. From their commix of music reference points to their
abstract song structures, a varied lyrical direction to mindbending artwork concepts and that name, this is a band
who defy categorisation. And indeed, that is somewhat the
point.
The SCCC bludgeoned their way into the nation’s musical
consciousness in 2005, as a result of their two debut, self
released EPs Number One In A Serious and The Seal Cub
Clubbing Club EP
EP, which were met with critical acclaim
from, amongst others, Rough Trade and Steve Lamacq.
This resulted in tours with Brakes, Field Music, British Sea
Power and a host of festival appearances.
The band’s debut LP Super Science Fiction was heavily
delayed due to legal wrangling with the group’s former
label, before finally landing in 2009 aboard Jack To Phono
Records. The album stands as one of the finest pieces
of work produced by a band from our region in years; an
abstruse post-punk mix, combining the soaring tension of
Yucatan, the prog-Kraut rumblings of Can and Super Furry
Animals at their odd-pop best.
Bido Lito caught up with Nik Glover, the band’s lead
protagonist, to gain an insight into the world of The SCCC.
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Bido Lito: For readers new to the band, how would you describe the music of The SCCC?
Nik Glover: Confusing. We tend to mash together genres as much as possible so our albums can
swing from one style to another even within songs. We’re kind of weird-indie/ambient/trip-hop.
BL: There is a depth and variation to the arrangements and the sonic landscape of The SCCC’s
music. Is this something that comes naturally, or is there a constant strive to find new sounds and
present them in interesting ways?
NG: We start with a sound and decide where that sound should naturally build to. We structure
everything else in the song around bringing out what is good in that first sound, trying to stick to
whatever first impressions and ideas sprang from hearing that sound for the first time. We never start
with lyrics, everything comes from that first moment of inspiration.
BL: Literature is key to the subject matter of The SCCC’s work and the band’s overall aesthetic.
What is your view on the relationship between popular – or not so popular – music and literature?
NG: Popularity comes and goes. 90% of the music that is popular now will be forgotten about
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whatever is big in indie/dance music that month, while
also playing host to a few stalwarts. We’re one of the older
bands in Liverpool now, which feels strange to say. There
has been peaks and troughs, but there is always enough
good bands around to pull the rest up.
ubbing Club
by all but a small section of the population by the time it’s ten years old. Our music is built on
the idea that everything is transient, and that there is no point trying to create timeless music. Art
usually becomes timeless because of the critical reaction it receives, or occasionally because it has
an extremely polarising effect on a large audience.
BL: Your material is often lyrically abstract, hung around various identifiable, common themes.
This theme strikes me as being similar to your artwork. Is this juxtaposition between the everyday
and the abstract something you strive for in both your lyrics and artwork – and I suppose in your
arrangements and song structure – as an identifiable aspect of what The SCCC is all about?
NG: The lyrics we write take themes from whatever we’re reading at the given moment, though
in the very few ‘story’ songs we do there is always a ‘real’ character at the centre of them, based
on someone we know. At the moment I’ve been reading lots of graphic novels so there is a lot of
references to super-heroic feats in our songs. We’ve been fortunate with artwork in that three very
talented artists (John ‘The Doog’ Dowswell, Jon Owen, Elley Suggett) have come along at the right
moments in our development to supply us with the right artwork. We don’t give them anything to
listen to to prepare them for ‘painting’ the music, we just give them a rough outline of the themes
involved and trust that they’ll produce something extraordinary.
BL: What impact do you feel being a band from the Wirral has on the music and outlook of The
SCCC? Has it also had an impact on your relationship with the scene in Liverpool?
NG: It used to make us feel a bit seperate from the Liverpool scene, but since three out of five of
us live in Liverpool now it doesn’t make much difference. We know a lot of the Liverpool bands so we
do feel a bit more part of a scene, even if it’s a constantly changing one.
BL: You have been involved in the Merseyside and UK music scene for many years now. How
would you regard the strength and depth of the current local scene?
NG: Liverpool changes every year, depending on fashion. Like all British city-scenes, it mirrors
BL: From the current crop of Liverpool bands, which of
these musical peers would you say you share an affinity
with?
NG: We’ve never really had a group of bands around
us playing similar music, I don’t think we’ve influenced
many people to try, so I wouldn’t say we share an affinity
with anyone. Other bands we like or respect haven’t really
changed, The Laze, Indica Ritual, Balloons, aPAtT, Hot Club,
Wave Machines, Married to the Sea, all of them are very
good bands.
BL: I can imagine that the release of Super Science
Fiction was quite a liberating experience. Was this the
case?
NG: It’s hard to feel liberated after such a long, painful
process. It does feel good to have it finally out.
BL: What has been your take on the critical reaction to
Super Science Fiction?
NG: It was OK, for what we got. We were lucky to get
a lot of radio play from 6Music which has really helped
raise our profile in certain circles. It polarised the people
who reviewed it in that everyone liked certain bits and
couldn’t understand why we’d done other bits. The bits
that polarised people were always different, some people
liked the poppier stuff on it, some people only liked the
weirder stuff. That’s the reaction I wanted.
BL: How would you say your new material differs from
the band’s work on Super Science Fiction?
NG: It’s a lot nastier, and a lot more studied. There’s more
words, faster lyrics, faster guitars and a lot more synths. We
haven’t gone all 80’s.
After the turmoil and drawn out nature of Super Science
Fiction’s release, its been extremely pleasing to see The
SCCC emerge this year with new material – in the form of
frenetic new single Made Of Magic - a flurry of live shows
and a session on the ever supportive Marc Riley’s 6Music
show. Many bands would have simply fallen apart as
a result of the drawn out legal jousting and emotional
baggage emanating from the impasse. Luckily, The SCCC are
thick skinned chaps. I asked Nik what their perseverance
said about the band and he replied simply, “We’re mugs”.
Thank goodness for that.
myspace.com/thesealcubclubbingclub
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The Sand Band
Photos: Jennifer Pellegrini
15
Around 10 years ago, when I was an annoying, opinionated,
scruffy-headed mid-teen (some may say little has changed) I
used to go into a music shop in Wallasey most weekends. I
played on the guitars incessantly, demanding that the shop
assistant get each and every instrument down from the
walls for me to pluck away at in my own endearingly awful,
ham-fisted fashion. On one occasion, I was perplexed when
the shop assistant informed me that I couldn’t play on them
anymore, as I was pretty unlikely to ever buy one.
After about ten minutes of chatting with THE SAND BAND’s
David McDonnell (guitar and vocals) and Jay Sharrock
(drums), it turns out that David was the very shop assistant
who told me to sling my demanding hook.
“I’m so sorry man” he offers, with a genuine regret in his
voice. “The guy who ran the shop was a nightmare. He told
the staff not to let kids play the instruments. He used to
rip off old ladies taking their pianos for nothing and then
he’d stick a £1000 price on them in the shop. He was a real
bastard.”
Gladly, David’s time in music retail was short lived. A hasty
exit from said shop followed an attempted wage bribe by
the boss with a knackered second hand organ. I say gladly,
as David was free to concentrate on his own music, which
would ultimately culminate in The Sand Band.
The group started as a musical collaboration between
David and Scott Marmion (pedal steel). Their first offerings
were heard by Simon Tong – former Verve, Blur & Gorillaz
guitarist – who released Spinning Wheel on the first Butterfly
Records compilation, What The Folk? in 2007. I picked up a
copy of the compilation back then and Spinning Wheel was
a standout highlight, with its aching, Drake-ian fragility.
This was followed by The Secret Chord EP – released
on US label HappyParts Recordings in September 2008
- a warmly received, Elliot Smith inspired collection of five
tender, heartfelt home recordings, featured a cover of Just
Like Anything,
Anything a song by American folk singer Jackson C
Frank.
For anybody unfamiliar with Frank, his story is tragically
fascinating. At the age of eleven he was scarred for life and
hospitalised for seven months after an explosion at school
which killed fifteen of his class mates. When he was 21, he
received an insurance payout and left for England, where he
was active on the mid sixties folk circuit – though he was
plagued by depression his whole life.
He penned the classic, Blues Run The Game – a song
later made famous by Simon & Garfunkel, which perfectly
captures his experience of the time, as well as his deeprooted melancholy. Frank’s story is one of loneliness,
heartache and loss, all theme’s strongly apparent on The
Secret Chord.
David, “When I first gave a cassette to Scott, he said
it sounded like Jackson C Frank. I’d never heard of him
at the time. I just got into him so much, I could relate to
him musically from the subject matter of his material. He
seemed to be coming at his music in a similar way to myself.
The man is unbelievable.”
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The featuring of Frank’s Just Like Anything on The Secret Chord, is also
symbolic of the band’s musical outlook – an outlook based on art, collaboration,
community and a sense of respect for musical lineage akin to the Greenwich
Village beat poets and folk singers of the 1960s.
David, “Chuck - head of HappyParts Recordings - agreed to pay $350 to the
estate of Jackson C Frank so we could use Just Like Anything on the EP. It meant
we couldn’t press it up physically – there wasn’t enough money - and we’ve not
made a penny from the release, but it was so important to us. The guy has been
a huge, huge influence’.
In the current world of ‘cut and paste culture’, where pinching a musical
gem from the past is seen as a triumph, this outlook is starkly unique and
refreshing. The inclusion of Just Like Anything on the EP, and this story behind it,
only deepens the allure and appeal of the record.
The Sand Band release their first full length LP this spring, entitled All Through
The Night.
Night The record sees a change in direction of how the band function both
musically and collaboratively.
“The original, frail sound was one somewhat born out of necessity” says David.
“On The Secret Chord we had no bass or drums, but we did have something to
say. There is an inner gang aesthetic to the band now, we are all pulling in the
same direction. In a similar way to The Smiths, or even Shane Meadows; when
he makes a film he’s surrounded by creative talented people, all pulling in one
direction. It’s in the power of the collective…a collective strength.”
And it seems this collective strength is powerful indeed;
having finished All Through The Night just last autumn, the
band went straight into rehearsals for their next album,
When We Kiss which will follow later in 2010.
Jay, “As a band its important to document where you’re
at at various stages. You always seem to focus on the now
and the new, the songs which you’ve written this week.
With Dave writing 5 new tunes a day sometimes, it can be
quite tempting to just focus continually on new material.”
Where as When We Kiss sees the birth of The Sand Band
as ‘a band’, the fluid informal, collective nature of imminent
release All Through The Night showcases the group in a
way which would be impossible to catch again.
David, “The early recordings are a great artefact, the
footprints in the sand as to where we’re at now. Out of
respect to yourself, it’s good to put them down and release them when you can. We were mixing two records virtually simultaneously, so it’s been really important
for us to release All Through The Night now.”
All Through The Night was recorded at the band’s home studio and produced entirely by the group. However, for the sessions on When We Kiss, they decamped
to the legendary Sawmills in Cornwall – the studio where Definitely Maybe, Fools Gold and Storm In Heaven were all recorded. However, one thing didn’t change;
the band were at the desk.
David, “It’s really important to us that we produce our own work. We have a very specific mental image of how we want the record to sound. When you’re an
eighteen year old kid you don’t have the money to go out and get a producer, but you can do it yourself with an 8 track. Its really important to us that kids know
they can do it themselves. That’s when the magic happens.”
This was the first time The Sand Band wrote as a full band and put down the tracks live in three or four takes. David, “We wrote and learned all the songs as a
band before we went down to Sawmills, which was a very different experience to early Sand Band recordings. We were pretty militant about it, doing twelve hour
days non stop for two months in Elevator (rehearsal rooms on Jamaica St). When we went down to Sawmills we knew exactly what we wanted to do and how we
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wanted to make the record.”
Though the band are thrilled with the results of the
Sawmills recordings, they turned out very differently to
how they were originally intended.
David, “We were originally going to go to Sawmills to rerecord All Through The Night,
Night but we ended up doing two
months at Elevator and writing When We Kiss. It was really
exciting, but very scary at the same time. We spent twelve
grand of our own money recording the album, which was
shit scary. Luckily Deltasonic liked it and are putting it out,
but if they didn’t, we’d have released it ourselves.”
This attitude is illustrative of The Sand Band’s whole
outlook. For a band who’s music is so elegant, poised and
delicate, they have a staunchly fierce streak when it comes
to the power of independent art and music. Throughout
our interview, David and Jay enthuse about independent
fashion boutiques in Quiggans, organic café’s on Lark
Lane and the strength and support of the local music
community.
David, “Liverpool has a buried network of support and
people are very positive and excited about the record which
is very reassuring. There is a great community of people
out there in music, art, film, fashion and photography who
have something to say and will help people out.”
This isn’t a front and a veiled attempt to fly the
fashionable independent flag, they genuinely value and
believe in the essentialness of people going it alone and
forging their own culture, which is why working with a
newly independent Deltasonic Records was so attractive.
David, “We were approached by Bella Union and Parlophone, but Alan Wills at Deltasonic was straight on it. He just
wanted to release the record straight away as soon as he’d heard it. Deltasonic is a true independent now, since the split
from Sony. Its not under the same pressures as it was and they’re free to release whatever they want. Its not awash with
money, but they’re giving their bands complete freedom to do whatever they want, from the artwork, direction of the
records, production, everything. It’s a Liverpool label, for Liverpool artists and there is a trust between the label and the
bands, its both ways.”
And the second bloom of Deltasonic also comes at a time when Liverpool’s music scene is as healthy as ever and as
musically diverse as it’s been for years.
“This year is the start of an exciting new time. Along with the re-emergence of Deltasonic, the scene is as broad genre-
wise as its ever been” points out David. “With bands like The Sixteen Tonnes,
The Red Suns, The Loud, The Seal Cub Clubbing Club, Wave Pictures and Clinic
doing their new LP, its very diverse. When you think of great city scenes such as
San Francisco and Portland, they have such a mix of different styles within the
scene. In the past Liverpool has been packaged up with one specific sound, but
I do think its as diverse now as its ever been.”
One thing is for certain, that with The Sand Band leading the way, our scene
is in very safe hands. Still, a quick strum wouldn’t have hurt?
myspace.com/thesandband
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Words: Andy Hill
Illustration: Luke Avery
If you have ever looked at the endless rows of posters
plastered on billboards, roadside fences and abandoned
buildings around Liverpool, it is likely there is one name
that you have seen more often than any other. That man
has become a staple of Liverpool’s electronic music scene,
he is RICH FURNESS.
Rich is a local guy who has grown up in and around the
city, his musical influences and references are embedded
in our local culture. His musical ascent to resident DJ of
the mighty Chibuku club night began way back in the
early 1990s. After being influenced by his older brother
into listening to old rave groups like SL2 and The Prodigy,
he began to rob his compilation tapes. After spending his
adolescence in 3beat record shop looking for old Drome
and Helter Skelter mix tapes, Furness finally got his chance
to go to a live show when his older brother took him
along to a New Year’s Party in Milton Keynes. When he was
standing in the club, surrounded by 10,000 comrades, Rich
Furness had an epiphany. He recalls, “I had always wanted
to be an MC, but that night I saw Mark EG (hardcore DJ) play,
and he looked like he was having more fun than anyone in
the entire venue. I remember just watching him transfixed
and thinking ‘that’s what I want to do’.”
A year later, Rich had his first decks.
Rich’s musical influences are not too dissimilar to that
of many other dubstep and electronic DJs, he quotes David
Rodigan, Marky & Mala as 3 of his heroes. He continues to
say, “the influences on what I am actually playing at the
moment are mainly from the multi genre ‘post dubstep’
garage stuff, there’s so much good stuff around at the
moment its getting very difficult to keep track.”
He really isn’t wrong. Through speaking with Rich, it
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can quickly be ascertained that he has a vast knowledge
of the subject; he is a regular contributor to Core Mag, as
well as running his own blog. The evolution of dubstep is a
touchy area, especially for those in the inner circle, though
Rich shrugs away the animosity for the growing popularity
of his beloved music. “Its been really weird to have watched
Dubstep grow into what it has become. It’s really strange
now as I think Dubstep isn’t even Dubstep any more, the
main sounds you hear at clubs now are so far removed
from what Dubstep sounded like in 2005 when the term
was first given, tracks have just been getting more and
more aggressive and sillier, which doesn’t really bother me
because I like it all.”
