For me and a number of my generation, we grew up in the shadow of nu-metal as it crossed over into the mainstream. We found an alternative to pop music imported from America via MTV, for us Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Papa Roach and the like were our own form of rebellion.
We weren't kids anymore and we wanted to turn up our stereos and scream along with the swear words and hoped it offended our parents. That's what teenagers were built to do.
For a number of friends that I have made through volunteering at a local youth music project, they grew up emo. Rock was pop. The alternative had become mainstream. Screamo and other niche sub-genres were a new alternative to the mass-marketed product. But the mainstream is always the gateway drug. The choice to turn away is what makes us feel individual, even when we do it all together.
Tributes to Chester Bennington have been filling up my time stream since the speculative news broke. We've all been hoping it was fake news, but nobody seemed to be discrediting it.
The suicide of a globally recognised frontman in his early 40s is unthinkable. Leaving behind a wife and 6 children is heartbreaking. The fact that a successful new album had brought the band touring in the UK recently leaves so many people asking the same questions.
I'm sure the next few days will reveal more, as inevitable toxicology and character reports surface. But it doesn't change a thing.
We're hurting because we can't understand....
Cathartic lyrics, screaming loudly, it didn't help.
It didn't change a thing.
Some are maybe hurting because they understand it too well, some are maybe only just hanging in there.
Statistics state that suicide is currently the single biggest killer of men aged under 45 in the UK.
Social media seems full to the brim with people affected by mental health problems.
We're all here for each other. We're all willing to share, and comment, and like.
But for some people it doesn't seem to change a thing.
I hope the people that truly need help are strong enough to recognise that.
And I hope those that it is too late for, those like Chester Bennington, are able to find peace in the next life that they couldn't find in this.
There aren't many albums that people spend most of their adult life waiting for, but The New Renaissance is possibly mine....
A very brief history lesson first.... Despite entering into very few serious musical discussions in this day and age, MySpace was a prominent tool for a generation, not just for unsigned bands to share their wares, but also for fans of those bands to mobilise, and without it social media probably wouldn't be where it is now (make of that what you will).
But what happens when one of your favourite MySpace bands never delivers a full album and that little music player in the right hand corner becomes a distant memory?
From the embers of a local band that ignited a North London suburb's suppressed live scene, Enfield's answer to Alex Turner, Thomas Millett, kept the dream alive with the formation of Those Handsome Animals, and those in the know have waited patiently since 2010, through fallow periods, role-call tweaks and false starts.
But enough self-indulgent reminiscing from this thirty-something reviewer, what does the album sound like?
It sounds like an album comprised of guitar, bass and drums should sound like, and more.
Limited palette does not make for limited returns, in the right hands it results in a creative use of the resources available and perhaps certain nuisances may be lost on the more casual listener, their discovery makes the listening all the more rewarding. Those lyrics, that riff, this chorus... I understand that Spotify has spoiled you for choice, but repeated listening, dancing and shouting along is key to this release.
It's early Oasis rock‘n'roll with an art-rock yelp rather than Liam's trademark snarl, it's The Cribs at their singalong best, it's The Cure at their most pop, it's The Drums without the hype and it's Billy Bragg at his most acutely observant, it's all this and more rolled into a lean, but rippling, sub-40 minute running time.
It kicks off with 'Megadrive', a track urging the world to 'clear a space on the map’ for this band, it serves as Those Handsome Animal's theme tune, a 21st century alternative twist on 'The Monkees’ or ‘Banana Splits’, and in an awkwardly meta way, the theme of this album from the offset seems to be themes... Pick almost any track and layer it over a montage of John Hughes movie clips and your provided with an updated take on romanticised teenage-angst and epoch-defining musical touchstones, if only John Hughes wasn't directing ’80s movies about American young adults but instead was the figurehead behind theatrical releases capturing the mood of London's Generation-Y urbanites.
