There can be no doubt that emerging London-based trio The Cut Outs mean serious, serious business. In terms of both their music and their presentation, this group have a really direct and honed approach – their website is professional and well maintained, their photography is precise, and their music is unapologetically streamlined. Such collective gestures leave the band’s audience in no doubt of what The Cut Outs are about – audacious rock filled with brazen grit and mettle.
The group’s core members are two guitarists who met at a session musician audition for Kylie Minogue. Deemed unworthy through fear of upstaging the pint-sized singer, the girls chose to form their own band together. Both Stevie, originally from Newcastle, and Jess, who hails from Melbourne, bonded over previous experiences of claustrophobic creative environments (ballet for Stevie, acostica for Jess), and chose rock as a far more unfettered style of artistic expression. A short while later they acquired their drummer Damian and The Cut Outs became fully formed.
The band themselves define their sound as “cock-rock”. Unarguably an unenviable task, this band are attempting to take on the stale and dated world of macho rock both musically and in terms of gender, attacking the flaccid nature of the genre and the perennial issues of chauvinism inherent. Luckily, there is a definite static, stubborn vibe to The Cut Outs, a relentless refusal to be anything other than who they are and what they want to be. Certainly, the group have definite similarities to The Runaways, they have that same tom-boy-ish spunk and sass.
Unsurprisingly, The Runaways are a key cited influence for the group, but other artists such as Peaches, The Pixies, Dead Weather, Prince and Bowie are referenced. Perhaps the likes of The Ramones and The Stooges should be considered an influence too, however. The group’s songs are short and filled with fuzz, with disparate sound clashes between high-pitched guitar pinches and thick, rough, steady and grinding bass and drums. There is a general vibe of surliness and daunting sounds that have a definite American punk basis. Ultimately there is a clear, archaic rock vibe to The Cut Outs music, but surprisingly it does not sound too dated or throwback. There are modern elements in their music coupled with polished production, which keep this act well within the 21st century.
The Cut Outs released their debut EP Honey Where Your Mouth Is on 10 Oct 2011 on White Milk Records, combined with a video for lead track ‘Chaser’ which is available for free download. There is an album set for 2012.
See this at TGA at: http://www.thegirlsare.com/2011/11/30/introducing-the-cut-outs/
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Saturday, 19 November 2011
MORE THAN THE MUSIC POST (LIVE REVIEW): 15/11/11 | Summer Camp – Jericho Tavern, Oxford
Summer Camp emerges on the teeny stage of the Jericho Tavern to a sea of expectant and enthusiastic students. The secretive, ambiguous boy/girl duo commence with a quiet and subdued, un-miced ditty of quiet vocals and a ropey acoustic guitar. However, just when the audience starts to think that something might be awry – that there might be issues with the sound etc., a full, rich and thick backing track explodes through the empty space, supported by fully miced vocals, guitar and drums. The wealth of timbres that Summer Camp are known for – distorted, mashed up guitars, a wide variety of synths and a diverse array of samples – reverberate joyously around, making the group sound much larger and bigger than the youthful, wispy man and woman (plus drummer) that are physically present on stage.
This utilisation of the backing track works really well. Sometimes live performances with a tape accompaniment can feel a bit like stale karaoke, but not so with Summer Camp. The backing track adds a huge amount of value, working with the band as a unit to create a consummate performance. It also conveys the sounds of the original recordings well. A performance without the track would have been very stripped-down, and purposefully different to what their audience are used to hearing from the group.
Having said that, there are difference between the band live and the band on record. Live Summer Camp feel less archaic and throwback. On disk you cannot ignore the band’s surf rock meets C-86 influences, but live, the obvious lo-fi quality is to an extent lost – not necessarily a bad thing as it lends the music a fresher, more contemporary quality.
The band provide a very upbeat, positive performance, full of charisma and commitment. There is a natural enjoyment and revelry in their music is clearly evident, as is the close relationship between the two performers. Jeremy Warmsley, who sings and plays the many guitars and synths present throughout the performance has a pleasant, subtle coyness about him, and he is clearly a talented musician with a good voice. Pulling focus, however is his accomplice Elizabeth Sankey, who offers a sultry and unabashed vocal performance. Not dissimilar in style to a less flamboyantly made up Karen O, Sankey is unashamedly yet subdued sexy, with a stage presence that is filled with alluring, provocative flourishes.
The band swoop between upbeat, lo-fi pop numbers and sombre, bluesy tracks. Whilst the more effervescent items are very popular with this young crowd, for me the dark tracks are just as successful artistically, as they give Sankey the opportunity to fully express her fantastic voice, which can have a rich, jazzy quality. These alternative tracks also have a denser character, and feel like a more harsh assault on the senses, which is always a feat.
Summer Camp have provided their audience tonight with a consummate and diverse performance, which is something a little out of the ordinary, both in general terms and in regard to what we are all used to hearing of the band on their album/EP. The audience are left wanting, and one feels this burgeoning band still have a huge amount of undercover talent still to offer.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
MORE THAN THE MUSIC POST (LIVE REVIEW): 31/10/11 | Patrick Wolf – O2 Academy, Oxford
Patrick Wolf is somewhat of an enigma. Recognised as a highly creative, theatrical and intriguing character, Wolf’s music flirts with both the dramatic and the accessible. Indeed, throughout his latest album, Lupercalia, he has demonstrated some significantly longwinded moments of mellow, commercial pop, even gaining a playlist slot on very middle of the road BBC R2 with some of the album’s singles.