This one-for-all attitude has lead Furness to being a popular
DJ around the city; you are just as likely to catch him playing
dubstep at Chibuku or Electro at Korova. His adaptability
assures him a place at the top of every promoter’s booking
slates, and he has amassed a very impressive list of support
slots. He recalls one of those nights as his best, “Warming
up for Chase & Status to 700 of the rowdiest people ever
in The Theatre at The Masque rank as some of the greatest
hours of my life.”
As I’m sure you have also noticed, Rich has one of the
best attributes for anyone associated with the business: he
simply loves the music. He revealed that, “I don’t think in the
future I could possibly work somewhere doing something
that isn’t involved in music without becoming clinically
depressed within an hour.”
It is this level of respect and admiration for his music that
signals Rich Furness out as one of our great city’s leading DJs.
myspace.com/djfurness
Deltasonic
Records
Photo: Jennifer Pellegrini
Since releasing the debut EP by The Coral in 2001,
DELTASONIC RECORDS have basically provided the
soundtrack to Merseyside for the past 9 years. Now
completely independent, Craig G Pennington met up with
label boss and Deltasonic founder ALAN WILLS to talk
about the challenges facing the music industry and the
future of the label…
In July 2001, Deltasonic released the Shadows Fall EP by
The Coral. This predated the first ipod by three months and
came out at a time when the music industry was still, on
the surface at least, sitting pretty smug. True, there were
rumblings of discontent, largely growing from the whole
Napster affair, but that little niggle had successfully been
nipped in the bud. There was no myspace, facebook or
twitter. Going by the rabid consumption of these digital
hangouts by the folks of today, it’s hard to remember what
people actually did with themselves back in 2001?
Digital radio was in its embryonic infancy, BBC 6Music
hadn’t even been launched yet and blogging was about
as commonplace within sixth form common rooms as bird
watching, that of the aviary variety.
So, as the trains start rolling into Lime Street, carrying
with them some of the music industry’s biggest noises for
Sound City, what is the state of the industry in 2010 and
how have we got here? Alan was only too happy to help
me out.
Bido Lito: We constantly hear about the music industry
being in turmoil, how would you say this has come
about?
Alan Wills: “Essentially, the cat is out of the bag. In the
old days it was all about the song, before recorded music
there was publishing and you would buy the sheet music
for the hit song of the day, to play at home on the piano.
When disks came along, singles still outsold albums for a
long time, before it moved the other way and the album
became an art form in itself, which probably peaked around
1967 until 1982.”
“Eventually the album became diluted. In the 1980’s
when CDs came in, you had a lot of the marketing guys
running A&R at the major labels, who came with a different
approach. They didn’t really understand how to make
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records properly and wanted to market
them as cheaply as possible, which
meant getting them on the playlist at
Radio One or the equivalent network
in America, on the back of two singles
plugged to radio and a load of filler on
the album.”
BL: Which seems to be completely
evident today?
AW: “Yeah. You buy a Kaiser Chiefs
album for instance, its two singles and
a load of shit. It’s not like Dark Side Of
The Moon where its a whole album as
a piece of art, or Stravinsky’s The Rite Of
Spring which works as an entire album.
All that’s happened now is digital has
come along and kids can pick their
tracks, breaking the record up. But, if
you can release a really strong album,
kids will check it out and be like ‘Hey,
I like all these tunes, it’s cheaper for
me to buy the album than the tracks
individually.’”
BL: So where does that leave the
future of the album?
AW: “People need to make the effort
to make amazing albums and if you
can’t, you shouldn’t be in the business
of making albums. And people will
make amazing albums. Pop people on
the other hand will only really release
singles in the future.”
BL: One of the main concerns about
the future of the music business is the
reduction in investment which will
inevitably occur as the revenues in
the industry contract. What do you see
happening in that situation?
AW: “When people are going around
saying ‘fuck the record companies’ and all that, they’re
actually saying ‘fuck the bands’, because the bands will be
much worse off. A major record company is an investment
vehicle, when that vehicle becomes unprofitable, the
investment goes elsewhere and bands suffer as the money
isn’t there to develop them. If you’re currently investing in
Universal Music and the money is being used to develop
new music, but buying shares in Apple is going to yield
more money, as an investor, where are you going to put
your money? People will just stop investing if you take the
incentive to make money away. Young musicians need a
recording deal to pay for their equipment, to pay to go on
tour, to pay to travel the world, to pay for John Leckie to
record their new album, its not the labels who’ll lose out,
it’s the young artists. Nobody else is willing to pay for that
development.”
BL: But with illegal downloading now being such a huge
issue for the industry, it makes it incredibly difficult for
record companies to make their money back from purely
selling records. How do you see that issue being tackled?
AW: “I think fine every Internet Service Provider (ISP)
that allows people to download illegal music. They are
making billions of pounds a year providing pirates with a
getaway truck. You can track every illegal download so for
every one you can charge the ISP 79 pence. It’s not the
music industry’s responsibility, this is theft. If people were
walking into HMV and stealing records, it would be HMV’s
responsibility to stop it. It’s up to the ISP’s, but this is big
business, Google and all the ISPs are much, much bigger
than the record industry and the US Government won’t
step in, they don’t really care.”
BL: Deltasonic was for a number of years affiliated
with Sony. What happened to result in the label going it
alone?
AW: “We were with Sony for seven years and towards the
end of the term they wanted to renegotiate and extend the
deal. Rob Stringer had gone to America and Muff Winwood
had retired, these were the guys I had dealt with originally
at the label. The new people who’d come in didn’t share
the same vision that Rob and Muff had. I fealt that we’d
never make a great record with those people. They were
so focussed on Radio One and that is not the business I’m
interested in being in, if we get played on it great, but I’m
not interested in sitting down and trying to make records
to get played on Radio One.”
BL: So Sony’s influence was adversely effecting the
direction of the label?
AW: “Towards the end it got really boring. Making music
should be fun, that’s why we do it. When you start selling
records you can apply marketing, but until you’ve got a
business it’s purely artistic. There was a lot of messing
around with The Zutons third album and the band were
put it a really shit position they shouldn’t have been. If it
was down to us Tony Visconti, Bowie’s producer, was going
to make the record, but the people at Sony, naming no
names, changed it all.”
BL: Is that part of the deal when working with majors?
People are widely sceptical?
AW: “ No, its not down to working with majors, its down
to working with wankers. There’s some really good people
working at majors, they just weren’t at Sony at that time.
They’re interested in making money, not music, and they’re
not very good at it. They’re sitting in a building where one
guy is really good at it called Simon Cowell. I’ve got no
problem with Simon Cowell, he doesn’t say he’s into music,
he’s honest, says he’s into money.”
BL: So what is Deltasonic’s role in the whole process
now and where do you see Deltasonic in the future?
AW: “We’re in the business of finding new artists and
developing those artists and we’re quite hardcore with it.
Its like if you’re playing football, you’ve got to be George
Best, if you want to be average player you won’t go down
in history. If you’re not aiming at making a truly great
record, what’s the fucking point?”
“Deltasonic will no longer just be a record company,
we’ve gone into publishing and management, we manage
a new band called The Red Suns, and we’ll probably go
into other services. The brand of Deltasonic will essentially
be a broader music company.”
BL: In a similar way to Rough Trade, having various
different facets within the industry?
AW: “Yeah exactly and they’ve been really successful.
We, like everybody, don’t really know where the business
is going to go, but we know if you’re small you can move
really fast.”
BL: The Suzukis album is due out this year. Is the LP
ready to go?
AW: “We actually finished the album today so it’s very
exciting. We’d originally done it once, but it didn’t work. We,
the label, had made a mistake. Sometimes as a label you
need to hold your hands up and say ‘the band played great,
but the production wasn’t right’ and it’s
our responsibility, so we needed to
record it again.”
BL: That’s a pretty refreshing perspective
AW: “Well it’s your responsibility,
you’d be letting the band down
otherwise. The band are releasing a
record that in history is always there
as a representation of them, and you’re
responsible for it.”
BL: The Coral have just announced
details of their new LP. How do you see
their career developing from here?
AW: “I remain a huge Coral fan, but, I
just don’t think they’ve made an album
which is as good as they are.”
BL: Even the first one?
AW: “Even the first two. People who
saw the band live at that time will
know that the records, though amazing
in parts, aren’t as good as they were.
Don’t get me wrong, The Coral’s debut
is a classic first album, but its not quite
as good as The Stone Roses first album,
yet the band were every bit as good as
The Stone Roses live at the time.”
“The difference between a really
good, amazing band and a truly great,
classic band, is delivering that album.
Forever Changes, What’s Going On, Pet
Sounds, Sergeant Peppers, y know,
the album for all time. This new record
by The Coral, Butterfly House,
House is the
moment where they’ll be come a truly
great band, as opposed to a really,
really good band. The Coral are the best
band in the country yet release their
great work.”
BL: Would you say that Deltasonic is
a label for Liverpool? Could it be from
anywhere else?
AW: “It’s fundamentally an opinion
on music but, the reality is it’s from
Liverpool and based on the early work
with The Coral and what we built on
that. Even though we’re more inspired
by Factory Records than anything else.
There’s a lot of boring, retro nonsense
in Liverpool. Everyone goes on about
how amazing The Beatles were, but
they were focussed on the future,
they weren’t sat around making
21
Revolver going ‘we want to sound like Buddy Holly’. Listen
to Tomorrow Never Knows, they’re constantly moving
forward, people need to focus on that part of The Beatles
career and stop regurgitating this retro nonsense because
its bollocks.”
BL: What is it you love then about Factory?
AW: “Firstly, Joy Division. Secondly, the artwork. Thirdly,
it was the fact that Tony Wilson could take a band like The
Happy Mondays and get across to people that it was art
and wax lyrical about why Shaun Ryder was a poet. It was
the fact that Tony Wilson loved Manchester and everything
he did hat a root in the area he was from. I love that Tony
Wilson didn’t have contracts with his bands, even though
it lost him £40 million, I completely admire him. If he
didn’t do it, I’d have been stupid enough to do it. He was
a visionary. Tony Wilson and Factory will be around for a
long, long time in popular culture.”
BL: So you share a northern affinity with Factory?
AW: “It’s why I like northern bands, it’s my culture and I
understand it more. I guarantee you one thing, if Nirvana
were from England, they’d be living somewhere north of
Birmingham, that is a fact of life. The Velvet Underground
would have been from the north of England. You know
for a fact that The Smashing Pumpkins would be from
London. You can go around the world, Can or Kraftwerk
would definitely have been from Manchester, Liverpool
or Glasgow, certainly wouldn’t have come from Swindon.
It’s a northern mindset that translates to the rest of the
world.”
BL: But when we talk about great bands and truly great
albums, Factory only ever had one truly great band.
AW: “Who’s that?”
BL: Joy Division
AW: “Yeah you’re right. But they then went on to serve
the rest of Factory and that’s brilliant. And we’ve had The
Coral who are a great band and that legacy will go onto
serve something else. I think The Red Suns will be The
Echo & The Bunnymen of their generation.”
It would be easy for Deltasonic Records to rest on what
they’ve achieved, sit smug in their Mersey royalty and
become a pastiche of themselves. But, in much the same
way as Alan is infuriated by our city’s pang for nostalgia
and encourages musicians to drive their creativity forward,
the label is set to be anything other than retrospective.
After our conversation, Alan played me three songs from
Butterfly House,
House The Coral’s new LP. When he says this
record is set to be their truly great work, their Forever
Changes…I tell you what…he just might be right.
deltasonicrecords.com
www.bidolito.co.uk
bidolito
bidolito.co.uk
9:H><C7NG#K:C>6G9
JOIN THE SIXTEEN TONNES AND FRIENDS FOR THE FINEST SELECTION OF
COUNTRY, BLUES, GOSPEL & ROCK N ROLL SOUL THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC
L L L # B N H E 6 8 : # 8 D B $ A > K : G E D D A 8 D B E 6 C N H I D G :
Illustration: Rachel Veniard
THE COMPANY STORE
is a monthly blues,
gospel, rock n roll, soul, country, doo wop and Americana
knees-up run by roots enthusiasts Danny ‘Sixteen Tonnes’
Roberts and John ‘Big John’ Bayliss. Since 2008, the club
has provided a haven for our city’s whiskey sippin’ blues
lovers and a safe house from the carnage of Slater Street
on a Saturday night. But, this isn’t a snooty stare down
reserved for those in the Nashville-sanctum, no sir, The
Company Store have played host to some of the finest
new bands from across the UK, with
a real mix of Alabama Stetson and
Adidas Samba clad folks along for the
hoedown.
When Bido Lito met up with Danny
for a brew on Bold Street to talk
socialist mantras, gingham tablecloths and the blues, we
caught him in the run up to their night featuring Howard
Eliott Payne, “its crazy in the run up to the shows man,
dead busy like, but we love it.” Well cool. Let’s get down
to it then.
The Company Store was launched as an opportunity for
Danny and John to provide an environment for people to
enjoy the kind of music that they obsess over and also
to create an ideal setting for Danny’s band, The Sixteen
Tonnes, to ply their American rhythm and blues wares.
“We’d talked about doing a night for a long time because
we thought there was nobody in Liverpool doing a proper
country, Americana, roots club” said Danny. “There’s some
in Manchester and in London there’s a few, but there was
nothing here. We wanted it to be different from nights
we’d done in the past and provide an environment for
people to listen to The Sixteen Tonnes and the kind of
music which we’re influenced by.”
The club was set up to be more than just a straight up,
four bands on a stage, led by a half arsed facebook group,
middle of the highway band night. The Company Store
have recently included a vintage fashion stall as part of the
night, as well as their regular mix of star-spangled quirks,
which Danny filled us in on; “We always announce our line
ups at the club a month in advance and are meticulous
about our playlists. We decorate the venue with Americana
themed posters, have gingham tablecloths, we give out
free shots of whiskey at the start of the evening as well,
all little things that people don’t do, but make a difference
when people come to the night.”
As well as the guarantee of sour mash, we can let you
in on another little secret that Danny and John don’t shout
about, early comers to the club also get in cheaper than
the advertised six buck door tax, making that bourbon
taste all the bit sweeter. All these extra ends that the boys
go to, only help to demonstrate the
passion they have for the night and for
the music which they showcase.
The Company Store takes its name
from an American country classic,
Sixteen Tons (can you see the links
y’all?). “The name comes from a Merle
Travis song Sixteen Tons, which was
also the inspiration for the band’s name.
Johnny Cash did it, Bo Diddley did it,
Tennessee Ernie Ford did it and Stevie
Wonder did it” Danny informed us. So
the night’s name is steeped in good
pedigree. But, why was it this song
that Danny chose to lead his band, and
s u b s e q u e n t l y,
the club with?
“My Nan died
recently
and,
when I was a
kid, she was the
main music influence in the family;
she got me into Elvis and all that.
But my granddad used to always sing
Sixteen Tons, he used to sit there at
the dinner table with you sat on his
knee and he’d sing it a’capella. Over
the years I realised what it was and
when I started thinking of a name for
the band I was like ‘yeah, that can be
it’” said Danny. The club then grew as
a natural progression from that, with
the lyrical content of the song being
so perfect. Also, Tennessee Ernie
Ford, who recorded one of the most
famous versions of the song, has
been inducted into both the country
and gospel halls
of fame in the
US, so maybe
he symbolises
the
night’s
musical pallet
pretty
well?
“Yeah definitely”
offered Danny. “We’ve had bluegrass
bands and barbershop bands, anything
that has that roots feel.”
“When we started the night we did
four posters, using the lines from the
song, and had them all around town”
said Danny. “The first one was ‘You
load sixteen tons, what do you get?’
the second was, ‘Another day older and
deeper in debt,’ the third was, ‘Saint
Peter, don’t you call me, ‘cause I can’t
“...there was nobody in
Liverpool doing a proper country,
Americana, roots club”
23
go,’ and the fourth was, ‘I owe my soul to the company
store’. They were just random posters all over town.”
