Hailing from England’s capital, The Imaginary Hat creates a sound self-penned as 1920s Punk Rock. As much as your imagination might work with that tag it will only guess at the rich mix of flavours making up the band’s music and new EP Age of Anxiety. Alongside their fusion of rock, punk and 20’s inspired jazz you can find essences of rockabilly, swing, folk and more. It makes for a proposition and new release which is unpredictable, mischievous, and seriously appetising.
The London based outfit formed in 2014 and swiftly earned a potent, attention luring reputation for their music and live presence across the capital and beyond. This year has seen the band emerge with a new and expanded line-up and now second EP, Age of Anxiety, the successor to their well-received debut, Ladies And Gentlemen Kindly Remove Your Hats released this past January.
The spirited rhythms of drummer Phil Joyce kick EP opener Pretty Little Features into life, their increasingly tenacious antics luring ears, appetite, and the guitar jangle of Luke Fraser. Swiftly his vocals also jump in, the track bouncing round with its fifties rock ‘n’ roll scented jazz punk. With a touch of eighties band The Stargazers to it and also the jump blues hues of a Louis Jordan, the song leaps and swings, successfully insisting on the same from the listener. Punk riffs taunt throughout as the flames of Nick Smith’s Trombone unite with the sax of Oscar Ives-Owen; each adding to the virulent contagion of an outstanding start to the release.
A trombone sigh brings up the following Tick Tick Tick, its enticement soon joined by the boisterous stroll of Sam Dimond’s magnetic bass. Vocals again simply entice as they dance devilishly within the similarly insistent sounds around them, enterprise which becomes more bedlamic and frantic by the second but with reins which hauls the chaos back into a just as addictive imaginative canter. You can call the track whatever style you wish but at its heart it is punk rock and relishing its anarchy.
Right Side is next, uncaging a thick dark grumble around another instinctively catchy lure of rhythms. It is infectiousness and swing echoed in Fraser’s vocals as the track prowls, as good as stalks ears and imagination. Bordering blues funereal in gait, salacious seduction in tone, the track physically smoulders as it sears itself into the memory, it too becoming more hellacious in tone and texture by the handful of seconds.
The Imaginary Hat is back in full bounce with Monkey Glands straight after, the track like a swing jazz equivalent of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers at their devilish while UntilOne Of Us Dies closes up the release with its dark seduction. Both tracks just hit the spot, the first a collusion of punk ’n’ roll fuelled flavours akin to Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux meets The Strangler Figs under the tutelage of Cab Calloway with its successor unleashing flames of jazz conjured rock with increasing rigour across a landscape as mercurial as it is dramatic.
Though into their fourth year, 2018 might be the moment The Imaginary Hat get crowded by much broader and eager attention. Their two EP’s this year, especially Age of Anxiety, give evidence that it is more than deserved.
Sparking a spring in the step as it dances with the imagination, Fight for Love is the new release from US singer songwriter Cat Dail. It is a seven track offering which creates a web of styles and flavours woven into one irresistible party for ears with the Chesterfield, NH bred Cat. She has been a potent participant in her national Indie rock scene since the nineties and surely is now about to tempt far broader attention with this contagion fuelled new album.
Not only as a whole but individually the songs within Fight for Love are joyful conspiracies of sound. Whether you call its instincts as pop, rock, funk, blues or whatever, and all apply song by song, the fusion of flavours is a perpetually imaginative and magnet combination. Each track has a unique personality and invention united in the welcoming enterprise of Cat’s voice and lyrical temptation.
The EP begins with Can’t Buy Love, the song slipping in on a rhythmic impulse to spread a tantalising climate of woozy intimation and sound around the immediately engaging tones of Cat. Seductively haunting and suggestive in its melodic air, the song similarly captivates with its hip sparking sway and slow but lithe gait; the craft of guitarist/bassist Teddy Kumpel and drummer Shawn Pelton, as across the whole release, matching the prowess of Cat. Surf, blues, and country spices all add to the smoky temptation getting the EP off to an ear grabbing start.
Similar hues collude in the following Player, a slice of rock funkiness and melodic rock with a whiff of Fleetwood Mac to its lively stroll. Once more the vocals just dance on the ears as they lyrically tease, the song’s imagination just as rich and pleasurable as the song fluidly ebbs and flows in its constantly inspiring energy before Catch Fire grips feet and hips with its mellower but just as manipulative shuffle. Reggae nurtured flavours unite with surf rock currents as the song flirtatiously entices, a country twang teasing in its swarthy air.
Both tracks just hit the spot though are still eclipsed by the following Wonder Love, a heavier slice of pop ‘n’ rock which almost prowls the senses before uncaging one inescapably catchy chorus. Everything about the track is pure temptation amidst creative manoeuvres which just got under the skin in swift time, again an array of flavours combining to charm and bewitch.