And Generation-Y is an apt name, although perhaps Generation Why would be more appropriate. This album questions Brexit. This album questions modern relationships. This album questions modern life. In fact the title track goes as far as listing a number of current quandaries and shrugs them off with the frustratingly nonchalant refrain of 'that's modern life’. This album speaks directly to a generation that are even questioning why Generation-Y has fallen from common parlance to the rampant use of 'Millennial' that we don't particularly feel part of, or even want to be a part of.
This album is downtrodden but hopeful. This album is essential but likely lost already in a marketplace of voices wanting to be heard.
This album makes my heart ache. Not with romantic fervour but by connecting to my own crushed spirit.
I identify with the simple joy of the release from my grip of my phones intrusive alarm when on holiday, I identify with being in the 48%, I identify with having too much choice thanks to our prevalent connectivity, I identify with social media frustrations that didn't exist ten years ago, I identify with escalating house prices that are destroying the London I know and assumed I'd always live in.
I identify with this album in a way that I don't think music fans were able to identify with The Menace or Chinese Democracy.
This album speaks volumes to me, and I hope that it connects with more than just a niche demographic of white guys from the Northern outskirts of London that I'm all too aware that I belong to, but if it doesn't.... that's modern life.
Since the March episode of xxyyzz transmission was constructed in the manner of a mixtape, focusing on the flow of the tracks and how it would transition with what would be coming next in the playing sequence, it seemed a shame to then leave it only in the form of a occasionally punctuated podcast.
It's possible that for some millennials (and for a clutch of Directioners in particular), a title such as 'Sign Of The Times' may not immediately bring to mind the unforgettable influence of Prince and his seminal, and similarly titled, album.
And so, already Harry Styles is on unsteady ground with a certain age group, as if having nice hair, considerable wealth, youth on his side and having previously dated Taylor Swift wouldn't be enough to tip the scales against you.
What does this Enfant Incredible do next? He channels the '90s, repackages it into some modern epic and embarrasses all of the elder haters who wished that he'd fail.
Zayn shunned pop with an on-trend R'n'B vibe, Nial went chasing the bankable Sheeran sound.... Whereas Harry Styles has his people put forth a song that starts off sounding like a throwback to the Stereophonics that surprisingly Radio 1 isn't too trendy to snub, progresses with an effort comparable to Sinead O'Connor, and then throws in nods to the Oasis' cocaine excesses of Be Here Now and slightly buried guitar licks that bring to mind the revered soloing of Slash's contributions on the power balladry of early '90s Guns N’ Roses uber-hit November Rain.
So despite the fact that he has a ready made audience ready to lap up even his crudest efforts, Harry Styles goes and tugs at the nostalgic heartstrings of a generation that music is leaving behind, here comes another wave of ’90s trade-ins to remind an older generation that, yes, they are older, and what goes around will inevitably come around, and a younger generation that this is something like what the present used to be like (don't worry, you can view it all on youtube).
No, it isn't 'Sign O' The Times'. And no, it isn't quite as epic as the aforementioned 'November Rain’ at nearly half the running time, but in a world of 3 minute fodder, a five minute plus track played out on mainstream radio feels positively decadent. But we've seen George Michael practically sainted since his sad passing for his charitable efforts as well as his musical offerings, and Robbie Williams has rode a roller coaster of self-medicating, self-loathing and rude-boxing to become a national treasure...
Who's to say that Harry isn't next....
(hopefully minus the usual British turnmill of emotional turmoil)
To help keep up with all the artists featured in xxyyzz transmission episode 3, a full track listing features below, including relevant links to music streaming sites or social media accounts where possible. 1. Missy Elliott - I Give You Power feat. Mavis Staples 2. Wiley - Common Cold 3. Reel Feels- She Said 4. Deep Throat Choir - No CD 5. Silver Liz - Didi At Night 6. Trash Castle - Black ft JME & Dizzee Rascal 7. Cloud302 - What's That (Is It a Monster?) 8. Skrillex - Raoul 9. Fatboy Slim- Mister Mental 10. Soul Link - Jacknife And The Death Call 11. Wood N Head- Teenage White Boy 12. Cruel Waves- The Dead Guy 13. The xx - Hallelujah Money feat. Benjamin Clementine
February of 2017 brings with it our second edition of xxyyzz transmission, the new music podcast hosted by Glen Byford, and a chance to look at a number of artists that have released albums and singles since the start of the year.