As well as providing some solid gold tag lines, such as
the club’s ‘sell your soul to the company store’ staple, in
many ways, the lyrical content of the song was topically
hitting, especially given the fact that the country was
teetering on the brink of economic collapse when these
posters went up around town. So, does this starkly
symbolise the relevance of the blues today? It seems
amazing that a record about a coal miner recorded in 1946
could seem so relevant over sixty years later on the other
side of the globe?
“Yes definitely, When we first put the posters up,
especially” Danny confirmed. “‘Another day older and
deeper in debt’, man it was at the back end of 2008 and
it was just starting to hit home how bad this climate was
going to get. I can only imagine people looking at those
posters and thinking it was some kind of socialist rally…..
which in a way I suppose it is.”
And, The Company Store’s posters have remained an
integral part of the night’s identity since it started. “Me
and Rachel (Veniard) sat down early on when we started
working on the posters” Danny said. “She specialises
in company branding and typography and just got the
logo perfect. The posters have lots of references and the
colours are always strong. I’ll have an idea and she’ll go
away and come back with a variation on it which is always
perfect. The posters have definitely affected posters in the
city, lots of people have gone for that 50s, vintage rock
n roll vibe with their posters since. It’s like when a good
band come along, people copy, and there’s definitely been
some of that.”
The Company Store has made The Zanzibar on Seel
Street its home. With the live venue scene constantly
changing around the city and various new spots springing
up in recent years, what is it about The Zanzibar that
endures? “Sound, it’s all about the sound” Danny
confirmed. “Andy and Pat (resident
engineers) just know the room in
there so well. I played my first gig in
The Zanzibar when I was 16 and have
known Tony (Zanzibar owner) for
years. He’s backed us and lets us do
what we want.”
So, its coming up to two years now
since The Company Store started. I was keen to know
what Danny’s secret is to promoting a club with long term
form and success?
“That’s a good question. I ain’t got no secrets man!” He
laughed. “Probably hard work, focus and commitment,
which I lack to be honest! We do it so we’ve got somewhere
to go on a Saturday night, have a bevy and listen to some
good music. That’s the bottom line for me.”
Well man, saddle up the steed and tune up the banjo….
cos’ we’ll drink to that.
myspace.com/liverpoolcompanystore
“I can only imagine people looking
at those posters and thinking it was
some kind of socialist rally…..which
in a way I suppose it is.”
www.bidolito.co.uk
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24
The Cubical
of Norway has been colourful to say the least. We played Oslo,
Trondheim and Bergen and the reaction has been really amazing,
really something,” says singer Dan Wilson. “The Netherlands ran
smoothly and was absolutely amazing too. We have met great
people in Holland and Norway.”
Sound. So, what next? “We are all set to record the next
album in the summer and have the material in place… its road
tested too! We’ll be working with the talented and dashing
Keith Thompson, so it will be a home grown affair this time,”
says Dan. “We’re hoping that the positivity from the first
album will be a great platform to build on. With all the
collective bullshit that is the music industry, the easiest
and most enjoyable thing is writing and its always come
natural to us. So here’s to album two!”
myspace.com/thecubicalthecubical
Bicycle Thieves
The name? Well it comes from Vittorio De Sica’s Italian
neorealist film about a poor man searching the streets of Rome
for his stolen bicycle which he needs in order to work. Pretty
self-explanatory really.
Anyway back to our friends The Thieves, who weren’t
responsible for that poor man’s two-wheeled loss. Their
recent London debut went down a treat and they’ve been
busy in the studio hammering out songs before they
tackle a hectic summer that includes an inevitable slot
at Liverpool Sound City where their appearance last year
earned rave reviews.
myspace.com/bicyclethievesuk
Sound Of Guns
off: their anthemic guitar rock is reminiscent of early Bono and
Edge (before the egos landed), and exhibits all the heart and fire
that propelled U2 to the very top. There are even flecks of The
Verve and other Britpop luminaries in their sound that give you
that eerie haven’t I heard this before? sensation.
Latest single Alcatraz follows this trend, a glorious piece
of rock’n’roll that is destined to be perfect summer’s day
listening, and shows that they have added a punch to their
songwriting. All this makes this month’s album release
seem all the more exciting. Check them out live at Sound
City at The Kazimier on May 22nd, before the heavy artillery
arrives and claims them for their own.
myspace.com/soundofguns
Bagheera
Bagheera are a talented trio who are barely out of their teens
and are students of music at the University of Liverpool. Tom
Cowcher is the principal Tweeter (It’s all about engaging with the
new technology peoples) and he does the business alongside
Sam Twidale and Jacob Silkin.
Circadian Clock catches your ear for it’s beautiful opening
harmony which gives one a feeling of walking on water...
but obviously you’re not so don’t try it at home. Anyway the
point is that this is gorgeous stuff which will be played not
once but twice at Liverpool Sound City. Check the listings
for dates at The Kazimier and their own Guild of Students,
naturally.
myspace.com/wearebagheera
The Cubical are what happens when you make music
without a care in the world. Guitars rage, drums pound and
vocal chords get shredded. Tom Waits sneaks his head into
the rehearsal room for a nose… and decides he can’t live
with the noise. No compromise? No problem.
The group released debut record Come Sing These
Crippled Tunes last year and everyone who heard it went
mad: Mojo loved it, The Guardian got behind it and the
lads gathered a following. The record was produced by
Dave Sardy, the man behind Oasis’ last two psychedelic
mushrooms. They’ve gone from strength to strength since
and are just home from touring Europe: “Our recent tour
This Liverpool based five-piece have been getting plenty
of positive press in 2010 and, in some quarters, for being
not at all like your typical band of our city.
The Thieves, as we’ll affectionately refer to them,
certainly pull off the big coats, shaggy hair, heads down,
get on with the music look and some say their music is all
a bit too gloomy, but then are these not gloomy times?
Their recently released first single Stop To Start made
the NME’s top 10 songs of the week and it’s real crowd
pleaser with a solid and somewhat infectious chorus.
It would be fair to say that there is hardly a more talkedabout band in the city today than Sound Of Guns, with
Radio 1, NME and even Soccer AM all recently clambering
over each other to throw plaudits at them. The reason for
this seems to stem less from their not-so-unique brand of
swagger-and-swoon ‘big rock’, and more from the fact that
their music grabs you by the balls. The fire and passion
that the band put in can be heard in every shimmering riff
and battered drum, and this gives an urgency to Sound Of
Guns’ music that is seldom heard any more.
They have been likened to U2, but don’t let that put you
Some interesting animal related artwork is what catches
your eye about this bunch initially. Not surprising given
their name is also that of the leopard in Rudyard Kipling’s
The Jungle Book. Useless information aside, the Liverpool
based trio are currently unsigned but have an E.P. called
Hollow Home which they are offering for free. You should
get involved with it.
This is steady new age, some might say, progressive folk
that involves two keyboards, guitars, synths and different
drum samples to create an interesting and original sound.
www.bidolito.co.uk
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Words - The Cubical: Alan O’Hare // Bicycle Thieves: Hugh O’Connell // Sound of Guns: Christopher Torpey // Bagheera: Hugh O’Connell
Dire Wolfe
You may remember the days of crunchy, chronically
thoughtful indie-pop with fond memories. You remember,
it was right before all the atmospheric dub-folk-surfer-grrl
renaissance took over your play list, without even so much
as a warning or apology. There we go. Dire Wolfe will
remind you why you loved all that no nonsense, straight
forward shameless indieness, and do it with heart warming
and enthusiastic style. Front man Dan Croll has the caramel
vocals of someone beyond his years, a bit like Good Books
before they cracked under the pressure of puberty and were
nowhere near as painfully quaint. Second guitarist Joe Wills
plays with the starry eyed excitement that people are watching
25
him play guitar, and more often that not, enjoying it. In truth,
Dire Wolfe are not a new concept, thousands of young men
have tried and failed in the past – the Casablancas state of
indie-stardom always out of reach. But while most band’s
primitive years seem to blend together with tracks that
offer no significance or cause to remember them, Dire Wolfe
seem to play for the moment, having a good time without
pretending to be ‘unique and individual artists with creative
needs, man’. Starting life with a hand-full of good songs
and assured performances to match is a promising start.
In a time when it pays to be different, weird, wacky with
something to prove, this Liverpool band will let that go over
their heads and play the type of music that they probably
hummed in year 11 English Literature.
myspace.com/direwolfeband
The Last Gambados
from their website) zip along like The Coral when they care.
The record is good - but it’s live where The Last Gambados
really thrive though. Three part harmonies, beats that nod at
your favourite dub records and meandering arrangements;
all mixed in with a dash of taut Telecaster stabs, punching
horns and a way with a chorus. So far, so dead sixties. Or
should that be, so far, so Dead 60s?
Not quite. But certainly more the former: the songs are
good and the singing is from the top- table. Throw in a bit of
grace and charm and they’ll have everything. But we can’t
have that. Can we?
www.thelastgambados.com
The Neat
force to be reckoned with. Citing a range of influences from
The Fall to Radiohead, their short, perfectly formed though
frayed to retain that nonchalant edge, tracks make it hard to
pick a stand out, though debut single In Youth is Pleasure is
a must hear and is worthy of becoming a dance floor filler.
Handpicked by music mogul Steve Lamacq to perform
at legendary Maida Vale studios, they played the BBC
introducing stage at Leeds and Reading last summer,
looking incongruously yet quietly confident for a stage
usually wracked with nerves, throwing angular shapes left,
right and centre amidst the refrain. You can catch them at
The Jacaranda during Sound City to see for yourself. Neat.
myspace.com/uptheneat
Everything Everything
first band to deliver on this promise for a long time. Playful
piano keys, funky bass lines and even a cappella segments
are graced with the soaring falsetto of lead singer Jonathan
Everything to create irresistible dance numbers which would
get Stephen Hawking’s foot tapping.
The recent single MY KZ UR BF
BF, a tale of adultery discovered,
is a prime example of the lyrical artistry Everything Everything
command. When a song uses a complex scientific device such
as a Faraday cage as a metaphor for a relationship then you
know you’re onto something a little different. The band is
set to tour the UK extensively for the rest of 2010 joining the
NME Radar Tour. Catch them at Sound City supporting Delphic.
myspace.com/everythingeverythinguk
Sick of Scouse bands and their La’s-esque harmonies?
Us too. The Last Gambados are the same - but a little
bit different. In a good way… It’s as if Mike Mills has left
Athens, GA and REM; arrived on Seel Street, just in time to
join in with a Beach Boys tribute night at The Zanzibar. That
good? Well, maybe…
The five-piece released their debut record The Way We See
in late 2009 and it created a small stir by sounding familiar,
yet brand new, all at the same time. Songs like Hollywood
Hollywood,
Neverman and Leafspring (available free as an MP3 download
I’ve always lamented not growing up in an age when
pirate radio defiantly ruled the airwaves, mods were
terrifying residents of quiet seaside towns or when punks
could be caught sneering on every other street corner. There
are but a mere handful of artists around today that for me
redeem this anticlimax of a generation, The Neat could easily
be one of them. Hailing from Hull, this impossibly talented
quartet clad in patterned jumpers and plaids are a muchanticipated breath of fresh air in a year which has seen the
death of icon and punk connoisseur Malcolm McLaren and
the proposed closure of BBC 6Music. The Neat are a post-punk
Manchester is moving on. It appears ‘swagger’ has been
banished from any description of new bands from down
the East Lancs paving the way for an emergence of slightly
nerdy looking musicians with an ear for a synth hook and
a disdain for ‘banging riffs’. On the back of this revolution,
Everything Everything, a four-piece currently signed to
Geffen Records, have released 3 singles to coruscating critical
reception and with an album due in August their rise does not
look likely to end. The electro tinged outfit regularly state that
they aim to avoid clichés at all cost and, though they might need
to drop the ‘same last name’ routine, they might actually be the
Words - Dire Wolfe: Sean Fell // The Last Gambados: Alan O’Hare // The Neat: Bethany Garrett // Everything Everything: David Lynch
www.bidolito.co.uk
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26
Liverpool
Sound
City
Words: Sean Fell
McCulloch performs at the St Georges Hall on 22nd May as
well as taking part In the Conference. They both provide
the warm and knowing faces in a sea of new talent who
are scratching at the stage doors to run away with your
imagination and, hopefully, your heart.
Bands that are capable of running
away with your internal organs
include HOLY FUCK, a band from
Ontario, Canada, who use anything
that can be plugged in to make some
random, yet beautiful electronic
music. Their flexible take on song
structure and set lists provides a truly
exciting, fast paced show, which hits
Static Gallery on 20th May. Liverpool’s
own WAVE MACHINES, fresh back
from a sterling effort at SXSW, head
to The Kazimier 20th May and, with
their varied sound, promise a special
night. The energetic, London-based
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT bring their
pulsating party-tracks to the Kazimier,
19th May, at the end of a European tour. The band released
their first LP on Domino Records at the beginning of March;
their first two albums received strong reviews from both
sides of the Atlantic.
The Sound City festival as we know it is a seed from
the SXSW tree in Austin, Texas, borrowing heavily from the
flagship festival’s core aims - bring people who want to
play music to the people who are looking to sign some
talent. It’s a relationship that has flourished since the
beginning of time, overcoming Simon Cowell’s parade of
Christmas number one chasers. Add a crowd who have
an unquenchable thirst for new music, and we have some
Three years ago, SOUND CITY organisers paid £100 to
bring Florence and her unheard of Machine to Liverpool
for one of her first festival appearances. She’ll command
a lot more than that today but it shows LSC may be
onto something when it comes to introducing new and
alternative talent before they’re dragged through the
mainstream. This is a new music festival that could change
your life, whether you’re on stage on in front of it. Excited?
We are.
This year will see the old-guard
of British indie prop up the festival
with IAN McCULLOCH of Echo And
The Bunnymen glory performing and
debating key issues in contemporary
music with other heavyweights. THE
FALL, fronted by Mark E. Smith will
showcase their latest album Your
Future Our Clutter at the O2 Academy
on 19th May, due to be released on
Ian McCulloch
Domino Records. In the same vein, Ian
BIDO LITO’S TOP 10
If you were to pick ten shows to catch at Sound City 2010, we’d suggest it was these. Clearly some will clash, so it’s not all that practical, but we’re
listomaniacs at Bido Lito and couldn’t help ourselves. So, here you go -
• • • • • GIL SCOTT HERON @ The Philharmonic Hall
THE FALL @ o2 Academy
BRITISH SEA POWER with THE BICYCLE THIEVES, THE SAND BAND and THE
RED SUNS @ The Masque Theatre
HOLY FUCK with MAX TUNDRA, DOGSHOW and INDICA RITUAL
@ Static Gallery
WILD BEASTS with ESBEN & THE WITCH, FLASHGUNS and BAGHEERA
@ The Kazimier
www.bidolito.co.uk
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• • • • • BLOOD RED SHOES with TITUS ANDRONICUS, MALE BONDING, CROCODILES
and FLY WITH VAMPIRES @ The Zanzibar
THE LOUD @ Mojo
SOUND OF GUNS with MY AUNTIE SAM @ The Kazimier
ERRORS with O. CHILDREN, CRYSTAL FIGHTERS, LONELADY and TEENAGERS
IN TOKYO @ The Haigh
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT with OH NO ONO, WHITE HINTERLAND and
MUGSTAR @ The Kazimier
truly exciting times right here on our doorstep. This could be the country’s
coolest city centre music festival.
“I was going to SXSW with The Coral and a few other bands I work with, but
I was always conscious that the bands were only getting one bite of the cherry
to play,” said LSC organiser, Dave Pichilingi. “We started doing parties under
the name of Sound City. It would help bands from the North West, give them
a better platform to perform on and give them a chance to
shout about what they do in Texas.”
“I don’t like it when bands do festivals just for the sake
of doing festivals. We like to work with bands who have
something to say, or at least have something new to say.
We’ll work with heritage artists as
well as new ones but we always like
them to have something to offer.”
Dave still takes bands across the
Atlantic for the indie-fest, but the
concept travels back across the water,
strongly. Urban music festivals are
nothing new, The Great Escape in Brighton has been
match making for bands and labels for some time, but
stops short of any real musical discussion, and that’s
where Sound City steps in. The concept of debating the
sounds and themes that shape our play lists is an idea
that has been used at music festivals around Europe, and
SXSW, but the Sound City team is offering a different take
on it.