Featuring trombonist Clark Gayton and Steven Bernstein on slide trumpet, Flow Zone is equally as compelling and joyous with its Talking Heads meets Molotov Jukebox conjured canter. Unsurprisingly another individual collage of flavours is honed into an ear gripping adventure around rhythms which alone incite body and spirit to indulge. It all adds up to the best track on the release, one which lingers and teases long past its departure.
The EP concludes with the pair of She Can Fly and Molly & Matchbox. The first offers an alluring sunshine of pop lined sound, a radiant embrace of melodic romance added to by the keys of Andy Erin and led by the perpetually tempting voice of Cat. Its successor is a country rock bred encounter with sultry climes and melodies around instinctively open vocals and words. There is also a fire in its belly which bubbles up from the song’s natural simmer and though, simply down to personal tastes, the song did not thrill as its predecessors it still ensured the album closed on an unmistakable high.
However you wish to describe Cat Dail’s sound, which as its press release asks “Is it Blues? Funk? Rock? Soul? Folk?” it is sheer magnetism and pleasure within Fight for Love, a record which puts a smile on the face and in the spirit.
Two years ago Scottish band, The Filthy Tongues released a debut album which quite simply blew us away. It was a striking and increasingly haunting incitement of “caliginous flavours and textures.” Such its gothic beauty and immersive intimation we wondered if the trio had already laid down their finest moment and would struggle to match let alone eclipse its majesty again. Oh fool us! The band has just unveiled its successor in Back To Hell, a web of instinctive drama and invasive magnetism which puts its predecessor and pretty much most things this year to date in the shade.
Edinburgh hailing, The Filthy Tongues consists of vocalist/guitarist Martin Metcalfe, bassist Fin Wilson, and drummer Derek Kelly; the three previously members of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and Angelfish alongside Shirley Manson. After the demise of those bands, all ventured into different projects, musical and not, before Wilson and Metcalfe came together as acoustic duo The Filthy Tongues, named from a phrase from a Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie song. This project subsequently evolved, the three gents back creating together and vocalist Stacey Chavis joining what would become Isobel Gowdie & the Filthy Tongues (to become Isa & the Filthy Tongues). Moving on, the band became three again and The Filthy Tongues with the startling Jacob’s Ladder the irresistible wake-up call to their presence and dark world. That first album was a tapestry of sound and styles; everything from dark rock, garage punk, surf, dark folk and post punk aligned to plenty other rich flavours as the band created almost salacious realms of seductive craft and gothically shadowed deeds. Back To Hell is more of the same yet a whole new landscape of manipulative imagination, riveting sound, and lyrical weaving.
As its predecessor, Back To Hell ventures through the dark claustrophobic underbelly of the Old Town in Edinburgh yet equally it incites the imagination to broaden its landscape and conjuring. It opens up with the addiction sparking Come on Home, a track instantly sharing an electric mist of intrigue and dark suggestion before springing an infection fuelled stroll stalked by the vocal prowess of Metcalfe. Like the sounds, his voice has a dirt clad texture, a gravelly tone which just draws you into the narrative and atmosphere of the developing aural theatre. Keys similarly bring a teasing suggestion to the mix as rhythms and guitars openly simmer. Swiftly hips were swaying to its call, head rocking to its swing and voice aiding the wonderfully tainted harmonies. The band’s new single, it is just superb, that haunting quality in their music already seducing via keys and voice as guitars weave and rhythms coax.
It is an outstanding start reinforced by the senses transfixing tale of The Ghost of Rab McVie. Strings and their electronic counterparts quickly infest the imagination, the first from the suggestive touch and craft of Susannah Clark. Metcalfe is soon within their descriptive midst, voice similarly nurturing thoughts as the song leads the listener into its melancholic heart. There is a beauty to it though which just seduces ears and imagination but with an earthiness keeping the dark surroundings fully in view before the album’s title track provides the gateway into a nefarious journey. Feeling like being trapped in a Celtic Wickerman driven nightmare, the song simultaneously overwhelms, indeed suffocates, and seduces all with increasing intensity. It is quite superb with the craft of Clark simply irresistible.
Mother’s got a Knife follows, its animated shuffle also getting under the skin within the first dance of enterprise before slipping into a smouldering glide; repeating the captivating cycle in swift time. Like a mercurial fusion of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, The Bad Seeds, and Wall Of Voodoo with a Josef K lining, the track was another which seduced and enslaved with ridiculous ease such its masterful imagination and virulent breath.