To help keep up with all the artists featured in xxyyzz transmission episode 2, a full track listing features below, including relevant links to music streaming sites or social media accounts where possible.
January 2017 sees the launch of xxyyzz transmission, a new music podcast hosted by Glen Byford with the sole aim of sharing and enjoying good music.
Below you will find an embedded stream and full track listing for Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle's brand new podcast
It felt like a natural progression from writing about music to actually filling your ears with music and talking about it too, so to mark the start of a new year we look at the one just passed, in the form of new music from new artists, new music from older, more recognisable artists, and older music from older artists still, those that are sadly no longer with us to witness whatever 2017 may bring...
Some of these artists have already been featured or reviewed on Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle, and others are sure to feature prominently as 2017 continues to unfold...
To help keep up with all the artists featured in xxyyzz transmission episode 1, a full track listing features below, including relevant links to music streaming sites or social media accounts where possible.
And thanks also go to Ian Byford Art for specially creating the artwork for our new podcast.
The Tayalarz mixtape series began life as a musical scavenger hunt, a quest to source free music and present it in the classic format of putting one song after another in order to create a customised recommendation of good music.
Now these mixes have found new life as one continuous, flowing mix upon the shores of mixcloud, and despite the passing of time I feel these still stand strong as seasonal soundtracks to the months that spawned them.
And so, embedded below is Taylarz vol.6, ahead of a new music project from Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle that'll be hitting mixcloud before the end of the month.....
From February 2014:
With enough wallowing in January done, we are now galloping ever forward with 2014 and, although it may be a little behind some of my contemporaries, the February edition of the Tayalarz mixtape takes a look at some of those tipped for big things this year, as well as featuring a few of some of our own discoveries and favourites that we hope to hear a lot more from as the forthcoming months progress
Only time will tell who will make it and who will be left behind, but for now let's just enjoy the majesty of their music, sourced for free via a number of blogs and websites and all compiled into a neat little list of links masquerading as the following tracklist
and for the last time, the artwork was provided by Ted Joyce, as it has been for the previous two months also, who not only has displayed his talent as a graphic designer, he also displays his musical skills as the lead singer of Decoy Jet who are featured in this very mixtape
1. The Dexters - Oceans (demo)
2. Decoy Jet - Georgia
3. Circa Waves - Good for me
4. Chloe Howl - I wish I could tell you
5. George Ezra - You don't have to be in the army to fight the war
The Tayalarz mixtape series began life as a musical scavenger hunt, a quest to source free music and present it in the classic format of putting one song after another in order to create a customised recommendation of good music.
Now these mixes have found new life as one continuous, flowing mix upon the shores of mixcloud, and despite the passing of time I feel these still stand strong as seasonal soundtracks to the months that spawned them.
And so, embedded below is Taylarz vol.5, ahead of a new music project from Desperately Seeking Susan Boyle that'll be hitting mixcloud before the end of the month.....
And for the majority of responsive adults that managed to keep their eyes open and senses as far from dulled as was humanly possible for the entire twelve months, it is perhaps a fair conclusion to make that it was a rather messed up year.
I'm not here to document every notable passing or offer commentary on human tragedies and political unrest, I'm simply here to bring everyone's attention to a little ditty that was recorded on Christmas Eve of this year, and rings true with many of the sentiments that we have felt flowing through us at some point or another.
Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again) is joyful in its sadness, it is poignant in its power of empathy, it is good-spirited in the face of another year that will soon be upon us before we've barely got to grips with this one.
none of us know what will await us, and it almost felt as if all hope had left us in 2016 and that 2017 is just another impending threat... but we can greet it with a song on our lips more apt than Auld Langs Syne...
MKUltra... A prime example of heightened paranoia and the conspiracy theory culture that has risen in the digital age alongside omnipotent social networking and a right-swiping society with a deteriorating attention span, although the US government's illegal mind control programme may not be as prevalent as tinder and snapchat, it has certainly taken its rightful place in the niche corners of the internet that firmly believes the world's most popular music artists are among the highest order of the illuminati...