“I didn’t want just another live music festival,” said
Mark E Smith
Pichilingi, “It needed to be a little more edgy so with the
conferences, we’re doing things a little differently. There’s a real opportunity
for the audience to engage with the speakers on stage, for a real two-way
debate with the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
Industry legend SEYMOUR STEIN, the man who discovered Madonna and
signed The Smiths, Talking heads and The Ramones to his Sire Records, will
be in conversation with Ian McCulloch offering Insights and drawing on years
and years of experience. It has all the ingredients to make one big indie-superfestival - low-fi enough to be cool, yet accessible enough to showcase artists
like Paloma Faith.
Crucially though, this is the first year of Create Sound City, the part of the
festival that is designed to not only open the door for people who want to get
into the industry, but offer some insight into what’s on the
other side of it. As Pichilingi put it, it’s the part that “will
change lives”.
With bands eager to show their worth, labels looking
to unearth something special, it seems everything is in
place for four days of exciting new music. The beauty
of this festival is that it mixes the old with the new, the
established with the bands who need to force themselves
through your veins. It’s here to help, giving you the
answers to all those questions you had when you first
plugged in your guitar or dreamt about starting a label
for the small band that you love. One of the new acts you
see will probably be pretty high on the Leeds and Reading
bill in the not so distant future. There lies the glory of
Liverpool Sound City.
liverpoolsoundcity.com
27
Hannh-Grace Fitzpatrick takes
her pick from the festival crop
Paloma Faith
Seymour Stein
Following the reign of Amy Winehouse, in the last few
years there has been a wave of pop princess wannabes.
Simultaneously less laddy but more edgy than most
of this group is PALOMA FAITH. And this contender is
set to be a success. Faith offers a modernised (3 years
is a long time in pop world) updated version of Ms
Winehouse - all that appealed (fantastic voice, great
songs) and less of the unappealing (unreliability and
annoying husband). Faith’s soulful, bluesey, yet quirky
and dramatic sound has produced the hits New York
and Stone Cold Sober. Known for her theatrical stage
performance, due to her skills gained as an burlesque
dancer and magician’s assistant, Faith defiantly knows
how to put on a show. Catch her on her way to world
domination at the Philharmonic Hall on 19th May.
The rapper SPEECH DEBELLE was the surprise Mercury
Award winner for best album of 2009 for Speech
Therapy. Up against Friendly Fires, Kasabian, Glasvegas,
Therapy
La Roux and Florence Against the Machine, competition
was clearly stiff - demonstrating the high esteem she
is held in. With this major recognition under her belt
Speech is surely set for big things in the future. Find out
what she has to offer at the o2 Academy on 21st May.
THE MACCABEES play the closing day of the festival,
22nd May at the O2 Academy. The artsy-pop band from
Brighton have built a dedicated fanbase since their
arrival in 2003 and this is reflected in the Sound City
line-up; there are going to be two shows, the evening
event plus a matinee performance for 14-18 year olds.
This way everyone gets a chance to see them. And there
will be much to see. The band has matured in age and
sound since their debut album Colour It In and their
new album Wall of Arms offers a darker side to The
Maccabees. This promises to be an excellent gig.
With fantastic tunes to rave to such as Put You In Your
Place and instant classics like Borders, its easy to see
why THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND have a large and
ever increasing following. With such enjoyable gigs (a
great mix of mad dancing and belted out lyrics) and
new album Nobody’s Coming to Save You out now,
this would be the perfect time to see The Sunshine
Underground. They play the O2 Academy on 22nd May.
Joined by the likes of ELIZA DOLITTLE and DELPHIC, this
event clearly has more to offer than simply niche or
obscure music. Great venues and reasonable prices
are just more reasons to check out the line up and get
down to Sound City.
www.bidolito.co.uk
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28
Sound City Venues
2
Stanley Theatre
Metropolitan
Cathedral
If you’re from out of town, or just need things clearing
up, we’ve included a map of the Sound City venues to help
guide you around the festival. For full gig listings and to
buy tickets and wristbands, visit liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk
3
Haigh
Ho
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5
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14 - Studio 2
15 - 33-45
16 - Mello Mello
17 - Kazamier
18 - Zanzibar
19 - Jacaranda
20 - Shipping Forecast
21 - FACT
22 - Peacock
23 - Hilton Hotel
24 - Hard Days Night Hotel
25 - Krazy House
St
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16
17
no
1 - O2 Academy
2 - Stanley Theatre
3 - Haigh
4 - Leaf Cafe
5 - Philharmonic
6 - Magnet
7 - Bumper
8 - Hannahs
9 - Static Gallery
10 - Metropolitan
11 - The Masque
12 - Mojo
13 - Heebie Jeebies
t
ee
15 r Str
r
24
23
Hilton
29
The proposed closure of BBC 6 Music has provoked widespread debate ranging from the irascible to the condemnatory, on both sides of the divide. Whatever
your perspective, its important to put the brannigan into context; will new music be critically effected if the principle radio output for it is scuppered, or has media
moved on from the heady days of radio’s role as the principle disseminator of new sounds?
Bethany Garrett and Hugh O’Connell lock horns….
F PORTLA
O
E
N
L
T
ACE
PL
THE
BA
T
It is just under a month since the decision to close
BBC 6 Music was announced and on a wet weekend
outside Broadcasting House in London, the
station’s DJs Adam Buxton and Liz Kershaw
lead the protests.
On Twitter #SaveBBC6Music is
trending again and the inevitable
Facebook group has over 171,000
members. But what it all boils
down to, when you, for a moment,
disregard the public outcry, the
Facebook group, the editorial
from Lily Allen and the criticism
of the closure from David Bowie, is
how relevant is the station in reality?
6 Music launched in March 2002
in a blaze of glory as the BBC dragged
itself into the digital age with a wave of
optimism and a lot of tax payers money. A
total of £39.9m has been spent on the station
to date.
Has it been worth it? Well, only one in five UK
residents were actually aware the station even existed
before the closure was announced and it had fewer than
700,000 listeners at the end of last year.
The campaign to save it is receiving a fair amount of bandwagon jumpers.
Just look at Shadow Culture Minister Ed Vaizey who first claimed that closing
the station would be “intelligent and sensible” before listening to it in light of
the public outcry and then declaring himself an “avid listener”. At least Culture
Secretary Ben Bradshaw was more honest when he said 6 Music is: “A bit too
rocky for me.”
The more emotive defences of 6 Music include former presenter Phill
Jupitis’ whose show was the first ever broadcast on the station. He wrote in
The Guardian that the closure was “a slap in the face to thousands of licencepayers.” A slap in the face to the small percentage of the licence fee payers
who actually listen to the station yes but what about everyone else? Other
arguments suggest closing the station would deny an outlet for many up and
coming artists.
But with such a plethora of other outlets out there, not least online, what
difference is it really going to make if you cut one of them? This was the
argument put to me by one No. 1 artist, who was told by her record company
not to speak about the closure. She said that whilst it was sad to see the station
go: “I think that people need to realise that there’s loads of ways of getting new
music…the closure is not the be all and end all.”
There will be many more arguments for and against the axing of 6 Music
right up until when the BBC Trust decides what is going to happen.
The campaign will continue apace, the fight goes on but if the station is
saved, will its listenership rise anymore than its current level? Can 6 Music grow
beyond its current status as niche? If so, great.
But if not, was it really worth saving in the first place?
Hugh O’Connell
D
Radio has always been my preferred method of
discovering new music. I’ve always found it
hopelessly romantic, the lack of visuals enabling
listeners to create their own discernment
of the music that they hear before any
distasteful or simply badly-directed
music video or overly-pretentious
blog causes them to judge the
artist in question before they’ve
barely took the time out to listen
to them. Musicians have feelings
too, you know (ask Morrissey,
but be careful - he might throw
flowers at you).
Not only is radio a haven free of
musical prejudice, but it’s also passive;
you can listen to the radio whilst taking
part in any of the myriad of tomfoolery
we all get up to on a daily basis. To put it
simply, when it comes to discovering new
music or reigniting that lost love for an obscure
yet classic gem, radio will always be my first love,
which is why I’m disappointed in the BBC for believing
that it’s acceptable to axe both 6 Music and the Asian Network.
How Mark Thompson, the current Director-General of the BBC, believes that this
is forward thinking I have no idea when one station consistently does what
no other station does; plays music by creative artists presented by creative
broadcasters and the other, in this melting pot of a country, promotes cultural
diversity without being secular - a feat in itself that the BBC should be immensely
proud of.
If the BBC think that those who listen to 6 Music will contentedly be herded
into listening to Radio 1 and Radio 2, they are hiding behind a delusionary
wall; 6 Music is a dulcet oasis amidst the drone of other radio stations (both
those funded by the license payer and commercial). The shows are original, the
presenters witty, warm and implausibly knowledgeable of the music they play
and the guests equally appreciative. It’s no wonder a range of artists including
Liverpool’s own Ian McNabb, legend David Bowie and indie heartthrobs The
Maccabees have been quick to support 6 Music; it’s a platform for new artists
and it capitalises on the copious archive sessions that the BBC has at its disposal
(a word I use with relish).
Even Domino Records, one of the UK’s most prominent and successful
independent labels has issued a statement condemning the proposed closure,
including quotes from the artists themselves who all seem to say the same
thing; that there are certain artists who would have nowhere to go for that
all-important radio airplay should 6 Music be discontinued. They’re not wrong
either. Though the music itself would still be out there, the opportunities for
up and coming bands lusting after the chance to have their music heard would
sadly become a more limited affair. This is why 6 Music should stay, so that
it may continue to introduce pertinent and exuberant artists to the public on
both a national and international level, using the BBC as their foundation for
promoting excellence in music for many years to come.
Bethany Garrett
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30
SMALL T
ON HOP
ALAN O’HARE ON GIL SCOTT-HERON C
Photos: Mischa Richter
“Wherever great rock music is being
made, there is the shadow of Bob
Dylan.”
Bruce Springsteen said that.
It is only right to point out, then,
that wherever pop and politics are
mixed with great music, the shadow
of GIL SCOTT-HERON looms large.
Especially in this century, a time when
the biggest selling music in the world
is derived from a genre created and
defined by the Chicago-born poet.
The high priest of hip-hop? Some
would argue that. Others would
simply call him a great human being.
Or a prince of perception. We’ll just call
him a legend.
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Gil Scott-Heron is in town and
don’t we know it. Tickets for his
comeback gig at the Phil have sold
out; anticipation is rising and the town
is full of tales of the last few times
Heron visited Merseyside.
You’ve all heard stories of the noshows and his legendary artistic
temperament.
Here’s one such cracker from the
early 90s: “The gig was in the Royal
Court. I fed the band at The Gallery, a
small arts venue I used to have, while
Gil stayed in the hotel… that was a
sign of things to come,” says music
fan and Scouser Joe.
“I was in the wings watching, when
Gil came off-stage moaning about
the keyboards not being in tune with
each other (they sounded fine to us).
He never went back on and the tour
manager told the crowd that Gil was
ill and that was that. Shouts of “we
want our money back” exploded
everywhere and many did get it, I
think! Gil at his best. Great stuff…”
Great stuff?!?! That’s the rub with
Gil Scott-Heron: he’s that good,
you’ll forgive him anything and
everything. It’s never boring, see. In
an age when people pay big money
to watch a tribute band in an arena,
we desperately need great artists who
never tread the same path. Who never
need nostalgia. And who never look
back. It’s exciting.
Just like the news was that Heron,
now 61, was releasing a brand new
album and heading to Liverpool to
play it, at the start of this year.
2010 is in full swing now and I’ve
still yet to hear a better record than
I’m New Here. The album sees ScottHeron reflecting on his life with
trademark vocal power and insight,
sharing his visions among producer
(and XL label owner) Richard Russell’s
flickering, electronic soundscapes.
The pair started recording the album
in 2007 - after XL boss Russell visited
Heron during a stint in jail - with the
majority of the tunes being recorded
over the last twelve months in New
York City.
It’s a five star revelation.
With nods to Gil’s groundbreaking
late 60s and early 70s work alongside
collaborator Brian Jackson, I’m New
Here is packed with vital proto-raps
that could only come from one of
20th century music’s most important
figures. Tunes like New York Is Killing
Me and On Coming From A Broken
Home will surely take their place at
the right hand of The Revolution Will
Not Be Televised and Small Talk At
125th And Lennox.
Alongside the likes of The Bottle
and Whitey On The Moon, these are
the tunes that Gil is best known for.
But it’s not just the music. Wherever
Chris Rock is telling a joke or delivering
a line, there is the influence of Gil
Scott-Heron too.
TALK
PE STREET
COMING TO TOWN
31
LOVE STREAMS
Words: Alan O’Hare Photo: Mark Mcnulty
“Passion and sincerity,” are where
it’s at for the funk-filled, soulful
superstar and he doesn’t see a lot of
it about in the artists standing in his
shadow today: “They need to study
music. I played in several bands
before I began my career as a poet,”
says Heron.
“There’s a big difference between
putting words over some music,
and blending those same words
into the music. There’s not a lot of
humour. They use a lot of slang and
colloquialisms,… you don’t really see
inside the person. Instead, you just
get a lot of posturing.”
Posturing is something Heron
could never be accused of though.
Throughout a colourful life, this
legendary talent has always remained
true to his art and written about
what’s in the air.
There is a scene in Black Wax - a
documentary Heron made in the
80s in Washington DC - where Gil is
walking around a lake, rapping into
a ghetto blaster. A duck swims into
the shot and Heron’s eyes glare, the
corner of his mouth raises on the right
hand side and he says: “Hey, we’re all
sitting ducks with Ronald Reagan in
charge…”
Welcome back Gil. We’ve missed
you…
gilscottheron.net
Everyone loves Shack.
Local legends and all that. But times are changing for
the Head brothers and guitarist John (writer of my favourite
Shack tune, ‘Cornish Town’) is branching out on his own.
The softly spoken Scouser is in the middle of recording
his debut solo album and the signs so far are magical.
He’s already debuted songs like the gorgeous 1967 and
Carnival on local radio and his live performances with new
band The Stream have been nothing short of a revelation:
acoustic guitars, flutes, delicate harmonies and a splash of
the colour on the electric guitar all help to make a classic,
Van Morrison-esque sound.
“I’m enjoying it,” says John over a cuppa’ at the Little
Green cafe in Aigburth. “I’m really happy with the sound
we’re getting. We’ve got no aims – just let the songs grow
organically.”
John’s in no hurry to get the songs out there. He’s set
up a label with a friend and may put an EP out shortly –
but he’s letting the music dictate the schedule: “Listening
back to what we’ve done so far is inspiring and made me
write more songs. There’s no formula or identity to what
I’m writing now and it’s exciting. With Shack, writing and
recording was almost telepathic but this is different... I
want to be free to do anything. Shack has always been in a
band open to trying anything in the studio, but this is even
more wide open and I love it.”
Audience reaction has been great too. John has played
a few, smaller gigs here and there and his loyal followers
all seem prepared to follow his muse with him. And they’ll
be at the Philharmonic Hall too, when John supports the
legendary Gil Scott Heron for Sound City’s launch.
“It’s a sit-down gig and that’s great for us. We need a
listening audience, as the music is quiet with more finesse.
We’ll be concentrating on rhythm and melody for this one
and not changing our sound too much to suit the gig. Just
let the songs speak for themselves really...”
He won’t have a problem if he does that. The tunes are
great and the Aigburth soul orchestra are coming your way.
Don’t miss ‘em.
For John Head and his solo ambitions, it’s too late to
stop now...
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32
Hot In Vinyl
Those lovable high fidelians at Probe Records let us in on what is raising the temperature in the shop this
month, on wax only though, naturally.
Moon Duo - Escape (Woodsist)
Four long hypno drone poems from Sanae Manada and Erik of Wooden Shjips - repetitive riffage, reverb drenched
keyboards and vocals and pounding rhythms from the Loop, Spacemen 3, Suicide, Silver Apples end of the psychedelic
spectrum. A real head-trip, man.