Next up Leper Town was just as persuasive, its pop infested rock ‘n’ roll reminding of a few in some small ways but as ever, so unique to The Filthy Tongues as it had body and thoughts bouncing and appetite for their invention greedy. That individuality is never absent from a song as proven once more by Carlos the Jackal, menace and tenebrific elegance soaking its predacious yet infectious prowl while Who are you? is the band’s creative theatre at its most compelling and beguiling. It too has a threat in its air and beauty in its dark drawl; addiction for its creative alchemy once more inescapable.
The album goes out on the mesmeric croon of Take it, a song with a whisper of U2 meets Helldorado about it and a dirty laced grace which just fascinates as layers of sound seduce. It oozes beauty, loneliness, and temptation; a crepuscular radiance of sound and emotion which steals attention from the real world.
It is a glorious end to another extraordinary encounter with The Filthy Tongues. Their Jacob’s Ladder was one of the essential releases two years ago, Back to Hell is THE most vital release of this so far and hard to see being eclipsed too often over the months ahead.
Back to Hell is released May 25th through Neon Tetra / Blokshok Records.
As 2017 went through its final handful of rewarding weeks, it is fair to say it produced some of its biggest musical treats, one of which was the new album from singer songwriter Jane Allison. The follow-up to her hypnotic debut album Just Another Girl three years earlier, Methylene Blue is a tantalisingly magnetic affair in its own right deserving of all the praise carrying attention it can muster.
The former vocalist of indie outfit KarmaDeva, Jane Allison Stanness to give her full name is one of those talents and voices which almost haunt the imagination. Her songwriting is an embrace of observation and intimacy, her fusion of folk and Americana a warm melancholic hug on the senses which carries you away in thought and creative seduction. Proof came with Just Another Girl and its bewitchment of emotive shadows and personal angst, attributes all the richer within the breath-taking thought courting adventure of Methylene Blue which confirms Jane Allison as one of Britain’s finest modern day troubadours, or should that be trobairitz.
Unveiling tales of “dereliction, salvation, obsession and allure, with its title track inspired in parts by the breath-taking love letters of Violet Trefusis to Vita Sackville-West”, all providing an “homage to triumph, defiance, the heroine, the daughter, and the muse”, Methylene Blue was recorded in fits and starts during Kula Shaker’s 2016 20th anniversary and K2.0 world tour. Blessed with the backing vocals of Audrey Evans from Mediæval Bæbes, the album arose at a time of great personal loss and during the devastating attack on Brussels. There is sadness at its heart but equally defiance and hope thick warmth which brews a melancholy so easy to immerse within.
The album opens up with Ain’t Wreckin’ Me, a country fuelled canter with the rich familiar twang the style often brews; its lure wrapping Allison’s enticing tones soon backed by equally beguiling harmonies. Rising from the ashes of a lost relationship, the track is a bouncy self-affirming affair getting the album off to a very potent start.
The outstanding Another Prayer follows, its mellow sighs riding a captivating swing as Allison again lures total attention with her bewitching voice and keys bred melodies. The darker pulse of bass is as compelling; its lurking presence engaging as the song with a certain Kirsty MacColl hue to it sublimely seduces ears and appetite before Hollow Rock slips in on a vibrant shuffle, growing second by second into a similarly absorbing proposal. Harmonica and guitar weave their own Americana spawned temptation but there is no denying that it is Allison’s voice and craft which takes the tightest grip.
Oh Girl is next, caressing ears with its gentle but determinedly infectious and lively serenade while its successor, For What It’s Worth shares a heart spilling ballad. From its initial breath, the first of the two is working away building towards a galvanic crescendo, Allison the fascination at its core while in contrast the second strolls along with reflection and brewing affirmation for company. Both songs simply charm in their individual ways as too the album’s title track, another skilfully catchy and soulful croon upon the ears hard to get too much of.
That is something which applies to all tracks within Methylene Blue, as the charismatic saunter of Forgotten Son and the brooding drama of Outlaw Valentine prove. The pair seizes ears and imagination with unstoppable ease, the first arresting ears with its expression and emotion, the body with its bounce while its companion takes the listener into a spellbinding landscape of long shadows and dark romance with a delicious carnival-esque hued undercurrent. The track, the best or not on the album, is undoubtedly the most enthralling.
The smiling invitation of Texas Baby blends the country joy of its named state with Nashvillian flavours before Unknown Soldier bring things to an alluring and haunting close. It is a fascinating and highly enjoyable end to an album which commands regular attention. It is fair to say that the genres at the heart of Allison’s music do not generally induce our passions but in her hands they combine to truly pleasure our ears and enrich our days.
An accomplished actress in her own right and soon to be seen in the film Slaughter House Rulez, a Simon Pegg / Nick Frost comedy horror movie directed by Crispian Mills and surely basking in plaudits for Methylene Blue, Jane Allison could find 2018 a very big year.
