DRKMTR, Daily Post, June 22.

The article (below) appeared in the Daily Post last week. DRKMTR play Telford’s Warehouse in Chester on July 12. You should go. For more details go right here.

DRKMTR is the brainchild of Sophie McKeand, Steve Nicholls and Andy Garside. Perhaps more of a project than a band in the traditional sense, it is an experiment in poetry, sound and art.
If that doesn’t sound intriguing, they perform live backed by a mountain of TVs – all piled up like an US 80s second hand store.
“The idea is a concept album, the poetry sets a theory for the origins of dark matter,” explains Mold poet Sophie McKeand. “We wanted it to be art based, a whole experience. With the poetry and music it is not traditional. The music is more soundscapes than anything full of dis-ambient noises.
“It is poetry noise, if you like, although some of the sounds are quite beautiful. the poems are quite earthy with regards to the message. That’s contrasted with very industrial sounds.”
Distinctly conceptual, it is easy to see how label intervention could dilute the vision or message. McKeand says it is a scenario DRKMTR have avoided.
“The idea was inspired by Peter Saville and the work he did for Factory Records... Bands like Crass as well. We’re very punk and have that ideology of doing things for the love of it.”
As she ponders the project’s direction, accusations of pretension are also something the band have avoided – yet more through apathy than much else.
“People might say it’s pretentious but a band like Islet, who are one of my favourite acts, have been accused of that. The way I see it is a band doing what they want and not compromising on their vision or sound – you need that in music and art. It’s boring otherwise.”
She says the process of accompanying poems – some of which are three years old – with music and visuals has been enlightening.
“For some I had no idea what they would sound like when put to music. Others were different. The poem Deep, which is about the ocean, has this very deep bass and vibration. It just feels like you’re lost in the ocean. But Steve [Nicholls, sound and production] has managed to do it without it being twee.
“Andy [Garside, art and visuals] has done the same. It is a little difficult to explain how that works but it stands apart from when, maybe, people do something like interpretive dance.”
Pulling together the work from DRKMTR’s, so far, brief existence, the concept and process seems to have been planned and executed meticulously. In reality, that is roughly half true.
“It has been quite organic, we released the record before we’d even played a live show,” says McKeand. “It grew after we really liked the first results and then Andy came in and we made an album. People liked that so we decided ‘let’s do it live’.“That got a good response so we thought ‘bass and drums, let’s get those’.
“It seems to be growing so we’re just going to ride this wave while we’re enjoying it... I don’t know what we’d do for a second album, though.”

Golden Fable newydd

Golden Fable lying on the ground

A pleasant end-of-the-week surprise, Golden Fable have some new material out. Sugarloaf is a shining slice of gossamer pop. Really, quite disarmingly, lovely.
Warm and lush, there is still a hint of Elizabeth Fraser in the vocals. The duo steer wisely clear of swooping and operatic, favouring ethereal and haunting. Haunting in a warm way, of course. Nice ghost.


This is ace.

Pretty Places no more

Pretty Places

Pretty Places are no more. Although low key, C86/Sarah Records/Field Mice indebted indie pop is rarely something that is going to set the world on fire, they really were a little beam of sunshine poking out of the clouds above Anglesey.
Two songs -- Miracle Girl and You See What I See -- I can't find on the internet jangled along like the coolest of summer breezes. The soundtrack to some grainy Super 8 footage, C86 tapes, pin badges, fanzines and hand-drawn posters. A simpler time, you might say.
Two thirds of the group have now formed Memory Clinic. So look out for that.

DRKMTR got records

DRKMTR

DRKMTR, who feature in today's Daily Post available in all good newsagents, released an album at the beginning of the year.
I'll put up the interview sometime soon but for the time being here is a trailer for the record which you can buy here.
It's a mix of poetry, noise and impressive visuals. They also perform in front of a load of piled up TVs.
They will be playing at Telford's Warehouse in Chester on July 12.