Sun Ra - Sleeping Beauty (Kindred Spirits)
The cosmonaut from Saturn (via Chicago) and his Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra get groovesome and funky
on this reissued 1979 album, even down to using electric guitar and bass (somewhat unusual for Ra, la) - far-out cosmic
tones for terrans of all faiths.
The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter (Domino)
Spiffing new album from our unofficial poet laureate and his current fall-gruppe and it’s a real rock fest. Petty much
everything’s already been said about Mark E and his post-punk-garage-kraut-rockabilly Ludd gang - just buy it. Plus two
extra trax on the vinyl, y’all.
The Doors - L.A. Woman (Rhino/Elektra)
Incredible 180 gram reissues of all six studio albums - indistinguishable from original 60s US pressings - they’re all
great (yeah, even Soft Parade) but this was always our favourite. Apparently there are some strange people that dislike
this band. Odd...
MGMT - Congratulations (Columbia)
Future classic alert? Hand crafted psychedelic prog-pop of the first order from the Brooklyn duo and their associated.
Pete (Sonic Boom) Kember in the producer’s seat adds increased lysergic sound dimension. Great sleeve too.
and finally... if the new album by Liverpool Space-Rock heavies Mugstar - Sun, Broken (Important) had been on vinyl it would have certainly made this list. But
it isn’t ...so it didn’t.
33
The Glass Pasty
Notes from the Cultural Abyss
Hopefully this will be the first in a long series of
broadsides, rabbit punches and thought faeces aimed
at the flailing rotten corpse of popular culture. I aim to
help those undecided swing voters to think again before
slipping into the insipid general unwellness of modern
cultural consumption. I will guide you through the
bloodsoaked tracks of my own aesthetic torment by cherry
picking a few bad apples from this months cinematic and
musical “output” or as I like to call such offerings, assualts
on human dignity.
Here’s to reclaimation!!
Most people remember where they where when
certain historical moments occurred, things that not only
shaped events but captured the imagination of a people
transcending socio-political boundaries, Kennedy’s
assassination, The Falling of the Berlin Wall, the end of
apartheid or Diana’s accident. I on other hand can recall
where I was when I first heard The Feeling, traipsing
through a B and M in St Helens still reeling from a chance
meeting with a dismembered pigeon in a gutter. It was
then, there, in the unclean air, between the super noodles
and the funsize fanta that my little world filled right up..
with vomit. A band lauded by princes Will I Am and Hazza
the Tosser, championed by vile pig man Elton John (old
sausage fingers himself) went on to produce some of the
most unspeakably bad music in human history. Well it
happened again.. This time I’d been warned, a close friend
an ally in the ongoing struggle had given me a heads up
on this particular brand of noise. I wasn’t prepared though
gentle reader, whatever poise I had was shattered, mid
stride on a treadmill in a city centre gym when I heard
Fireflies.
And so Fireflies is this month’s poison. Another example
of obligatary vocoder usage, bland nouveau-electro
whimsy dressed up as some kooky slice of art. A toddler
with his train set, playing with his star wars figures,
pushing buttons, making shapes and nodding vigorously at the “krazy” world
of the 1980s. The only people you could forgive for making such music are
those kidnap victims held against their will, those driven insane by the soul
sapping mundanity of forced incarceration. Expect a post-houmous cover from
Anne Frank as this years Summer Party Anthem.
The Glass Pasty verdict? Naff.
And from the experimental genius of Owl City we move on to cultural
forefathers and all round pillars of creative prowess - The Black Eyed Peas,
whose massive hit “Good Good Night” taken from the four times platinum
album Music for the Master Race scooped all the gongs at this months Human
Bilge Awards. The band was initially dreamt up in a marketing suite by a handful
of ponytailed capitalist creative media hacks but it was only when they drafted
in a few nazi death doctors that the band realised their full potential. Labcoats,
swastikas and the coca cola company.
How do you rate the morning sun? Just ask gaping wound Rob Williams
he’ll tell you but prepared to be bored senseless, it was almost as tiresome as
watching those allegorical smurfs running around in loincloths in 3D shit-flic
Avatar.
Come Gentle Reader - to the world of celluloid where we look back on the
movie of the month and look forward to what tinsel town promises in the
coming weeks. Buy a ridiculously large drink, a huge popcorn, breathe in for
two hours sandwiched between a fat guy and an imbecile and kick back as we
go to the movies.
Chan’s back and this time he’s worse:The Spy Next Door - without going into too much detail my bizzarre job insists
that I watch certain films twice and this month Chan was on my radar. A mix of
pre Newsround knockabout environmental low budget cbeebies tat and actual
turd, it washed over me like warm vomit, a comedy Russian stereotypical villain
and Billy Ray Cyrus couldn’t out-turkey Chan who was at times as interesting
to watch as revolving doner meat and at other times as sympathetic and as
heart warming as that evil simples meerkat that Britain seems to have fallen
deliriously in love with. Overall a pretty poor film, but a phenomenal chinese
lullaby sang acapela from the kung fu dreamboat at certain points did actually
bring me to tears. Worth watching twice as an act of self hate.
Look out for chubby Brendan Fraser’s new vehicle of simpleton schmalz
Furry Vengeance it will have you dipping those cookies in cyanide.
BF is a property developer about to build a state of the art shopping
mall on a nature reserve but the animal kingdom has other ideas...
Queue hilarious consequences. A skunk dog-egging whilst Brendan’s at the
wheel, a team of badgers chewing through the wiring of Brendan’s gaff. You
get the idea. Other imaginative set up sequences with nature sticking one
to the man. Simulteounously ticking the green and daft boxes, its a sure
fire hit. At one point a broken and beaten Chubby Fraser asks his kid “what’s
happening” his kid replies through peroxide teeth “you pissed off nature Dad?.”
Needless to say I cringed from the core of my being.
Join me again next month for more tales from the undead.
Scouse insult of the month. “HELMET” usage :- a freaky little queen with a
hoody of velvet opened his mouth and said “fuck off yer helmet.”
Worst word of the month:- “RANDOM”:- usage :- there was this totally random
guy right... don’t think it and for God’s sake don’t say it. You’ve been warned!
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34
Nik Glover
The BBC spends oodles of cash
on big projects every now and then, and mostly no-one
really complains. This is because the programs are generally
very good (e.g. Planet Earth), sport-based (and therefore
probably being shown during the day, and superior to the
usual daytime crap, e.g. Winter Olympics) or because noone ever hears about them (e.g. the subject of this article).
It’s a given that every couple of years a David
Attenborough-voiced nature program will take a large
slice of the viewing figures on a Sunday night, that a
high-minded historical drama starring country houses and
corsetry and minute attention to hairstyles will unfurl over
the course of a long winter, and that big sports events
will carry great packs of baying journalists off to far-flung
corners of the globe to watch people fall down mountains
on planks. We don’t really get angry because on the whole,
they’re done well, and because, at the end of the day, it’s
only money, and the BBC is like a sofa. It’s too much bother
to change it, and what are you going to sit on when you’re
waiting for the next one to come? Dave?
A History of the World in 100 Objects is the best thing
I’ve heard on the BBC since This Sceptred Isle. That might
sound a bold and controversial statement, if you’ve ever
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listened to history programs on Radio 4. If you haven’t,
bear with me.
There are those of us who scour the iPlayer looking for
worthy bits of history (Wales and the History of the World!;
John Dankworth in South Africa!), and the BBC’s newest
Big Project is scheduled to run for ten years (or something)
and will feature relics from every civilisation worthy of the
name throughout human history. It also has the greatest
abbreviation ever.
Every episode of AHOTWI100O’s (how often can an
abbreviation make you smile from ear-to-ear?) focuses on
one object, usually a golden bull or a piece of textile or
a footstool from Sumatra (or something) and through the
magic of inter-textual historical contextualising explains
how that particular footstool brought about a revolution in
the way we saw footstools, and may have led on, indirectly,
to the Hun invasion of Western Europe.
What I like about AHOTI100O’s (other than the fact
that if you abbreviate the name, it sounds like a 14-year
old Emo girl’s MySpace URL) is that each little piece of
history is shown to join two or more civilisations together
in a kind of organic chain of causality. Everywhere on the
globe, people were creating footstools that would one day
be copied across the bay (where the savages live) and in a
slightly different fashion. This bit of copyright infringement
would then lead to yet another civilisation realising that
what looked like a footstool to civilisation A, had in fact
been so engineered by civilisation B as to make it work
for civilisation C as a kind of primordial sofa (civilisation C
being a lot shorter and more easily pleased). Thus, in the
rainforests of the Delta of the meeting place of the two
great rivers D and E, the sofa was invented two thousand
years before DFS (BDFS).
AHOTWI100O’s is therefore a kind of Rock Family Trees,
where the rocks are actually rocks, and not Rolling Stones.
Bearing in mind all the controversy over 6Music and the
Asian Network, it’s good to know that the BBC is, at least,
doing something to alleviate the stresses of everyday
people in the UK. Programs like AHOTWI100O’s are recording
in minute detail the inter-connections between groups of
people in this world which led to things being How Things
Are today. Digital Radio may be just the next primordial
sofa in the great chain of technological improvement, but
it does at least allow us to hear Newness, that chain of
human creation that has produced some wonderful results
that will live through the ages (Philosophy, MF DOOM,
Adam Smith’s Trading Company) and some forgettable old
shite that we enjoyed at the time (Whatever People Say I
Am, That’s What I’m Not).
Raise a glass therefore, to Human Ingenuity.
35
Abandon Silence
Dubstep. You are probably already
sick of hearing about it. Personally I will never grow tired of
hearing it. I love it. I love watching it, I love hearing it, I just
love the whole experience that the genre has to offer.
However, when you inspect the progression of the
sound, a degenerate musical cesspool has been created.
A disgusting and embarrassing cesspool that has
unfortunately been pigeon-holed along with the quality
tunes into being called dubstep.
The higher ground of dubstep has foregone such
an extreme makeover over its short existence that it
is incredibly difficult to spot the similarities between
productions from 10 years ago and today.
However (on the whole) most of the tracks being
produced are top notch and feature artists showing their
influences on their sleeve. There is Zomby and Doctor P with
their rave tendencies, Joy Orbison and SBTRKT indulging
in deep house, 6Blocc and Mungo’s Hi Fi with the Dubreggae, and Instra:Mental, D:Bridge and other luminaries
playing with the 2step and light d’n’b sounds.
Despite the existence of these fantastic, forward thinking
and progressive producers, there is the formerly mentioned
cesspool, let’s call it the dark side of dubstep. This dark side
consists of recycled and horribly generic nonsense being
played to kids who know no better as a direct replacement
for The BlackOut Crew and PleasureRooms or whatever
bollocks they used to have as their ringtones. You may
recognise “DJ” names (I would definitely recommend
inverted commas for them) such as Chrispy, Cookie Monsta
or Funtcase.
The path that has been followed to get to this point
of embarrassment can be traced back to a precise time
a few years ago. In 2007, Rusko and Caspa released a
collaborative FabricLive mix tape that became eponymous
with the ‘jump up’ style of dubstep. This genre focused
heavily upon the bass wobbles that had previously been
just a part of the furniture in dubstep. I appreciate that I
may be sounding a bit silly now, but the wobble really is
important.
The wobble that was so prominent in that FabricLive
compilation formed a basis by which we have observed a
musical revolution. These days, almost every artist plying
their trade under the dubstep tag creates tracks that use
wobbles. I do not hate them, most of the time I love
them.
Now back to the characteristics of the dark side. The
sounds they emanate usually come in the form of a remix;
which is easier to produce as the beat patterns are already
laid out for them. Once they have successfully signposted
these patterns, they add an almost undetectable crescendo
which leads into some plain ridiculous bass wobbles that a
10 year old could produce if given 5 minutes with Ableton.
After their own personal abomination has been ‘finished’,
they then turn to their computers and plaster their ‘tunes’
all over the internet. And seen as they have created a remix
of a popular (probably also piss poor) track, they then
generate a lot of hits as unaware fans of the original will
give it a go and then believe that they too are dubstep’s
latest fans.
The sad fact of it all is that dubstep’s depressingly
crap alter ego has forced the whole genre into the public
consciousness. In the last year we’ve had Rihanna and
Britney Spears release dubstep tracks. If you were to gaze
back at the start, over a decade ago, then that would be
unthinkable.
Over 10 years ago at Big Apple Records, Croydon, a group
of friends, including amongst them Skream and Benga,
found the new sound (Boosh fans). An amalgamation
of dub, 2step and UKG; the new sound would be called
dubstep. Such legends as the late John Peel and Mary
Anne Hobbs were interested and subsequently gave it to
a national audience.
Despite the hard work that has geared the progression
of the genre, it is incredibly sad to realise that the genre
has only gone over ground on the back of the previously
mentioned remixes and wobble attacks.
I hope that you haven’t mistaken the last eleven
paragraphs as me saying dubstep is dead. Not in the
slightest. Well, in a way it is. It has been reborn so many
times that it is a completely different figure to that that first
invaded our national soundscape. It is unrecognisable. But,
beyond the cesspool, it is still brilliant.
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Bido Lito! June 2010 Reviews
THE CLIENTELE
Sparkwood&21
Harvest Sun @ The Williamson
Tunnels
The Williamson Tunnels visitor
centre is the focal point for the work
of mysterious social Ghandi Joseph
Williamson. During the early 1800s, not
content with the lack of employment
for local men in Liverpool, he put an
army of labourers to work constructing
a largely pointless network of tunnels
beneath the city. Some say he was
creating the network to escape from
an imminent Armageddon, others say
he was a true socialist, I just think he
sounds like an all round upstanding
gent and definitely a bit of a fruitcake.
After my taxi driver has taken me to
Williamson Square and the entrance
to the Birkenhead tunnel – both
despite my protestations – I arrive
at the visitor centre, an impressive
structure on Smithdown Lane. The
venue has a large T shaped structure,
with a spacious, open bar/reception
area housing huge 24ft, floor to ceiling
windows. The imposing tunnels run off
it at 90 degrees, combining the eerie,
gritty reality of Victorian Liverpool
with the open, comfortable reality of
Liverpool present. It is at the end of
this first tunnel where this evening’s
musical delights are served.
SPARKWOOD&21 have their own take
on alt/Americana. This acoustic guitar,
bass, drums and vocal four piece are
set atop by mandolin, taking exclusive
lead duties. And it works, providing
an interesting interpretation of their
Jackson Browne-inspired, west coastleaning country. The arrangements of
their pieces are also well constructed
with particularly tasteful percussion
complimenting proceedings. Led by
the mandolin and guided by more than
proficient bass and acoustic guitar, the
whole package is convincing. This may
not be particularly ground breaking
stuff, but Sparkwood&21 certainly
bring a personal interpretation of their
genre to the table, which should be
commended.
THE CLIENTELE stumble onstage
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rather understatedly, fresh from a
trip to the USA where they played
numerous fabled hangouts, including
The Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
Before long, Alasdair Maclean (vocals
and guitar) fesses up that the group
are, “indeed from the home counties”.
Don’t worry Alasdair, we’ll let you off,
as the group’s loose, breathy vocals
and shimmering, reverb laden guitars
have the audience sold immediately.
As does the dexterity of multiinstrumentalist and, lets be honest,
blissed out beauty Mel Draisey – within
the first three songs she’s played
violin, xylophone, organ, tambourine
and weighed in with backing vocals,
all whilst looking like a projection of
a Carnaby Street UFO club regular circa
1967.
The Clientele wear their influences
on their tie-dyed sleeves; Felt, Arthur
Lee, Belle and Sebastian, The Left
Banke but oh, they wear them so well.
They share the dreamy, opportunist
adventure of Love, the neo-60s sparkle
of Spacemen 3 and Galaxy 500, the
lustful vocals of The Pastels.
Indeed, this is all very revivalist
and live, The Clientele do nothing to
distract from that assertion but, they
revive with true craft and affection. In
much the same way as the volunteers
at Williamson Tunnels have restored
their burrows and set them in a
modern context, The Clientele do so
with their music. And when there is so
much love and attention to detail in
the restoration, it becomes an art form
in itself. In that sense, The Clientele are
archaeologists and they’re practicing
archaeology of sound, dusting down
their influences and presenting them
in their own, joyous interpretation.