Tagged as indie folk rock, the Charly&Faust sound is a much richer tapestry of flavours than that hints at and a captivating seduction for ears and thought as proven by a recently released EP. We had a chance to look into the creative heart of the California based band, finding out about its origins, that new EP, creating songs and much more…
Hello and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.
Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started?
Charly: We are Charly&Faust, an Indie Folk-Rock band composed of six members. I am Charly (Marie Weill), one of the lead singers of the band and rhythm guitarist.
CH: My name is Coralie Hervé and I’m the drummer the band, I joined Charly&Faust in October 2016.
ER: Hi, I’m Eric Reymond. I play bass and do the backing vocals. I’m from Switzerland and I moved to Los Angeles to study at Musicians Institute. I met Coralie on the first day of school and she introduced me to the rest of the band because they were searching for a bass player.
NL: I’m Nathan Lorber, I play keys, and I met the rest of the band following a Facebook notice.
JF: I’m Jeff (Jefferson Fichou) the lead guitar player. I met the band at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.
Faust: I am Faust; the other lead singer of the band. Charly and I, first met in Paris few years ago, and we started to make music together when we moved in LA. The connection between us was great, but not powerful enough yet. That is why we decided to build a band. Now, We are like a little family!
Have you been involved in other bands before? If so has that had any impact on what you are doing now, in maybe inspiring a change of style or direction?
CH: I was in a band with some of my friends for 6 years. It was only for fun but it taught me how to play and work with other people.
Faust: It’s the first time I’m part of a band so there is for sure no impact for me.
JF: I’ve been playing in a lot of different projects here in LA and back in France. It’s important to have such experiences in the music world but everything is evolving faster and smoother with Charly&Faust.
Charly: I got bands before, but it never really worked. We were not going to the same musical direction. I have the chance to now play in two bands with people that I love working with. Charly&Faust is my main band, the one I lead with Faust, but I also play bass and sing backing vocals in another band called The Sutra. I am also working on my next solo EP now. All these experiences are complementary for me and help me to go further in my artistic process in each of them.
ER: Yes, I had two bands back home and I was playing with two other bands here when Charly&Faust asked me to join them. I don’t think it has any impact on my way of playing; I’m always trying to play everything.
NL: I have my own project called Polymorph, as well as a couple of other bands on the side.
Picture by Rémy Tortosa
What inspired the band name?
ER: It comes from the nicknames of the two singers and leaders.
Faust: We just wanted to use something that goes well together!
Charly: Like our music collaboration!
Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?
Charly: I think for Faust and I music is a way to express ourselves. That was the main idea behind this band. Be free to express our feelings and vision of the world. For the sound part, we are listening old and new music so we wanted to illustrate that in our sound.
Faust: When you play in a band, you feel stronger than ever. All together, we deliver a message and it has a better impact this way. We talk about several feelings from heart breaking to society topics to humanity questions.
NL: I think one of the key points of our sound is to mix a broad range of styles, both old and new.
And those same things still drive the band when it was fresh-faced or have they evolved over time?
Faust: Yes that’s pretty much the same. I mean the process is the same but with time the other members bring their own touch, their own way which is something I love!
JF: We’re still a pretty young band; we just started about a year ago.
Charly: The only thing that changed is that before forming the full band, Faust and I were composing our songs with an acoustic set up which sometimes was bringing guitar melodies a bit different than what we got now that we are composing with an electric set up.
How would you say your sound has evolved since its beginnings?
JF: We sound more like a band now. I mean everybody has brought some elements to the music and that’s great.
Faust: I just think that the more I practice with the band, my feelings and my way to approach music evolved. Experiencing music with them makes my personal sound evolves and this way makes the sound of Charly&Faust evolves.
CH: At the beginning, there was only Charly and Faust so it was more acoustic, folk. When the rest of us arrived, it turned more indie, rock and now we have some electronic sound added to our music.
Charly: I would say that we are starting to know each other better which allow us to play better together and go further in our creative process. We also improved a lot the vocals harmonies in my opinion.
ER: It’s way more professional now. The electronic elements are certainly a plus to make our sound more professional.
Is the creative movement within the band a more organic thing or do you go out to deliberately try and push new things?
Faust: You know we all have ideas and try to make them work all together which sometimes works really good and sometimes not but what matters is the fact we communicate a lot about it to make sure that we all go in the same direction.
ER: In general, I would say it has been always organic, but, of course, sometimes it’s nice to set boundaries to not get stuck in our comfort zone.
CH: I will say both. The first songs were already written so we kept them like they were but we experimented a lot with the new songs that we arranged all together.