DRKMTR promo from theABSURD on Vimeo.

Sex Hands Newydd

Llanfairfechan by way of Dwygyfylchi by way of Conwy by way of Manchester's Sex Hands have contributed four songs to a 12" split with Pawz, Dolfinz and Waiters. It's all been put together by Song, by Toad and can be purchased here.
You can listen to Sex Hands' tracks below:

Shy and the Fight EP / Popty Ping

Shy and the Fight have a nice new shiny orange record out. It is the first release from the label Popty Ping.

One of the most striking things about the band is how little pretence there is behind them. Perhaps striking is the wrong word, but in terms of approach they seem unconcerned with subtlety or subversion tactics. Unless I’m missing something, All That We See Or Seem is boldly uncynical. Sonically, the track is brassy and wholesome and, for the most part, stays away from being a little too sugary sweet.

The B side, Breaks, is better. It works itself into the kind of euphoric outro that doesn’t warrant a raised and clenched fist. You sway, going nowhere in particular. It is delicate and quite lovely.

Listen HERE and purchase it HERE.

This is them performing the A side at Wychwood Festival a week or so ago

Shy and the Fight will also be interviewed on Bethan Elfyn's BBC Radio Wales show on Saturday. Tuune in.

Mowbird, Sex Hands, Furrow -- The Castle Hotel, Manchester June 19

Sex Hands, doing it. At the Castle Hotel.

The people behind Reeks of Effort made what I think might have been their first sojourn to Manchester. A measly £3 bought you Mowbird, Sex Hands and Furrow. Three bands that flirt effortlessly with brilliance and disaster for less than a McDonald's meal. Ridiculous value.
Sex Hands arrived at the gig off the back of a mini tour of the UK. Tales of five hour journeys left them looking understandably jaded/tired. Aberdeen, one of their stops, is deceptively far away, something like three hours beyond Edinburgh.
It was easy to forgive a set that was a little sluggish for that reason -- as well as the fact that a Sex Hands struggling to get out of second gear still outstrips many other bands performing on all cylinders.
As with each time of seeing the band, their penchant for writing songs about Friends moves itself further into the back of your mind. Gay Marriage in particular is as brilliantly warped a pop song as you are likely to hear. Ever. Their approach seems almost flippant, a complete disregard for normality but a dedication to what are essentially great pop songs. Everything is as messy as it is excellent.
Mowbird, the mighty Mowbird, have developed into a different beast to the one I saw on the day Prince William married Kate Middleton and drove off in a little red car.
They are essentially the same band, jittering wedges of off-kilter surf pop and squalls of guitar are all present and correct. They are though, more toned and glossy, like some pulp fiction magazine.
The attributes that made them so exciting then -- charm and enthusiasm from a band walking a tightrope between sublime and shambolic -- are still present but there is an added rigidity and confidence. It suits them.
I've said before that to crash and burn, it is best to soar majestically beforehand. Tread the fine line between ambition and failure, otherwise what’s the point? Not flying so close to the sun is usually taken as a warning against hubris. That’s boring. Boredom is not in the vocabulary of Mowbird.
As is often the case, they start off a little scratchy but grow throughout a set indebted to Grandaddy, Beat Happening and Guided by Voices. But. It is all well and good listing bands Mowbird sound like, they have and have always had enough individuality to carry their influences to other exciting places. Above most things, they're fun.
A closing duo of Happy Birthday Dad and Playmate were as good as I have seen the Wrexham group. The latter particularly swelled into a wonderful cacophony of noise.

Furrow, who were on first, really were something else. A wholly different prospect to the lo fi haze that blankets their recorded output. A blend of loops, bass and drums was earth-shatteringly loud and primal.
In retrospect it seems I might have been a little dismissive of what I originally took as a passably enjoyable mix of The Fall, Ikara Colt and Joy Division. Live, the Oswestry group were a kick to the bones. A huge and incredible punch to the face.
Awesome.