Tonight, Joseph Williamson would be
proud.
Craig G Pennington
THE COURTEENERS
Detroit Social Club – Bicycle Thieves
Liverpool University
The giant Parka-shaped hole left
in the British music scene by the
departure of Oasis may have caused
consternation in some circles, but
the people of Manchester have long
since adopted THE COURTEENERS
as their new darlings. Their blend
of Britpop and Morrissey-influenced
guitar rock has won them a legion of
fans and a cult following. The 2,000
capacity Liverpool University venue
sold out months in advance for this
The Clientele (John Johnson)
gig - and could have sold out a few
times over on the evidence of their
10,000 sell-out gig at Manchester
Central in December - as the usual
exodus of loyal fans made the short
trip down the M62 to see ‘their’ band,
who are cementing themselves as the
successors to Oasis’ Madchester icon
status.
Local boys BICYCLE THIEVES did their
best to make the hoards of Mancunian
visitors feel at home by providing a
glimpse of what Joy Division might
have sounded like today, possibly, with
their dense and threatening tunes
building an impressive Spector-esque
wall of sound. The insanely addictive
Stop To Start is clear evidence why
they are making waves in this part of
the world, and while they may not yet
be entirely comfortable in a venue this
big, it is surely only a matter of time
before they are.
Fellow support act DETROIT
SOCIAL CLUB perform an excellent
job of convincing you that they are
genuine residents of Motor City:
pounding rhythms, swirling guitars
and Gospel-like vocals, channelling
Arcade Fire and The Warlocks, give
their music a wholesomely American
edge. Americana via Newcastle upon
Tyne that is, a fact not discernible
until lead singer David Burn admits
in his Geordie drawl “we played to 24
people here last week, it’s nice to see
you all back”. With the Levellers-aping
Thousand Kings and hook-laden setcloser Sunshine People,
People they should
play to a considerably larger crowd
next time around.
It’s all about The Courteeners,
however, and tonight sees them
embracing their new-found mass
popularity for the first time, and
revelling in it. The show kicks off with
Oasis’ paean to deadheaded hedonism
Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, which whips the
riotous crowd up in to a frenzy as the
lights go down, preparing them for
the blistering opening onslaught of
Cavorting and Acrylic
Acrylic, the Courteeners’
two most combustible and ballsy
tracks. All this outward swagger
belies a depth to the Courteeners, a
musicality and intelligence beneath
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the laddish exterior, and that comes
from frontman and songwriter Liam
Fray. Strutting about on stage like an
Ashcroft/Gallagher hybrid, Fray looks
every inch the part as a rock ‘n’ roll
star, but there is altogether more to
him and his band than beery pubrock, something very evident on new
album Falcon, hinting that Fray’s
ambition has surpassed the levels
set down by debut album St. Jude.
Jude
The strings and pianos and distorted
guitars employed on the new album
give the songs a grander, more epic
feel, with Lullaby and Sycophant in
particular soaring about the room and
filling the venue in a more complete
way than anything on St. Jude can.
The rumbling thump of Scratch Your
Name Upon My Lips is the closest
any song on the new album gets to
a traditional Courteeners style, with
the pure, almost Take That pop of Take
Over The World hints at the slightly
different direction in songwriting
taken on Falcon, with the emphasis
on atmospherics and undoubtedly on
filling bigger venues.
Even though the biggest cheers are
reserved for old favourites from St.
Jude - Fallowfield Hillbilly and Kings Of
The New Road in particular sparking
mass crowd riots – it is clear that this
is a band intent on making the step up
to the next level of the rock hierarchy.
If they are to make that step though
certain pruning needs to be done: That
Kiss has one too many cumbersome
line, and too many of the new tracks
pass without noticing amid a sea of
woooaahs and oooohhs. It seems
as though the inheritors of the
Gallaghers’ crown have been found at
least. The Kings are dead. Long live the
Kings of the New Road?
Christopher Torpey
EXIT CALM
The Feberals
Ink @ The Masque
Rough diamonds are, by their very
nature, rough: jagged and dirty, they
have a certain logic-defying magnetism
that draws you towards the untapped
glamour that lurks beneath their
rugged surfaces. THE FEDERALS, a
genuine rough diamond of a band,
have this magnetism in buckets, but
their appeal lies not in what they
could be if buffed up to a nice sheen,
but in their raw and unpolished style,
with all the razor sharp edges left on.
In a similar way that Iggy blazed a
trail through the late-60s psychedelicobsessed America, this York fourpiece are breathing new life back in
to the British music scene with their
stripped-down garage rock, at a time
when 80s-reviving indie guitar bands
are suffocating the airwaves. This is
evident tonight as they play second
fiddle to yet another U2-soundalike
band, EXIT CALM – recent touring
partners of The Charlatans – and blow
them off the tiny stage.
Dirty, raucous and thrusting, The
Federals exhibit a bite and snarl that
evokes mid-noughties garage rockers
The Hives and Jet at their furious best,
with Jim Feakes’ wailing vocal at times
reminiscent of the caterwauling howl
of Jet’s Nick Cester. Amid the constant
biscuit-tin din made by drummer Jack
Haldstock, Feakes and fellow guitarist
Eddie Coates weave hit after catchy hit
around Jack Jewers’ beefy basslines,
creating songs that only the coldblooded would have difficulty tapping
their feet to.
It is on the tracks Get Out and
Transistor 1969 that their biggest
influences come to the surface – the
former an energetic and bouncy take
on BRMC’s stoner groove, and the latter
a pure Stooges-infused stomper. They
might not yet have the raw power, but
they certainly exhibit Iggy and co.’s
pure rocking attitude as they thump
away, oblivious to the crowd and
the pole-dancing Pussycat Trolls. The
promoters tonight may believe that
the only way to inject some pizzazz
into their shows is by employing
some jail-bait to dance about in their
smalls, but The Federals show that
music need not be glamorous to be
sexy; that their sleazy rock’n’roll will
soon see them amassing crowds and
attention by the wagonload, with no
small amount of help from the hype
around that Fearne Cotton t-shirt. This
is a band who’s star is definitely in the
ascendancy.
Christopher Torpey
CHIBUKU 10TH
BIRTHDAY
Nation
As I cast an eye over our fair city’s
recent cultural regeneration, I found
that Liverpool’s progression as a
hub for Electronic music has been
proportionally aligned with the
growing success and popularity of the
club night CHIBUKU. As the club night
reaches its tenth birthday, Chibuku
gathered a lot of old friends, and
some new ones, to have one massive
party. The organisers created a very
impressive line up, one that would’ve
confused the unknowing, but would’ve
captivated those in the know.
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The line up effectively documented
Chibuku’s progression from electro
and house raves to the now familiar
sub bass leanings of the dubstep
and drum ‘n’ bass genres. The 3000
attendees had one hell of a choice
in scheduling where their nights
would take them, with all three rooms
crammed with colossal DJ talent and
some huge names.
Despite all the British tradition and
pedigree instilled in the venue, there
was a distinctly foreign look to the
line up for the Courtyard and the Main
Room.
The organisers decided to fill the
Main Room with six hours of high
end electro from the French super
group CLUB 75, which consists of DJ
Medhi, (one half of) Justice, Cassius
and Busy P. Their set was a journey
into the unexpected; the concept of
four DJs playing back to back paid
off fantastically, the sense of oneupmanship lead to a historic set.
Over in The Courtyard, one of
America’s foremost musical producers,
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CLAUDE VON STROKE, played to a
jubilant crowd. His strictly minimal
set was a fresh change from the
unpredictable nature of Club 75; the
American producer came in hard with
tracks such as Monster Island and
Who’s Afraid of Detroit, which plunged
the crowd into wild hysteria.
With Von Stroke being joined in
The Courtyard by Dutchman JORIS
VOOM and the Swede ADAM BEYER,
you began to wonder whether this
celebration of a very British club night
was descending into a continental
affair. However, over in the Annexe
the Brits were coming! This room was
colloquially titled as ‘The Dubstep
and Drum n Bass’ room. Despite its
comparatively small capacity, the most
forward thinking and diverse music
was being held in there.
The Annexe was begun in
earnest by MIXMASTER MIKE. The DJ
extraordinaire has been The Beastie
Boys’ resident DJ since co-producing
their seminal album Hello Nasty
in 1998. Anyone who has had the
pleasure of watching DJ Shadow’s
fantastic On Tune and On Time DVD
would have recognised the live video
feed highlighting MixMaster’s DJ Skills
– despite not being an original idea, it
was most certainly effective. However,
his attempts at MC’ing along to his
music, was not so. “Hello England!”
does not constitute a heartfelt and
personal introduction.
CASPA, accompanied by the brilliant
ROD AZLAN on MC duties, followed
MixMaster Mike. The increasingly
sweaty crowd were treated to cuts
from Caspa’s sole LP, Everybody’s
Talking, Nobody’s Listening,
Listening as well as
familiar dubstep anthems from Doctor
P, Bassline Smith and Joy Orbison.
Caspa only played for an hour, but in
that short time he laid foundations for
a great musical celebration.
As we toured the large Nation
venue, we asked around attendees
as to whom they were there to see.
Truthfully, I would estimate that
around 75% of the people we asked
said they were there to see CHASE &
STATUS. The news that they would not
be fulfilling their headline slot due
to a mysterious ‘car crash’ would not
have gone well with the hordes of
fans that flooded the Annexe with the
anticipation of greeting their heroes.
To be honest, it has been great to see
Chase & Status’ progression to the
poster boys of the scene that they are
today - however it has not been as
nice to see their musical regression.
Their forthcoming second LP seems
destined for the Electro-Rock shitheap
that Pendulum have been consigned
to since they released In Silico.
Big respect must be given to
FUTUREBOUND for extending his set
a further hour to fill Chase & Status’
absence. His forward thinking drum
and bass antics were more than
enough to replace what the crowd
were missing out on.
After two hours of very loud
crashing high hats and cymbals, it was
down to Dubstep co-founder SKREAM
to conclude the night in style. Despite
the fact that the crowd was witnessing
by far the highlight of the night, way
too many people headed for the exit
doors, seemingly frightened by the
prospect of the rapidly approaching
daylight. Skream played until well
after 6am, finishing with new album
highlight Listening To The Records
On My Wall to finally bring the house
down on a brilliant celebration.
With their tenth birthday Chibuku
have eclipsed their previous efforts
- Bido Lito! thoroughly encourages
them to continue to grow and succeed
in Liverpool for the next decade and
beyond. However, next time guys,
don’t dump all best stuff in the
smallest room, ok?
Andy Hill
The Crookes (Jennifer Pellegrini)
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THE CROOKES
Sensorites – Slopes
Mojo
It was a warm April Monday which
took me to see the much hyped band
THE CROOKES at the lovely Mojo bar.
The carefully disheveled SLOPES
were up first and proved to be very
listenable and appealing. Natural on
stage it’s always enjoyable to watch
a band who are having fun. Most
memorable were the catchy numbers
Glue and Its So Easy (To Mess Up)
which had a funky baseline making it
foot-tappingly good.
Next up were the SENSORITES. A
duo of brothers on guitar originally
from Stoke-on-Trent who are now
located here in Merseyside. They
definitely had stage presence, coming
across as relaxed and likeable. Their
haunting vocals and poignant lyrics
made for a memorable set of melodic
folk with some well placed twangs.
Highlights include their new single
Spaceman and the use of some
impressive technology. And it may
be personal preference but I like to
actually be able to hear the lyrics,
and their annunciation was first
rate. Unfortunately, the clips on their
Myspace page don’t do them justice,
the use of more instruments is not as
effective as just guitar and vocals and
the singer seems to lose that great
regional accent. So don’t judge them
on this, go and see them live.
Finally The Crookes made the stage.
This Sheffield-four-man-band have
received rave reviews in recent months
from the likes of NME, The Guardian
and BBC 6Music’s Steve Lemacq who
has personally championed the band,
so I was looking forward to seeing
what all the fuss was about. Opening
with the delightful Yes, Yes We’re
Magicians, lead singer, George has a
Magicians
positively angelic voice. Bloodshot
Days was a standout number. I
suspect the whole look of the band
may be a carefully constructed image
but if it is I don’t care, I like it. Very
war-time romantic. This was reflected
in the thoughtful lyrics. These
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elements were totally juxtaposed
with energetic music and dancing to
a lovely effect. They have a decidedly
eclectic and woozy sound, reminiscent
of The Smiths. It looks they’re headed
for great things so check them out.
Given that I found myself wanting my
boyfriend to button his shirt all the
way up and quiff his hair, they clearly
had an effect on me...
Hannh-Grace Fitzpatrick
SEXUAL MUTUAL
Alright The Captain - Chrik
Dance-On-Toast @ Mello Mello
Mello-Mello, the self-proclaimed
‘raggle-taggle Jazz café’, is certainly
one of Liverpool’s stranger venues for
live music. With an interior seemingly
filled with furniture found in skips, an
old bike above the door and a knitting
group perched in the corner, entering is
a strangely comforting experience. The
perfect venue in fact, for the inaugural
Dance-On-Toast, Liverpool’s newest
band night. It’s hard to imagine where
else a gig with a table of free toast
and jam as its centrepiece would find
a home.
The first band on are CHRIK, made
up of Chris (guitar) and Rik (drums).
They play songs with wonky timesignatures and soaring melodies more
akin to jazz than the guitar rock. Both
are gifted musicians, and despite the
intricacy of the songs they play, are
compelling to watch. Chris jumps and
writhes around the stage feeling every
beat, and Rik has an almost permanent
smile. What’s more impressive is that
through all the technical nature of
their playing, the goal always seems
to be the song, which is never lost to
excessive musicianship.
Which is a little more than can be
said for Derby’s ALRIGHT THE CAPTAIN.
Like Chrik, they are wonderfully
proficient at their instruments, and
play similarly minded music. The
addition of a bass-player gives them
added depth too. They completely fill
Mello-Mello with sound, with some
of their heavier moments bringing
to mind early Kyuss. However, what
they have in power they seem to
lack in memorable hooks, which
are sometimes left behind in favour
of extra layers of guitar feedback.
Despite this they are a tight live band
and pack enough grooves to get the
crowd moving.
And now for something completely
different, the last band SEXUAL
MUTUAL (now known as Dembones).
Playing their first gig, they are a
guitar and drums two-piece who play
fairly straight rock and roll. After the
intelligence and craft of the first two
bands, Sexual Mutual certainly provide
some lighter entertainment. Some
of the songs they play are sloppy,
some ill-conceived and some are just
evidently half-written, but in spite of
this they do have some definite pop
potential as some of the riffs and
refrains stick with you. Drummer/
singer Rob is a charismatic showman,
half talking to the crowd and half
performing a stand-up routine. Sexual
Mutual hold the same rough and
ready charm as the venue they are
debuting in, providing a fitting end to
the evening.
John Still
JOY ORBISON
Leaf Cafe
Liverpool’s dubstep followers circa
2009 were a loutish lot; popping pills
and stomping through venues like
hordes of Viking warriors. However,
as the genre has branched out, so has
it’s fanbase. The crowd of individuals
populating the Leaf tonight were
a regression and evolution on that
rather sinister and intimidating bunch.
There were dubsteppers trying to find
a rhythm that was long lost in the mix,
there were Indie kids coming to see
what the hype was about and there
were the local glitterati who I assume
were the most at home at this gig.
The old crowd did infiltrate these
peaceful and serene surroundings, a
couple of pissed bellends decided to
push into everyone in the venue, and
I quote directly, “For a Laugh.” Others
in the crowd certainly did not share
their outlook, as angry confrontations
followed them around the dance
floor.
I am not attempting to come across
as some ‘Cooler Than Thou’ lothario,
just that there is a time and a place,
and this certainly was not it. This
was a gig for all, from a middle aged
couple to the indie kids, everyone was
at home. The unifying denominator
was the music. And it was enthralling.
Fresh off the release of his The
Shrew Would Have Cushioned the
Blow EP
EP, JOY ORBISON sparked this
chilled venue into life. As he stepped
up to the decks, there was an air of
anticipation rippling through the
crowd, and Mr O’Grady certainly
didn’t disappoint. He came in hard,
playing BRKN CLLN within the first
ten minutes. As the crowd warmed to
his 2-step/dubstep hybrid, the tunes
began to come in heavy.