Whilst Rihanna and Jay-Z's suspicious status has yet to be proven, MKUltra is (or was) very real, and has given birth to a creative response among the arts that plays on our fears of government power. Forget off-shore tax havens and shady allowances made for second properties, for there are far more sinister strings that have been pulled in an attempt to create sleeper soldiers through mind control and experiments with LSD.
More than 40 years since proof of these practises came to light, The Invisible, aka Enfield multi-instrumentalist Jake Bradford-Sharp, takes this subject as inspiration for his debut long player, a concept album that not only threads together a fictionalised account of an MKUltra test patient but also weaves together a rich tapestry of musical influences that reach back through the decades almost as far back as the controversial practise itself.
The 60s psychedelic influence of Pink Floyd is an obvious one to tag this release with, along with the expansive and progressive sounds of the 70s that could be heard emanating from the likes of Yes, but harder edged guitar riffs call to mind rock titans such as Black Sabbath, and a far more recent touchstone would also be Muse, who have managed to fuse stadium rock with a sense of the overblown and an overbearing theme of paranoia and political mis-trust.
Perhaps the strongest thread that runs through this accomplished debut is a home-grown predilection for British eccentricity that is not only self evident but also self serving in the aforementioned works of Syd Barrett, Rick Wakeman and Matt Bellamy, and is explored here through no mere pastiche or doe-eyed hero worship, this has been seriously crafted in a way that blends musical styles and extravagant opuses without feeling bloated or over-reaching, and I constantly have to remind myself that this is all the work of just one musician... in fact the involvement of others could possibly have diluted such an ambitious and focused piece of art.
Here is an album that challenges you to put aside distractions for its duration in what is another conscious decision to go against the grain of modern music, and each track opens itself up to deeper dissection of both a critical and literary nature... I hear shades of Tom Vek in brief opener Inside Voices, but I also hear an awakening experience, there are three key tracks that each have their sights set on reaching epic proportions standing tall within the framework of the album, but the shifting sonic identity within these longer tracks and the flow of the album raises the listener's own questions as to whether one track has truly ended and another one yet begun, surely a reflection of the inner turmoil and disturbed psyche of MKUltra patients. Recollections of mind-control experimentation collide with musical experimentation perfectly, and This Drug, The Discovery, and Dreamscape all are fascinating in their ability to hold your attention as they unravel over an extended run time, again I'm reminded of the paranoid stadium rock of Muse, but also of mostly forgotten early-noughties vanguard noiseniks The Cooper Temple Clause and (the sole American group brought to my mind) The Flaming Lips, and their own uncompromising approach to making music since the band's inception, except right now there isn't a single pink robot in sight...
Each listen reveals further depths not only in the sonic construct of MK-ULTRA, but also in the storytelling that the 'concept' of the album is pinned upon, providing a cohesive story structure that complements and mirrors the equally cohesive marriage of myriad styles and sounds.
Writing, recording and releasing music is a labour of love, and this fast paced digital age has made creative technologies more affordable and more accessible, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every song and shred of music that makes its way online is worthy of further attention.
Thankfully there are acts such as Centau that are a testament to hard work and talent paying off and producing a polished end-product, the work of Enfield's Raihan Rubin, this solo project and self-titled debut album that recently landed on all major streaming services is a study in dynamic rock, and the knowledge that it had been solely constructed with minimal input from outside forces only makes the listening experience all the more bewildering.
Whilst the vocals may not be the most conventional to have been heard alongside such driven drums and guitar riffs, the sheer ambition and craftsmanship that has been poured into producing such a professional end-product is breathtaking and makes for an inspirational story for any aspiring bedroom music maestros, the intricate guitar work and multi-tracked vocal takes seem faultless and each new listen brings about another nuance that I had previously missed in the mix.