Charly: I would say that it is a mix between both and that it depends of the song we are creating and its topic too.
Presumably across the band there is a wide range of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only on the band’s music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?
ER: Yes, Vulfpeck, Radiohead and Jack White help me to construct my bass lines stronger.
NL: A big influence for me is Pink Floyd, which also happen to be my favorite band. And the important role Rick Wright had in that band taught me how critical the role of a keyboardist is. You don’t just play melodies or chords, but are a central part of creating textures and setting up the whole atmosphere of a song.
Charly: Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zero, Imagine Dragons, Tracy Chapman, Assaf Avidan, etc.
Faust: I have so many artists who inspired me like Michael Jackson, Joan Jett, the Beatles, The Doors, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Coldplay… I have so much more but I’m gonna stop here *laughs*
CH : I am more of a hard rock/rock drummer, so it’s really interesting to play with Charly&Faust, to add some electronic sounds and find some groove which works with all the other instruments.
Is there a particular process to the band’s songwriting?
NL: It usually starts with Charly and Faust bringing lyrics and some vague structure and chords progression to the table. And from that, the whole band participates to enrich the musical and rhythmical aspects, and kind of put flesh on the skeleton.
Charly: Since Faust is the one who writes lyrics, she is usually the one coming to me with a new idea. Then, as Nathan said, we work just the two of us on the lyrics and the melody before working on it with the entire band. We started to work this way and it always worked pretty well, so even if we love having the other members ideas during the creative process, we like to have this moment just the two of us to be sure it is going where we want things to go.
Faust: I usually write the lyrics of the songs, sometimes even come up with a small melody. Charly co-write them with me, and most of our melodies are from her creativity with her guitar.
ER: Generally Charly and Faust bring the idea and we all together construct around to create the best song possible.
JF : My favorite moment is when we’re all jamming together to make a new song sounds as good as we can.
Where do lyrical inspirations more often than not reside?
Faust: Usually my inspirations come from the moments when I am by myself and feel alone.
Charly: It can come from a melody I composed, from a word or sentence one of us heard, etc.
ER: For my song It’s Weird Outside (that you can find in our EP Wild World), I based it on my personal life. But I try to write more about the story of people I know and feelings that affect us all at some point in our life.
Would you give us some background to your latest release?
Faust: Our latest release is our EP ! It is an Indie-Folk-Rock EP talking about love, heart breaking, life, society and humanity. We are very proud of this new baby!
NL: It’s been the result of the contribution of several different formations of the band, up to the current one. So this EP presents variety through its diverse contributions, yet still a strong sense of unity and consistency, since all of the songs are the brainchildren of Charly and Faust!
Charly: Anything wouldn’t have been possible without the help of wonderful people like Pease S. Nistades who did the artistic production on it and Gerhard Westphalen who mixed and mastered it. We also released our first music video No Rush directed by Mariano Schoendorff Ared and produced by Zoé Pelloux. You should definitely go check it on YouTube! We shot it on film and we are so happy of this amazing result!
Give us some insight to the themes and premise behind it and its songs.
Faust: Well it talks about how monstrous humans can get, how much you can give love to someone and how much it can hurt. You will have to listen to our EP to know more about all that!
Charly: The themes of our songs are most of the time about experiences we lived or we saw happening to people around us. It is very personal for Faust and I.
Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?
Charly: We are an Indie band, so we don’t really have the choice of losing hours and hours in studio trying to figure out how a song should go. We have limited time of studio so we have to come prepared, which actually allows us to go further in our creative process. It’s not a bad thing!
Faust: We usually go in studio prepared and we record. As Charly said, no time to lose! Everything must be ready, from the lead vocals to the backing vocals.
JF: We’re adding a few elements on the spot during the recording sessions but the songs are already in their final states.
CH : For the drum part, there are already written before going to the studio so the other members have a solid base to work with. I can’t screw it up!
ER: The recording process of our EP was pretty much a mix of the two options. The main structure of the songs was established. With Coralie, we record the rhythmic section with this structure and after we add the other instruments. Afterwards there are always ideas coming up that we keep on the final version.
Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably a favourite aspect?
CH : I really like it, we really have a connection together and hope that people can feel it too. It’s so fun to play with people who experiment the music same as you.
Faust: Live shows are so much fun! The connection with our audience and the band members! It always feels too short!
Charly: Live is one of the best parts for sure. It allows you to share with the band and the audience what the songs really mean to you. And it can be always different depending of what happened during your day.
ER: There’s none. *laughs* No I would say when the rehearsal ends. *laughs* Seriously, my favorite aspect is the cohesion we have on stage and during rehearsals. It’s not common to find this in a band. We don’t just play with other musicians, we play with friends.