Continuously mixing the tempos, Joy
Orbison’s set was an amalgamation
of all that has created such a buzz
around the man. Throwing in cuts from
Martyn, Instra:Mental, Joker, Roska
and a few exclusives from the man
himself, his track list was essentially
a ‘Who’s Who’ of the new wave of
producers. The crowd stepped on
for their lives as they were confined
in the ‘no man’s land of percussive
crossfire’ emanating from the parallel
speaker stacks.After the adoration of
the crowd over flowed into a huge
round of applause, Orbison ended
his pulsating set with the rapturously
received Hyph Mngo.
After being named in BBC, NME
and Pitchfork’s ‘Ones to Watch’ lists,
39
2010 is going to be a big year for Joy
Orbison.
Andy Hill
WILD BEASTS
O2 Academy
Approaching this gig after listening
to a WILD BEASTS record one almost
expects
Dickensian
gentlemen,
equipped with modern instruments,
to take the stage and croon for the
assembled masses. Surprisingly, it’s
four nervous northerners who greet
us awkwardly as they take their places
to the opening synthesised drone of
The Fun Powder Plot. This beautifully
placid groove, written in support of
Fathers 4 Justice campaigners after
an attack on Tony Blair, is just a small
taste of the erudite lyrical observation
and soothing accompaniment we are
to be treated to throughout the night.
The Lake District natives, staged in
front of a fittingly sparkling backdrop,
cite Kate Bush as one of their biggest
influences and evidence that they
have been permeated by her flair
for eccentricity continues into recent
single Hooting and Howling.
Howling If there
was an award for the most eloquent
song about violence ever written then
surely this ditty would win it hands
down as Hayden Thorpe describes
a “fisticuffing waltz” over spritely
guitars.
The strength of the vocals provided
by Thorpe and bandmate Tom Fleming
is one of Wild Beasts’ greatest assets
and it is underlined repeatedly as
they alternate lead and backing vocal
duties. Their seemingly boundless
Joy Orbison (Scott Partridge)
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40
and practically operatic range is
a wonder on record but to see it
reproduced effortlessly in the flesh
is a moving experience for all. On
All the Kings Men it is unpredictably
Fleming who takes falsetto duties
during the introduction, returning to
baritone during the rest of the track,
an indication of the flexibility within
the band which is substantiated by
His and Fleming’s constant instrument
rotation. The song itself, a chauvinistic
number with references to women as
“birthing machines”, is somewhat hard
to conciliate with such mellifluous
backing and yet in typical Wild Beasts
fashion you just can’t deny the beauty
of the results.
Further examples of their stylistic
choices come in Please, Sir a
deliberately
old-fashioned
story
of a rowdy pupil whose trouble
making has ended in his expulsion.
The protagonist begs a teacher to
be allowed to “stalk the corridors
once more” after downplaying his
misdemeanours in a song clearly
inspired by the band’s past in Cumbrian
schooling. The topic of misbehaving in
school is not the most noteworthy of
subjects yet the band’s delivery, using
such an antiquated motif, and flawless
live execution is what sets them apart
from their peers.
The crowd mostly remain stationary
during the gig, seemingly in wide
eyed reverence, but the familiar
bounce of first album favourites The
Devil’s Crayon and Brave Bulging
Buoyant Clairvoyants is matched by
more vociferous head-bobbing and
foot-tapping. These two songs remain
the nearest Wild Beasts have ventured
towards traditional pop-music and
are probably the best chance fans
have of grasping the attentions of
their friends when passing on this
dearest of treasures. It’s hard not to
feel that despite the fact their two
albums were released to widespread
critical acclaim, Wild Beasts do not get
enough attention from mainstream
music outlets, but songs such as these
will undoubtedly help them gain the
larger following they deserve.
Fleming takes a small break
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before the encore to thank the large
crowd for turning up and his praise
is unmistakeably genuine as he
mentions that their first gig in the city
was witnessed by just 10 people. You
cannot help but admire the humility of
a group who display such proficiency
in every aspect of their trade. They are
set for a tour of Europe in the coming
months and this modesty will hold
them in good stead as they enter
unfamiliar territory in an attempt to
enamour a new audience to their arty
genius.
The denouement of what has been
a thoroughly wonderful experience
is marked by the aptly titled Cheerio
Chaps, Cheerio Goodbye,
Goodbye yet another
exhibition for the band’s vocal talents.
As the last chord is struck and this
fondest of farewells draws to a close
you get the feeling that many of the
audience will be hoping this is not
a “Goodbye” but merely a “See you
later.”
David Lynch
NEW YOUNG
PONY CLUB
Is Tropical - Teeth
Korova
2007’s next big thing never really
reached the heights they were
predicted to. Nevertheless, NEW
YOUNG PONY CLUB are still here,
second album The Optimist in hand.
Tonight the UK leg of their tour
reaches Korova, where a couple of
hundred people have gathered in the
basement to cast their judgement.
TEETH are a London three piece
who come armed with a unique brand
of shouty electro punk. They pull off
their set despite a lack of audience
participation, although from no lack of
trying on front woman Veronica SO’s
part. The room is barely half full and
the night is young. The stylish crowd
are still feeling self conscious and are
critically sober. SO appears to be the
most intoxicated person in the room,
although this does nothing to detract
from her onstage performance, where
she is a gripping ball of pure feral
energy.
The audience start to properly
warm up around four songs into IS
TROPICAL’s set. First single When O’
When and B side Seasick Mutiny are
standout tracks which sound like
Does It Offend You, Yeah? combined
with a sea shanty. Almost every
track performed by Is Tropical has
an absolute killer keyboard hook.
Throughout their set, arty visuals are
projected onto the screen behind
them, adding to the deliciously
moody atmosphere. But there’s one
thing that cannot be ignored with Is
Tropical: the bandanas worn over the
band member’s mouths, which also
feature in the music video for When O’
When. Not particularly offensive, but
maybe trying too hard when the two
vocalists clearly had trouble singing
with big pieces of cloth covering their
mouths. But this is a minor niggle
for a band which pulled off a quality
performance.
New Young Pony Club take to
the stage with a roaring rendition
of new track Chaos to set the tone.
The basement is packed and the
cool crowd are now suitably drunk.
Everybody in the room begins dancing
as though their lives depend on it.
It is clear that this crowd don’t need
working on when it comes to new
tracks from The Optimist.
Optimist
New track We Want To is a perfect
match for Bulmer’s vast on stage
presence. A stomping defiant number,
with a chanting chorus which allows
the audience to sing along even if
they haven’t yet heard the new album.
The other three members of the band
are eclipsed, but appear happy to take
a back seat. Lou Hayter seems content
on playing keyboard while rocking her
hips and pouting seductively at the
audience for the duration of the hourlong set.
New single Lost A Girl is dedicated
to “a boy who wasn’t very good at
knowing what he wants”. Bulmer
sang it with such a raw emotion that it
seems unlikely to be the heat radiating
from the audience which smudged
New Young Pony Club (Greg Brennan)
Reviews
her eyeliner down her face. Her glassy
eyes and choked tone do nothing to
defer from the quality of the song,
adding an organic emotional depth
to the catchy disco gem and reaching
out to the audience on a personal
level. Bulmer seems liberated by the
crowd, and this is the high point of the
night. Of the older tracks, Hiding On
The Staircase is performed brilliantly,
with toned down ‘jungle drums’ and
turned up bass. Ice Cream, the bands
most commercial success, is received
generally well but the audience seem
to have understandably lost interest
in it. Sandwiched between the 50:50
mix of new and old tracks is a cover of
Dress by PJ Harvey. This is lapped up,
the crowd recognising it immediately
and dancing frantically.
The encore consists of disappointing
new track Oh Cherie, then classic The
Get Go. Oh Cherie served its purpose
of winding down the evening’s events,
but that and Stone are evidence that
The Optimist does have filler tracks.
The Get Go picked up the mood once
again, ensuring that the New Young
Pony Club finish on a high.
Bulmer is a one woman explosion
of exaggerated dance moves and
gestures. When performing she has
limitless reservoirs of energy, her
endless dancing having no damaging
effect on her vocals. Between songs
we occasionally see her appearing
out of breath and even collapsing to
lie down on the stage for five minutes
before standing up for the encore. But
the front woman never lets this affect
her captivating performance, holding
people’s attention for every second
and drawing them in like a new wave
siren.
Kadie Dobson
THE SPATIAL AKA
ORCHESTRA
The Philharmonic Hall
I really wasn’t sure what to expect
from Jerry Dammers’ new project,
THE SPATIAL AKA ORCHESTRA. Even
reflecting on it now, a week later, I
can’t really explain to anyone else
what to expect from it. All internet
reviews and articles pointed to it
being a complete break from any of
the re-hashed versions of Specials
classics that are doing the rounds on
the second or third leg of the 30th
anniversary reunion tour, a tribute to
Sunn-Ra and an experiment in the
fusion of different musical genres.
Even when I asked Jerry himself
what exactly the Orchestra was, he
mumbled quite vaguely about it being
“a mix of jazz, ska and reggae.” Being
a massive 2-Tone fan, I have almost
complete faith in Dammers in that
whatever the gig entailed, I knew it
would be special (excuse the pun).
Set in the beautiful ambience of
the Philharmonic Hall, the 17 piece
orchestra waltzed in through the
sparsely populated crowd and took
their seats on a stage littered with
dozens of instruments and a bizarre
array of props - skeletons with glaring
red eyes, bird cages and an adapted
motorbike sidecar hanging from the
ceiling. With each musician covering
their face with glasses, hats and
masks and dressed in tie-dye cloaks,
there was such an element of theatre
that every time you looked at the
stage, something new was there to
catch your eye. Combined with the
psychedelic light show combing the
walls of the vast hall, the show exuded
an air of being an optical illusion, with
even the stagehands wearing capes.
The instrumental set-up was
spectacular, two pianos, an entire
brass section, guitarist, bass, double
bass (my favourite instrument in the
world), percussion, xylophonist and
two singers as well as Jerry’s own
thirteen keyboard set-up. With much
of the set composed of Sunn-ra
adaptations or tributes, there seemed
no gravitation towards any of Jerry’s
most famous work, though we were
treated to an early reworking of
Specials classic International Jet Set,
Set
to Intergalactic Jet Set.
Set Jerry skanked
away behind his wall of sound, a
Pharaoh’s mask fixed to the back of
his head, introducing each song with
what was presumably once a small
sound bite, but became, in typical Jerry
fashion, a rambling digression.
Whilst the first half was mostly
improvised jazz, it segued easily into
a second half of reggae jazz and dub
which included a few Specials tunes,
which the majority of the audience
seemed to have come for. I know I
said that I didn’t know what to expect
from the Orchestra when I arrived, but
I knew that it most certainly wasn’t a
‘Best Of ’ night, a feeling that evidently
wasn’t shared by many others in the
room, as a large party in front of me
left, following vocalist Francine Luce’s
conclusion of a song through birdlike squeaks. The set also included
Jungle MadnessMadness a tribute to the voice
actors behind animal noises in films,
and consequently a performance
composed entirely of monkey
screeches. We’re Gonna Unmask
Batman, a reworking of the Batman
theme-tune, and a performance of the
Exorcist theme-tune, where we were
treated to Jerry howling and gurning
into the microphone, “because we’re
dark, y’know,” added to the eclectic
set-list.
As Jerry invited the audience to
cough up some phlegm into our
throats and gurgle a well known song
intro, many thought the time for the
Specials tracks had finally come, and
after being treated to a lyrical overhaul of Ghost Town, making it as
relevant today as it ever was in the
1980s, and a rehash of Man at C&A, it
became evident that this was all that
was needed for a night that was about
something new, something fresh, and
something that wasn’t necessarily
safe.
I had to sneak out before the
final note and, as I did, so too did
the orchestra, sashaying into the
Philharmonic foyer for one last
performance, Space Is the Place,
Place
clearly revelling in what they were
doing, they were performing for noone at all, until the crowd exited,
and this was perhaps what struck me
most as the differences between Jerry
and his old band-mates. As Terry Hall
and co continue to tread the festival
41
circuit over the summer, Dammers
has returned to his roots and what is
important to him in music and, rather
than relying on his legendary status
and early writings, is pushing the
boundaries further and further, always
with the edge, always wanting to find
something new. For any true music
lover, I absolutely cannot recommend
this show enough.
Rebecca Jackson
WE HAVE BAND
Indica Ritual – Pink Film – Picturebook
The Kazimier
The Kazimier was undoubtedly built
for dancing; the wooden floors, the
spherical theatre and the burlesque
fixtures mark the venue as a place of
worship for those devoted to getting
off their face and on the floor. Tonight,
it is to be suitably graced by up-andcoming Londoners WE HAVE BAND
who bring their infectious Indie/
Electro crossover to Liverpool’s ever
eager congregation. Before they can
take to the stage however, there is a
fastidiously assembled support cast
of local talent just waiting to strut
their stuff.
First up are PICTUREBOOK, an
outfit hailing from as far as the Faroe
Islands and New York, who have made
Liverpool their spiritual home. Their
energetic onstage presence is instantly
transferred to a captive audience and
is powerfully driven by what lead
singer Greta describes as “tribal” beats.
These beats are often preceded by
ethereal trance intros, making use of
their lead singer’s haunting violin and
stylish vocals, to create an irresistible
dynamic. The group’s final track Love
Lane is a perfect realisation of their
ethos as a joyous chorus of, “He loves
you, he loves you not” soars over
what can only be described as the first
digitally constructed summer’s day.
Lovely stuff.
The next band, PINK FILM, boast
several televisions as stage props
and when their lead singer takes the
stage, complete with extravagantly
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We Have Band (Simon Thelwell)
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Reviews
tasselled shoulder pads, I quietly
hope the music can match the
eccentricity of its creators. Their 80’s
styled funk opener Living a Lie does
not disappoint, whipping the crowd
into a frenzy with its memorable vocal
hook and inspired synthesised bass
line. Their televisions flash throughout
with crude digital imagery reminiscent
of 90’s programme The Word and you
get the impression that this band
would have fitted in just fine in
those surroundings. By the last note
of their thoroughly enjoyable set it
is clear we are dealing with a band
that has a great sense of their style
and audience; this is one of their first
gigs and already they move with such
belief in their approach it’s undoubted
that we will be hearing the name Pink
Film more in the future.
The final support act of the night
are local favourites INDICA RITUAL who
bring their Devo-inspired new wave
to a now bumper crowd. However,
after what has been a fantastic start
to the night, the atmosphere does
unfortunately lull somewhat during
their set. Indica Ritual are an act
with an exciting dress code, talented
musicians and a lead singer with a very
distinctive delivery but unfortunately
they are also an act with artistic
ambitions that are often beyond
realisation in the live arena. Their
undoubted math-rock influence added
to a tendency to intertwine several
intricate melodies often amounts to
an equation that Isaac Newton would
write off as “fucking unsolvable”.
On record Indica are a coherent, if
not a little idiosyncratic, pop force and
thus it is unfortunate to hear them
in this manner though that is not to
say they were without their moments.
Set closer Seamless Ejaculation with
its Hot Club-esque finger tapping
and resplendent chorus is just sane
enough to get your head around on
a first listen and even encourages a
bit of crowd participation. However,
whether moments like this can be
repeatedly captured by the band,
who are admirably recalcitrant to
conformity, is up for debate.
After a brilliant build up, which was
notably interspersed with some fine
choices by the house DJ, it is finally the
turn of the headliners We Have Band.
The three piece jump straight into
recent single Divisive, its dirty bassline
and alluringly repetitive chants make
this one a great opener and by its
conclusion the audience are already
immersed. You Came Out keeps the
tempo up with its Phantom of the
Opera styled sinister theme matched
by descriptions of grubby nights out
on the town which undoubtedly many
attendees tonight can relate to.
Reassuringly, We Have Band are
willing to show they have more than
one trick up their sleeve by briefly
discarding the grimy bass in order to
display their gentler indie leanings in
How to Make Friends and the Depeche
Mode influenced Centrefolds and
Empty Screens.