To my ears, Centau harks back to 90s era rock bands that struck big and found themselves filling stadiums as they filled the gap left by grunge and the earlier hair-metal of the 80s, shades of Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters are present alongside a number of other contemporaries, but I can also hear the more modern sounds of Muse and Biffy Clyro ringing through in the style and tone of the album, but what I can hear most is maturity.... This sounds like an album that has grown, perhaps this is the result of one man at the controls, the entire thing sounds considered, but this can't just be put down to sole working practises, the entire operation and resultant sound must have been intentional.
As a D.I.Y produced debut album, it outstrips any and all expectations put upon it.
I’ve followed Those Handsome Animals since the very beginning and it's been a sporadic trajectory, would you care to share a potted history of the band and introduce yourselves?
Me and Gav (vocals and guitars) started making music together in 2010, we were a 3 piece then with Gav on the bass, which is hilarious because he’s a way better guitarist than me. We was making music that was more akin to the Cure at the time, heavy reverbed dream pop but we got a bit bored with it, everyone sounded like that at the time (think The Drums).
Gavin went traveling for a while and we just stopped making music for 4 years. After that whopping break we got back together, turned off the reverb, and decided harmonised guitars and power chords are the way forward. We was hell bent on sounding like no one around today. We recruited Thomas Beavis on Bass (a colleague of Gavin's) and most recently Derrick Carter (a uni friend of mine) on Drums. Together we have become almost brutal in sound, but trying to do this in a way that’s not been done before.
When I approached you about reviewing your latest single, you commented that you was moving away from the pigeonhole of 'indie', is indie a dirty word? Where is the band's sound heading now?
It’s not a dirty word, it’s just not right for us.
When we get press everyone says we sound like various random 00’s indie bands, but the truth is we sound like none of them. We’re influenced by some of them sure (**cough** The Cribs), but I don’t feel part of it. The fact no one can unanimously describe us the same makes me think we're onto something new.
The band’s sound is constantly being refined with each release. We have two guitars in the band, so we make the most of it, in songs like Rant Wildly and Right Fit For the City we both play lead. I hate guitarists that just play chords and the other solos, it’s boring.
We’re now working on Hits vol. 2 - which has some new developments for us, mainly Gavin taking lead vocals on a few tracks. He’s got a deeper voice than me so we’re getting a bit of a Strummer / Jones vibe. We’re also working on acoustic stuff that is heavily influenced by The Faces, for too long acoustic songs have been wimpy... no longer.
Your lyrics have always held a down to earth, kitchen-sink drama quality that I've found relatable and fascinating, who do you hold in the highest regard in terms of songwriting?
I like characters, oddballs. For me my favourite songwriters are people like Jarvis Cocker, Black Francis & Jeffrey Lewis.
They are themselves and write songs only they can sing. Everyone can write something generic (and most people do), but these guys have no intention of doing that, and neither do I. They don’t pretend to be anyone else, I like that. I see way too many people that seem fake fronting bands, It’s all style, but not with these lot. That rubbed off on me, I try to write as honest as I can, and then bury it under alliteration and imagery.
Fun fact: We got our name from Jeffrey Lewis’ song “Slogans”.
Jared Leto; musical output or cinematic output?
Oh god, his cinematic output everyday.
The world finally gets to the witness the full unveiling of Jared Leto's turn as the Joker next month... If you was tasked with providing a new soundtrack to a Jared Leto movie, which would you choose?
Can I choose Fight Club? He’s not really the star but he’s in it.
I’ve been working on a lot of instrumental stuff lately, it would soundtrack one of those fight scenes perfectly. Think Fuckin in the Bushes, but with a ridiculous amount of guitar harmonies in it.
What better accompaniment to the sunshine than a brand new Major Lazer song...
But sadly, now that Thomas Wesley Pentz has one of the worlds most famous pop stars on speed dial after playing a key part in the career gentrification of Justin Beiber, Cold Water sounds more like a cross-promotional branding exercise than it does the manic Jamaica-centric electronic hybrid of old.
Ed Sheeran's fingerprints are all over the songwriting and the blueprints for world domination are highly evident in a mere three minutes. Top flight producers, song writers and pop stars, plus emotive Love Yourself-style guitar and a tried and tested laid back summer vibe, draft in Lean On's breakout star MØ and you have a winning formula beneficial to all involved. There are still some tell-tale elements of fusion that flow through the track, but it feels less like a new Major Lazer song and more like a new track primed for Beliebers with Diplo once again on production duty.