NL: It’s always a great feeling to present the result of our hard work to the public, especially considering the amazing feedback they usually give us.
It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it your neck of the woods? Are there the opportunities to make a mark if the drive is there for new bands?
Faust: I think the secret is playing, playing and playing music, create small buzz as much as you can, respect people and having good connections with your band members, which we are actually doing. Let’s see how it goes now.
Charly: Patience is the key word! And hard working too. You just need to be smart and work your ass off and it will eventually pay one day! You just need to get ideas that nobody thought of before you.
JF: If you have the drive, the patience and the stamina, everything is possible.
How has the internet and social media impacted on the band to date, good or bad?
JF: Internet is a fantastic tool for new bands, we’re trying to use it as much as possible to grow our fan base and network.
Faust: I think social medias are great to build your fan base, but I don’t think that is the real bones of your success! Even if for our generation it definitely helps.
Charly: Social medias are a free way to have people talking about you and follow your actualities. It is of course just a part of what should be done for a band to promote what they are doing, but it is a really good beginning! That is your chance to share you music without waiting for music professionals to tell you if you are good enough to be heard by an audience. For example, we are now posting a new video on our YouTube channel every Thursday to make sure people can see us play live shows, do rehearsals, etc.
NL: As for a lot of young bands, the internet and social media is a central part of our communication with fans and the distribution of our music. As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for social media, I wouldn’t perhaps be part of the band, since that’s how I got news that they were looking for a keyboard player.
Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?
Faust: Hey! Come join our world!
CH : Enjoy your life and do what you love.
ER: Don’t tell anyone but we have a secret project coming up 😉
JF: We’re playing often in the Los Angeles area, come say hello at our next show! You can find all the info about it on our website https://www.charlyandfaust.com/ !!
Charly: Thanks for your time! We are playing at The Mint LA on November 30th at 9:30PM, if you want to come get a beer with us!
Being engulfed in fascination for something is one of life’s pleasures and stepping into the kaleidoscopic world of An Invitation To Infamy is certainly both. The debut album from The Vintage Calvinos is an absorbing tapestry of sound and suggestion loaded with observation, insight, and a creative devilment which just gets right under the skin.
The band is the creation of song writer/bassist/vocalist David Baird who lured in some of the finest Scottish musicians to the Aberdeen based project and indeed, in the case of backing singer Xavia, literally just passing by talent of drawn to the pied piper-esque sounds coming through the windows of The Anatomy Rooms where the band was rehearsing. Together they have created a web of temptation in skilfully conjured word and multi-flavoured music which has the body swaying and imagination swinging in joyful enterprise and contemplation. From pop to indie, rock to folk and a host of numerous other spices, An Invitation To Infamy is a beautiful collusion drawn from the hearts of a collective of musical adventurers.
The instantly compelling rub of drama soaked strings as Prelude leaps upon ears and imagination sets the scene and tone of things to come, its vocal compulsion subsequently slipping into a warm slow waltz with a flowing energy which soon has hips leaning to and fro as guitars and strings engage with the romancing keys in entwining dulled yet potent percussive beats. The forcibly engaging piece leads into the waiting arms of Last Tango which opens with melodic drama somewhat akin to War of The Worlds. Its rich strains soon twist into a rolling stroll with more infectiousness than a viral cold and a net of creative intrigue which has ears and thoughts enslaved. Baird’s great vocals are more than matched by the backing of Xavia, both wrapped in the melodic dexterity of Paul Davidson’s guitar. With a second never wasted on predictability, the track is superb, almost reason enough alone to accept An Invitation To Infamy.
So Many People follows, the buzz of life breeding a slow carnival march, one seemingly infusing the tiredness of perpetually imposing life with the joy of being. Brass blows with an enticing clamour as rhythms throb, a welcoming cacophony parting for the melancholic spicing of Baird’s vocals and the stirring scythes of strings and in turn uniting for a creative throng which just magnetises the senses. Like a sonic pagan scented Lowry composition with a broader outlook, the track utterly seduces before new single You Are Always on My Mind infests the psyche. The striking coaxing of Mitsuki Takayama’s violin instantly grips, a hold tightening as the song evolves into a sixties pop scented canter. There is no resistance to its teasing temptations and lively catchiness, the quickly involved antics of body and vocal chords swift evidence. Davidson’s wall of keys is just as irresistible along with the theatre of strings and the rhythmic saunter of Baird’s bass and Fraser Peterkin’s drum beats.
The indie seduction of This Handsome Boy absorbs attention next. It is a track with a touch of Lightning Seeds to it at certain moments and pure pop contagion throughout led by the golden tones of Iona Macdonald and warm surges of brass expelled by trumpeter Bill Thompson, trombonist Denis Webb, and saxophonist Dave Carter. Sometimes there is something about it which feels quite familiar yet for no obvious reason as it floods ears with instinctive pleasure.