Screens It appears the group
are not just interested in making
people dance uncontrollably; they
have also set their sights on nailing
anthemic choruses.
The set closes on the crowd favourite
Oh which is at its frenetic best despite
the fact that it appears to have had
some of its vigour inadvertently
removed during the recording process.
The angular guitar riff of its intro is
welcomed by all including those who
mimic an unforgettable chorus upon
first hearing it. Clearly tonight there
are several audience members like
43
these who have never seen WeHave
Band before and yet it is without
doubt that they leave this epochal
event as converts. In fact I must say; I
too am a believer.
David Lynch
THE SOFT PACK
Egyptian Hip Hop
Korova
EGYPTIAN HIP HOP open up this
evening’s show with a diverse musical
experience – both odd, in parts
interesting, yet inconsistent – with
one or two moments of clarity. On
occasion, they employ the pop-goth
of The Cure to great effect, particularly
on new 7” track Hazel Groove, which is
joined by Heavenly on a Pure Groove
exclusive 45. They also have a tendency
to deviate along paths of prog-polka,
which may work on record, but seems
Indica Ritual (Simon Thelwell)
44
insular tonight.
Given the hype around these chaps
at present, it seems likely that they’ll
stick around long enough to pick
some sense from their web of sounds,
as there is clearly something going
on here. Tutankhamen was in his late
teens when he popped his clogs –
apparently he had some decent, if not
slightly odd ideas – who knows what
damage he could have caused?
THE SOFT PACK provide an almost
effortless melodic spectacle. The
San Diego group, previously known
under the unfortunate moniker of
The Muslims – a name which seemed
to bring unwanted attention in these
political times – embody an ease of
cool comparable to Atlanta’s Gringo
Starr or the Texan Strange Boys; other
groups worthy of heightened praise
within the current crop of US garage
bands.
The Soft Pack are four men at
complete ease onstage. They aren’t
static or dower, but nonchalantly bob
and sway through their work with a
respectful arrogance.
The whole event sits on a drum
and bass swell. Brian Hill’s standing
drum set up seems impossible to
co-ordinate; the guy is a bundle of
sweat, tears & elbows as he lashes
at his cans. This is Mo Tucker with 967
Duracell up her behind and sledge
hammers for arms. David Lantzman
plays melodic, weaving bass, which
drives the music along as a Hook-ian
take on Dear Prudence.
Mexico, taken from the groups self
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titled debut LP, is an oozing, sun burnt,
doo wop hottie which shines this
evening. The track’s mix of bass boom
and shimmering, slide guitar – doused
in fuzz & overdrive by guitarist Matty
McLoughlin – stands out alongside
current lead 7” tune Come On.
Matt Lamkin is hardly a highly
ductile frontman, in either the physical
or vocal sense, but a performer
completely
comfortable
within
himself. He holds a light, tight careen
- bottle of beer in hand - with a stare
fixed above the heads of the crowd,
out the back of the room, way back
to LA (where the band now reside).
Dressed in a polo shirt, dark sweater &
straight cut jeans, with a reserved and
relaxed demeanour (reminiscent of a
stoned Chris Veasey), he seems more
St Helens than San Diego.
In fact, The Soft Pack do have a
definite ‘Englishness’ to them. Their
sun drenched, hot surf garage - evident
on tracks such as Beside Myself
Mysel & the
aforementioned Mexico - is balanced
with a Joy Division inspired tilt to the
darker side of modern life – Parasites
lends heavily from the Manchester
group’s classic Disorder. Though the
influences are wide and ranging, with
The Sonics another reference point, as
well as The Walkmen, the fondness
for our manc cousins is given another
nod – Answer To Yourself is the surfbum estranged cousin of Monaco’s
What Do You Want From Me?
The Soft Pack provide a timely
balance to the current wave of
US garage groups, extracting the
finer, more tasteful sinus from the
movement. They mix a Pebbles
& Norton Records catalogue of
influences, with modern guitar pop,
without the need for head bands and
neon hair gel. They are The Black Lips
without the need for gold teeth, Girls
without the asexual confusion, Smith
Westerns without the onstage fans
(yes, the spinning, electrical variety).
I’d be lying if I insinuated I didn’t love
those groups LP’s, I do, but sometimes
it can become a little tiresome. The Soft
Pack embody the class and craft of Joe
Calzaghe, in comparison to the cock
rock/glam grunge of Prince Nazeem
Hamed, and we all know which of
those is going to come a cropper.
Craig G Pennington
OXJAM
Broken 3 Ways – Asbestos Popcorn
Hoylake, Wirral
A large-scale festival for Oxfam,
OXJAM was held across a handful of
venues in Hoylake, Wirral spanning the
afternoon and evening of a Saturday
in early April. This somewhat trepid
reporter made it to Jack Rabbit Slims
in time to catch ska band BROKEN
3 WAYS just before they took to the
stage. For a first time exposure to the
local band scene, and my first dose of
ska in literally years, my impressions
were that they’re a competent band,
if not exciting, and yet I’m led to
wonder what the point of ska really is
in 2010. Do we expect ska to innovate
at all or just to entertain? Certainly if
entertainment is the key then Broken
3 Ways succeeded well on the day, with
a dancefloor full of skanking, jumping,
stamping and posing appreciators
and some obviously seasoned fans.
The band seemed... er... merry enough
themselves, obviously assisting Jack
Rabbit Slims to raise some liquid lucre
over the bar whilst donating time to
the cause.
From here, it was a short lurch
post-ska to the Glassfire (one great
advantage of Hoylake’s bar district is
that it was a relatively short stride to
catch bands, although they seemed
to be staged concurrently rather than
staggered which was somewhat of a
shame) to watch intriguingly named
ASBESTOS POPCORN. My confession
is that I chose them as the second
band to sample based purely on the
name, using my newness to the area
as an excuse for no better educated
decision. I must say, I found them
to be a puzzling and yet enjoyable
experience.
Sounding like a ‘So
you think you want to be The Fall’
competition entrant formed just days
before performance, they were chaotic,
awkward and random, yet ascerbic,
clever and undeniably intriguing. With
a deliberate nod to anti-style typified
by the guitarist’s beige flasher-trench
and the singer’s Ian-Curtis-School-ofDance awkward cavorting. Sadly, few
people were there to notice the savant
genius of this reformed band’s set,
and I can only hope there are other
opportunities to evaluate whether
they were channelling Mark E Smith
for the day or truly addictively odd in
their own right. I’m a firm believer that
every scene needs their own indulgent
art-rock weirdo bands just to keep
things from getting staid. Asbsestos
Popcorn did a great job of shaking it
up, even if it was just myself and their
families looking on in approval and
confusion. Their misanthropic anthem
Hungover, Depressed, Horny as a live
rendition was my highlight of the day.
I’d risk familiarity potentially breeding
contempt to see them at least once
again.
After dropping coins in two Oxjam
boxes, picking up a badge and a twovenue tab, and realising little could
top the oddity of Asbestos Popcorn, I
took a visual survey of venues Vanilla
and Tides around the corner, which
were pleasingly full, and realised the
fundraising was healthy and the sonic
tide was high... and bid Oxjam an early
evening farewell. It was great to see
a good cause so well supported and
look forward to a repeat exposure
next year as a seasoned local.
Nic Lowrey
Reviews
These New Puritans (Katherine Oliver)
THESE NEW PURITANS
The Seal Cub Clubbing Club –
Bagheera – Pink Film
O2 Academy Liverpool
It’s really empty here at the O2
Academy. Like, painfully, I’m-so-gladit’s-not-my-party empty. Nevertheless
first band on for the night, PINK
FILM, soldier on. For a band so new
to the game they’re well competent,
parading a post-post-disco sound,
with the trademark pitch-bends
and funk infused basslines. These
are tracks made for dancing – but
no one’s askin’ so, leaning against
an unpeopled wall, I observe at
leisure and am struck between the
eyes by the visual homage to fellow
Liverpudlian Paul Rutherford, Frankie
Goes To Hollywood’s proto-Bez, plus
a hint of Prince in the jacket fringing,
of lead singer Ziyad Al-Samman. Why
is my initial response. But then again
why not.
All change – next up are the currently
name-checked BAGHEERA, named
presumably after the mythic leopard
from ye olde Jungle Book by Kipling
– or possibly after Bryan Ferry’s forest
creatures from the Mighty Boosh?
Regardless,
they’re
developing
somewhat of a mythology of their
own for their post-rock harmonic
folkish pop. What strikes me most is
the harmonic capabilities of this band
- all three members (Jacob, Sam and
Tom) chime in with some vocal action
and the result is ethereal, beautiful
and most importantly on point.
Also getting merit badges are their
time signature changes and wonky
ambience, some of which obviously
test the ADD of what is still a meagre
crowd, seemingly comprised mostly of
people chatting to mates over Twitter. I
like the daring Jonsi falsetto moments
although they do seem somewhat
reminiscent of the fey feathered and
famed one. A note on the venue at
this point: either it is a top-end heavy
venue or the sound person has been
listening to way too much Sun 0))) in
the 24 hours before because my ears
feel the high end squeak all night.
Next up, the anticipated SEAL CUB
CLUBBING CLUB. It’s all aboard the
good ship Made of Magic for The
SCCC, being released end March as it
was, and it seems they’ve a few fans
in tow, as the room transforms from
its initial bleak cavernousness to at
least seeming like a band venue.
Although, in truth, the gig never peaks
much beyond the hundred mark and
it seems there’s quite a bit of free-list
action amongst them. Quelle domage.
Nevertheless, it’s good to see the SCCC
getting some well deserved attention
and the bodies are starting to soak up
the room-squeal nicely. Their mathy
qualities impress me as something I
didn’t notice so much in brief pre-gig
listens. Complicated rhythms in a nod
to post-latin percussive notions, when
live, hit a mathy studious edge, taking
comparisons from the usual Fall/
Radiohead nods closer to a Battlesalike ambition. Is it working for them?
Mostly, I suppose, although after thirty
minutes I begin to wonder whether
they could possibly use a variety
injection. Also, I’m gobsmacked by
spying a Pivot tshirt on stage. As a exantipodean it is uncanny to see one
of our own mathy geekling bands
venerated so far from home.
THESE NEW PURITANS are the band
I’m here for, I’ll be up front about that.
Having bought the 7” of Non Pluvial
way back in 2006 and followed them
from there I’ll have to swing with a
biased bat. I think they are monster.
And by that I mean immensely good.
Compelling even. I love the Hidden
album and have high expectations
going in which I’m rating as fulfilled.
As their sound develops, I hear more
and more connections with industrial
bands like Test Department and
Einsturzende Neubauten, alongside
the more experimental side of
dubstep.
Their musique concrete
notions are also present and correct:
finding, using and building sound as
opposed to constructing melody to
construct song.
I’m up for their schtick and lap up the
martial elegies like Three Thousand,
Attack Music and the magnificent We
Want War. Doubled drumming is never
an easy trick to pull off, and Thomas
Hein (sampler and electronic drums)
and George Barnett (drums) take a
while to sync but once they do, and
once the rather tricky We Want War is
45
over, they’re matching and marking
well indeed, with the electronic
pads complimenting the acoustic kit
well. Emphasising Hidden but also a
nod here and there to Beat Pyramid
including Swords of Truth, Infinity
ytinifnI and of course crowd pleasing
encore Elvis, the hour long set is a
pocket full of jewels for this reviewer.
However, it is fair to say that not all
share my affinity with the martial beat
and cerebral minimalism, and there is
a restless hum to the crowd by set’s
end, something the band remedy
effectively with the liberal dose of
Beat Pyramid tracks which are, dare
I say it, more approachable, more of
a nod to melody and pop formula.
Walking out I feel not only some
surprise at the thin crowd for this line
up, but a great hope and satisfaction
for These New Puritans. Long may they
bang the drum.
Nic Lowrey
Pink Film (Simon Thelwell)
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The Protracted War
Not a words been uttered for over an hour, she is under the covers nestling in the cave of illness; I am under siege,
alive, asunder and alarmingly awake.
Sporadic noises are made by both of us, coughs, sighs and the occasional shifting of bodies. Each one of these is a
valuable weapon in our collective arsenal it is designed to make the opponent (lover) patently aware that this protracted
struggle is not by any means over that the commitment and steadfastness imbued in the self is still there for all to see
and that furthermore the flag is not being unfurled but is gathering cobwebs.
What is at stake here is irrelevant, academic it doesn’t concern you nor us that was too long ago to recall, all that is clear
is that a struggle, a battle, call it what you will is taking place between her beneath the sheets and me by the window
and the distance, all though merely three feet is growing by the minute. My weakness which she is aware of is to bridge
the gap, make a concession, draw up a treaty but not today.
Her strength has always been her undying commitment to a cause; she exhibits the unfettered belief the incomparable
passion and the pure will of a revolutionary monk.
However today this strength plays second fiddle to a more justifiable strength a more inarguable string in her bow
namely: her illness
As long as she remains ill she has the upper hand she is the one in need of compassion
And I am the one who fails to provide it
She is the defenceless lamb
I the indignant Wolf
Thus she has frightening fire power and God on her side, she rather triumphantly has assumed the role of the underdog
and it is well documented that people root for them.
This new-found strength of hers also muddles the lines make our war a little harder to decipher for example she has
her back turned ( a symbol in itself one may say) but no, Am I to fathom that this affront of hers is an UP YOURS to me and
a sign of her allegiance to the cause. One maybe say she is digging her heels in tending to her trench and exhibiting the
same desire not to speak as she always has a little more than me, I must add.
Or rather that felled by the poisonous dagger of the common cold she is reeling with pain and reserving her energies
and thus her refraining from speaking is merely a result of this.
Thus one can appreciate the quandary I am in this “cold” has set the cat amongst the pigeons it questions the very
basis of our going to war in the first place.
Am I to do the decent thing and break the silence wave the white flag and enquire of her physical state to be thrown
to the dogs when she answers “Oh I’m much better” and then once more turns her back and resources her position of
contempt or am I to stay true to the ideal of all revolutionary combatants and die for my principle and never back down
but risk the stigma of being labelled the unfeeling monster incapable of compassion too wrapped up in himself to “see
the wood for the trees” and swat that petty little bee in his bonnet.
I am at a loss I am feeling the heat of the battle I am doubting the War I am doubting myself I am no longer the War
leader commanding his troops from the front but I am one of those whinging War Poets too busy scribbling to get any
killing done. I should never have picked up my pen the moment I did that I flirted with the idea of surrender I hinted at
defeat and I bolstered her defences. She knows I am rattled she can’t have failed to have noticed
I must end this and tend to her wounds.
Words: The Glass Pasty
Illustrations: John Biddle
www.bidolito.co.uk
bidolito
bidolito.co.uk
Our Malcom
Our Malcolm has a bedroom in the loft
He has an interest in snakes
He longs for a tattoo
He rifles through books on reptiles and gothic art
He plays his records backwards
Our Malcolm wears shirts that are too tight
He has a problem with bodily hygiene
He once owned a hamster
He called it Earl
He cried when it died
Our Malcolm keeps tissues in his pockets
He has blocked sinuses
He only comes down for tea
He draws pictures of women fighting
He smokes out of the window
Our Malcolm hates Xmas
He always goes red
He never touches a drop
He talked to Stephen about witchcraft
He doesn’t like me Auntie Val
Our Malcolm believes in aliens
He’s always on the internet
He’s got a good sense of humour
He thinks we talk about him behind his back
I suppose we do.
47
RECORDING ARTISTS INCLUDE:
THE ZUTONS/THE CORAL/THE
WOMBATS/CLINIC/LADYTRON/
THE MACABEES/THE SUBWA–
YS/HOT CLUB DE PARIS/ ECHO
AND THE BUNYMEN/THE LIG–
HTENING SEEDS/
SPACE /
STUDIO/
REHEARSAL /
ELEVATORSTUDIOS.COM
+44
(0)151 255 0195
–
TWITTER.COM/ELEVATORSTUDIOS
FACEBOOK.COM/PAGES/ELEVATOR-STUDIOS

THE SAND BAND.

Transcription

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