It's not a bad track, not by any stretch of the imagination, and it will no doubt be unavoidable for the remainder of the summer, I just hoped that with such creative forces at play that we would be hearing boundaries being pushed rather than this bankable safe bet.
With leaden arms and a woozy head I paused to survey the abundant musical landscape, I had come here I search of something 'experimental' and now I was taking stock of the surrounding area as my motor functions continued to float somewhere beyond the realm of normal practicality.
Skinny withered fingers flash across the touchscreen and dip in and out of new releases like some kind of malnourished Winnie The Pooh feverishly tasting from the honey pot using the sense of sight alone, discarding those that don't look right, those that don't appeal, with no real sense of why, but when I've found it, then I've found it.
And I've found it.
I've found the voice that speaks to me.
Speaks to me through poetry. Speaks to me through brevity, and beauty.
Speaks to me through complexity and pretentiousness, because I love finding something that it can be a challenge to love, I love holding my head up and declaring that perhaps my taste is the emperor's new taste.
But above all that I love passion.
And I love the dizzying power of creation.
This dainty and lithe creation that was spawned of minds and now beams directly into mine. Words and sounds, definitely poetic, occasionally musical, purely avant garde and now a part of my life. Fleeting glimpses into other lives exist here without boundaries or formulas, these are snapshots of genius fused to maverick productions, both feeding and solidifying each other in the symbiotic process.
The debut self-released single by newcomers Whenyoung just landed in my inbox and swiftly wound it's way into my mind.
So far I've received very little information about the band, instead choosing to let the music do the talking, or to get closer to the truth, letting the music do the shouting, stomping, jumping around and teasing.
Whenyoung sound like a number of things and make a great first impression for themselves. They sound brash, they sound like your favourite garage-rock band that you'd forgotten you'd loved, they sound slightly Scandinavian, they sound flirtatious, and they sound like fun.
Within two minutes they cram monochromatic shades of PJ Harvey, The Kills and Ladytron into See How They Run, and I for one, am already hooked.
Sam1: We are Eddie, Sam and Sam or Sam and Eddie and Sam or
Sam, Sam and Eddie, or just Eddie's Samband.
Three people from North London who enjoy spending far too infrequent
amounts of time together making music, generally fuelled by cheap booze and bad
jokes.
Sam2: Eddie’s Samband is a feeling, a movement, a way of
life.
Eddie: Eddie's Samband is a chemical reaction of off brand
Baileys and Tesco brand buck's fizz… fuck’s bizz.
Sam2: If you’ve ever had a feeling and not known what it
was, how to deal with it or even if it’s in a ‘talent’ time signature, you are
Eddie’s Samband.
Eddie: Sam and I were already mates before we started the
“project” and he suggested we record some songs with his friend who is also
called Sam. We stumbled into a rehearsal studio I was working in at the time
and recorded a song about getting drunk. The rest is history
Do you think Stacey could be persuaded to listen to techno?
What is she into?
Sam2: In a word, NAH. She loves a bit of Craig David played
on her phone while she’s walking round the estate or reppin’ the back of the
bus.
Sam1: I think that she doesn't even know what she likes, she
generally has a hankering for top charts bangers and bargain bin Shiraz but
that's only because her friends do, in private she probably prefers silent
crying and the sound of her own heartbeat.
Eddie: I think I remember meeting Stacey in the smoking area
of a run-down pub in Islington… The kind of pub that hadn’t changed the
furniture or carpet since the smoking ban. We were talking about festivals and
gigs we've been to. Well I was anyway... She was chucking her guts up because
she took advantage of the cheap house wine.
Before she left, I slipped her a copy of Moby’s 2009 album
“Wait For Me” and told her it would be a good listen for a hangover.
I’ve not had contact with her since.
I see you've been shouting out KT Tunstall and Adele on
twitter, are these the strong female artists that you wish to emulate?