The album’s first single, No Room at The Inn released a couple of weeks ago, steps in to captivate straight after with its gentle stroll. Its proposal is low key, compared to other songs, but rich invitation into the album’s broadening musical and lyrical craft while Clouds smoulders with elegance and undiluted captivation. At times it sounds like a blend of Steely Dan and Weekend, a wistful seduction with intensity in its heart and an energetic adventure in its nature.
Through the haunting entrance and golden incestuous intimacy of Alice and the minimalistic but rich stirring of Lost, band and album continue to bewitch with adventurous diversity and creative revelry. Both tracks simply enthral whilst manipulating the body before Teardrops in My Eyes swaggers in with sorrowful melodies and sinful energy to reinforce the submission of ears and appetite before The Vintage Calvinos.
The dusky rock ‘n’ roll of Rock Dreams Part 2 is like a soundtrack to many of our musical upbringings and warm homage to its kings and quite irresistible as too after a magnetic instrumental reprise of No Room at The Inn, is closing track The Beautiful and the Damned. A shadow draped ballad to the lost and the lonely with the darkest outcome, the song is simply sultry aural beauty epitomising the craft and debut of The Vintage Calvinos.
With a host of other striking individual contributions involved in the collective creation of An Invitation To Infamy, all deserving recognition, the album is one of the year’s most essential encounters. The first listen is gold but only an appetizer to the delights and unbridled pleasures which follow with every subsequent union between ear and sound.
An Invitation To Infamy is released October 27th on Stereogram Recordings with the single You Are Always On My Mind out October 20th.
The album’s launch is to be held at Under The Hammer, North Silver Street, Aberdeen on Saturday 28th October 2017 from 2pm.
Like for everyone, there are a few bands which spark a moment of pure excitement when news of a new release is in the air and for us one is Johnny Kowalski and the Sexy Weirdos. Reasons why can be found in previous album Kill The Beast alone, “a wonderful deranged waltz of unpredictable adventure” but it has to be said are even more imposingly obvious within its successor European English. The album boisterously lives up to its name from start to finish, offering a skilfully crafted diverse and bold bedlam of continental flavourings within an eccentricity of sound which only we Brits can imagine. The result, a carnival of irresistible punk ‘n’ folk ‘n’ roll which has body and spirit relentlessly bouncing.
After the release of their outstanding last album, Johnny Kowalski and The Sexy Weirdos descended on Europe on a five week tour which saw the band “almost fighting children in Paris, a 14 hour van journey from Orleans to the French Mediterranean, and having bought cannabis from a police officer, the band squatted in a football club near Milan.” That was followed up by a weekend of spontaneous gigs with antifascists in Verona and dates in Trieste, Slovenia and Austria before arriving in Josefov where the majority of the new album was written, the band inspired by the Austro-Hungarian fortress town sparsely populated by Romani gypsies and its artists. Whatever the town had, it has bred a new wind in the rousing imagination bred exploits of the band and a sound which has always been original but has found true uniqueness within European English.
Welcoming the guest talents of Tamar ‘Juggernaut’ Bedward [Malarkey], Katie Stevens [Bonfire Radicals], Smut Rahkra [The Tenbags] and Anne Marie Allen across the release, the Birmingham based quintet open up the album with Megahorse. Instantly the bow of violinist John-Joe Murray is enticingly scything across strings into the imagination as Johnny Kowalski’s distinctive tones stroll, the darker tones of his guitar and Chris Yates’ bass lurking alongside as beats jab and tempt. It is a seriously inviting prelude to a lively gypsy folk romp driven by the flirtatious rhythms of drummer Matthew Osborne and the percussive tenacity of Illias Lintzos. This in turn leads to an evolving landscape of inventive sound and unpredictability never giving the body a moment to relax or attention to wander.
It is a forcibly excitable and thrilling start swiftly matched by the creative drama of Relative Rudeboy. Like a punk infused fusion of Mano Negra and Les Négresses Vertes with the grumpy rascality of the bass at its core, the song soon has hips swinging and emotions growling in league with its own attitude fuelled multi-flavoured stroll. There is no escaping its addictiveness or physical manipulation of body and spirit, the brass craft of Katie Stevens fuelling the fires, a tempting just as potent within the Balkan swing of next up Serbian Rhumba. It is a sultry flirtation on the ear, an evocative serenade with instinctive catchiness around the punk scented delivery of Kowalski.