Sam1: Can one shout on a medium that doesn't have a volume
control? I mean, you can be kind of aggressively visual using CAPS LOCK but
it's not got the same power as a good ol' shout, does it?
Sam2: You could say we wish to emulate them. Or you could
say we’re just horrific pests on social media.
I definitely want to be one of them when I’m a grown up. Either or.
I’m not picky.
Eddie: Sam’s a very big fan of KT. I can’t say I’m a huge
fan but I can appreciate a good singer/songwriter when I hear one. I wouldn’t
say what we’re doing is emulating anyone, it’s just;
“Hey, we all play instruments. Let’s get together and make
some noise.”
Sam1: I'm pretty sure we just want to go for a drink with
them...
Sam2: I think a night out with Eddie’s Samband, Adele and KT
would be banging. Perhaps when they’re drawing up the table plans for next
year’s BRIT Awards they could take this in to account?
Sam1: They would certainly be on the list of people we are
influenced by - well the Sams are, I think Eddie's kind of KT-curious verging
on A-DeleSexual...
Eddie: I’ve been A-DeleSexual for years pal. I guess I’m more influenced by other artists
we mutually like… Bowie, The Cure, Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, The Raconteurs to
name a few...
Delving deeper and listening to your debut #feelingsEP
reveals that the band can show a slightly more serious and sensitive side...
What is it that makes the band tick and what can we expect of any future
releases?
Sam2: Feelings. If we ever experience any feelings, they’re
in a song
Sam1: What makes us tick? Gin mostly.
Eddie: I think with #feelingsEP we were trying our hand at
writing songs with meaningful lyrics and interesting chord progressions while
still sounding okay while under the influence. It just seemed a bit boring to
be so serious and feelsy all the time so we just decide to have fun and do
whatever... even if it didn’t meet traditional songwriter standards
Sam2: Sometimes I just want to get drunk, and that’s a
feeling. And that’s ok. Any future releases are guaranteed to have a wide array
of mixed messages, mixed emotions and stains of gin and misery.
You've presented yourselves as 'Three drunks and a
laptop'.... Any plans to take that set-up into the real world and perform live?
Sam2: We will only play anywhere that has free WiFi and free
booze. If you know anywhere that meets that criteria, we’ll consult the Filofax
and see if we can be bothered to rock up.
Sam1: That sounds like it would involve a lot of work.
Eddie: I think we’ve all played together at the same time a
grand total of once and that’s when we had our first jam.
Sam1: You know, Sam and I tried a rehearsal for a live show
we'd been offered (Eddie was busy with his real band or a funeral or something)
and we couldn't even remember the chords to the songs. Needless to say we
didn't do it.
Eddie: It does sound like a good idea but it would require a
lot of planning, rehearsal and booze so I’m not sure we’re gonna be playing
shows any time soon... I wouldn’t rule it out though!
Sam1: We'd definitely still be three drunks and a laptop on
stage. The intermittent pauses while
waiting for the ageing macbook to reboot from yet another crash would be fun
though, wouldn't they?
And lastly, who were your first cartoon crushes and do you
think these have informed your later life choices?
Eddie: That’s a very interesting question
Sam1: This question is quite random, I kind of like it, what
was the reasoning behind it?
Eddie: I think mine was probably Buttercup from the
Powerpuff girls. I’m not sure why, it’s probably the tomboy-ish attitude and
taste in music haha!
Sam1: Daria is deliciously morose and may be my spirit
animal. But I wouldn't say I ever had romantic feelings for a drawing. I've had
other feelings about drawings, but never lustful ones, I mean, never say never,
but I haven't so far in my life...
Eddie: I can’t say a childhood crush on an anime inspired
little girl with superpowers has affected my life choices.. I think meeting a
woman with those characteristics is a bit far-fetched.
Sam2: I would probably say Simba. I just couldn’t wait to be
queen at the time. I don’t think this has influenced any of my later life
choices really other than the occasional Lion King sing-along in the office at
work. Lions don’t form a part of my sexuality. #feelingsEP and Stacey's Crying are both out now via bandcamp