The Sicilian Stallion is a celebratory canter mixing Celtic and Romany spices with Latin breeding in its instrumental celebration; quite simply two minutes plus of instinctive pleasure before Minor Calamities courts its own equally rich persuasion with a dark rhumba of musical and rhythmic theatre. As the tracks before it, another individual hue to the whole creative canvas of European English grabs ears and appetite; its body and tone a darker, more intense but no less infectious proposition.
In pretty much nothing but emerging favourites, Didn’t Find The Money puts its imaginative head above the firing line with compelling devilment and creative mischief. With the body instantly popping to its rapacious exploits, vocal chords swiftly locked in its virulent chorus, the song strolls along with a punk meets folk meets indie rock swagger, all unleashed with flirtatious dexterity.
The quite stunning Raggadub follows; its adventure a web of styles and sounds within a dub bred echo of invention. At times it vibrates with ripples of Ruts DC, in other moments flirts with Morcheeba-esque seductions, or snarls with King Prawn punkiness as a host of vocalists join the rapacious party; all the time increasing its hold on ears and lustful satisfaction.
The instrumental dance of Matthew Matthew provides a robust adventure of sound and international flavours, a piece which manages to simultaneously be fiery and smoulderingly seductive as rhythms cast a kinetic incitement, before Juniper brings a quite delicious recipe of temptation which teases and taunts like a blend of The Specials, Gogol Bordello, and Russkaja.
Its inescapable tempestuous virulence is followed by the instrumental elegance and grace of closing track Chinese Icicles. A melodic bloom in an initial alluring calm, the piece builds into a robustly dynamic yet still radiantly melodic saunter through scenic suggestion and oriental hues with rock edginess for company. Eventually Kowalski’s vocals join the adventure bringing another breeze of boisterous and rowdy enterprise to the compelling end of one mighty release.
As we said earlier, every upcoming Johnny Kowalski and the Sexy Weirdos encounter brings an elevated anticipation which European English rewards tenfold. It has the body bouncing and spirit racing; what more would you want?
The spirited rhythms of drummer Phil Joyce kick EP opener Pretty Little Features into life, their increasingly tenacious antics luring ears, appetite, and the guitar jangle of Luke Fraser. Swiftly his vocals also jump in, the track bouncing round with its fifties rock ‘n’ roll scented jazz punk. With a touch of eighties band The Stargazers to it and also the jump blues hues of a Louis Jordan, the song leaps and swings, successfully insisting on the same from the listener. Punk riffs taunt throughout as the flames of Nick Smith’s Trombone unite with the sax of Oscar Ives-Owen; each adding to the virulent contagion of an outstanding start to the release.
It is an outstanding start reinforced by the senses transfixing tale of The Ghost of Rab McVie. Strings and their electronic counterparts quickly infest the imagination, the first from the suggestive touch and craft of Susannah Clark. Metcalfe is soon within their descriptive midst, voice similarly nurturing thoughts as the song leads the listener into its melancholic heart. There is a beauty to it though which just seduces ears and imagination but with an earthiness keeping the dark surroundings fully in view before the album’s title track provides the gateway into a nefarious journey. Feeling like being trapped in a Celtic Wickerman driven nightmare, the song simultaneously overwhelms, indeed suffocates, and seduces all with increasing intensity. It is quite superb with the craft of Clark simply irresistible.
The album opens up with Ain’t Wreckin’ Me, a country fuelled canter with the rich familiar twang the style often brews; its lure wrapping Allison’s enticing tones soon backed by equally beguiling harmonies. Rising from the ashes of a lost relationship, the track is a bouncy self-affirming affair getting the album off to a very potent start.
! It is an Indie-Folk-Rock EP talking about love, heart breaking, life, society and humanity. We are very proud of this new baby!
The indie seduction of This Handsome Boy absorbs attention next. It is a track with a touch of Lightning Seeds to it at certain moments and pure pop contagion throughout led by the golden tones of Iona Macdonald and warm surges of brass expelled by trumpeter Bill Thompson, trombonist Denis Webb, and saxophonist Dave Carter. Sometimes there is something about it which feels quite familiar yet for no obvious reason as it floods ears with instinctive pleasure.
It is a forcibly excitable and thrilling start swiftly matched by the creative drama of Relative Rudeboy. Like a punk infused fusion of Mano Negra and Les Négresses Vertes with the grumpy rascality of the bass at its core, the song soon has hips swinging and emotions growling in league with its own attitude fuelled multi-flavoured stroll. There is no escaping its addictiveness or physical manipulation of body and spirit, the brass craft of Katie Stevens fuelling the fires, a tempting just as potent within the Balkan swing of next up Serbian Rhumba. It is a sultry flirtation on the ear, an evocative serenade with instinctive catchiness around the punk scented delivery of Kowalski.