Wondering how this conundrum of a performer would transfer on stage, I was at first slightly disappointed by the distinct lack of spectacle (on this most gratuitous of nights) when Wolf appeared on stage, wearing a simple black leather jacket, with a fairly understated string of garlic draped over his mic stand. However, when the music starts, there is almost a visceral, electrifying vibe that descends on the crowd, conveyed through the instruments, through Wolf’s voice, and through his inspiring charisma.
The initial impression musically, which pervades throughout the performance, is the richness of the general sound and each instrument’s individual timbres. The backing band are all excellent performers, offering a luscious, deep collective of sound on both the sparser, more stripped down tracks, and on the more heavily laden tracks. It is a surprise how “folky” the general sound of the performance is tonight – there is much more audible grain on the violins and violas, a deeper resonance from the steady bass drum than on record. The rhythms of the music also cement the traditional folk vibe, so that at times Wolf almost seems like a replication of a young Peter Murphy. That is not to say that the performance is low-key folk affair, however. Whilst there are more subtle moments interspersed, there is a wealth of drama, of heavily contemplative, romantic music, twisted with spurts of alt pop and lashings of electronica.
Whilst the music is fantastic, it is Wolf’s innate, subtle talent as a performer that ultimately steals the show. His presentation is full of grandiose gestures and heartfelt earnestness, and his deep and vibrant vocals resonate richly and emotively throughout the room. Wolf physically drifts like a zephyr from instrument to instrument, flirting now with piano, now with harp, now with ukulele. This is done with such an endearing nonchalance, like every performer is a natural multi-instrumentalist who just happens to play the dulcimer.
Initially fairly quiet with his audience, Wolf opens up about half way through the performance by detailing quite personal information on the ideological conception of the single Time of My Life, which like most tracks from Lupercalia originates from positive romantic developments in Wolf life. From then on, Wolf becomes chatty with the audience, and at times seems genuinely touched by the sincere reception he has received. The audience have been highly positive and heart-warmingly keen throughout the performance, but by the end of the gig they are positively in raptures, especially after Wolf’s perfect encore, which was filled with plenty of clapping, smiles and dancing.
It really is a beautiful sight to witness an artist, not only of incredible technical and creative talent, but also one who genuinely transfers his own personal, exhilarating, unabashed romanticism and happiness upon the audience. With another musician these sentiments might be over earnest, tired, and sickly sentimental, but with Wolf they combine, musically, intentional, and personally to create a deeply rich, vibrant, diverse, accomplished, and above all effortless experience. Utterly, utterly wonderful.
See this at MTTM: http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/gig-reviews/31102011-patrick-wolf-o2-academy-oxford/
Wondering how this conundrum of a performer would transfer on stage, I was at first slightly disappointed by the distinct lack of spectacle (on this most gratuitous of nights) when Wolf appeared on stage, wearing a simple black leather jacket, with a fairly understated string of garlic draped over his mic stand. However, when the music starts, there is almost a visceral, electrifying vibe that descends on the crowd, conveyed through the instruments, through Wolf’s voice, and through his inspiring charisma.
The initial impression musically, which pervades throughout the performance, is the richness of the general sound and each instrument’s individual timbres. The backing band are all excellent performers, offering a luscious, deep collective of sound on both the sparser, more stripped down tracks, and on the more heavily laden tracks. It is a surprise how “folky” the general sound of the performance is tonight – there is much more audible grain on the violins and violas, a deeper resonance from the steady bass drum than on record. The rhythms of the music also cement the traditional folk vibe, so that at times Wolf almost seems like a replication of a young Peter Murphy. That is not to say that the performance is low-key folk affair, however. Whilst there are more subtle moments interspersed, there is a wealth of drama, of heavily contemplative, romantic music, twisted with spurts of alt pop and lashings of electronica.
Whilst the music is fantastic, it is Wolf’s innate, subtle talent as a performer that ultimately steals the show. His presentation is full of grandiose gestures and heartfelt earnestness, and his deep and vibrant vocals resonate richly and emotively throughout the room. Wolf physically drifts like a zephyr from instrument to instrument, flirting now with piano, now with harp, now with ukulele. This is done with such an endearing nonchalance, like every performer is a natural multi-instrumentalist who just happens to play the dulcimer.
Initially fairly quiet with his audience, Wolf opens up about half way through the performance by detailing quite personal information on the ideological conception of the single Time of My Life, which like most tracks from Lupercalia originates from positive romantic developments in Wolf life. From then on, Wolf becomes chatty with the audience, and at times seems genuinely touched by the sincere reception he has received. The audience have been highly positive and heart-warmingly keen throughout the performance, but by the end of the gig they are positively in raptures, especially after Wolf’s perfect encore, which was filled with plenty of clapping, smiles and dancing.
It really is a beautiful sight to witness an artist, not only of incredible technical and creative talent, but also one who genuinely transfers his own personal, exhilarating, unabashed romanticism and happiness upon the audience. With another musician these sentiments might be over earnest, tired, and sickly sentimental, but with Wolf they combine, musically, intentional, and personally to create a deeply rich, vibrant, diverse, accomplished, and above all effortless experience. Utterly, utterly wonderful.
See this at MTTM: http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/gig-reviews/31102011-patrick-wolf-o2-academy-oxford/
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
MORE THAN THE MUSIC POST (ALBUM REVIEW): Surfer Blood – Tarot Classics
Tarot Classics is the new EP from indie rock quartet Surfer Blood. Out on 25th October, Tarot Classics is the first release from the band since their debut album Astro Coast released in 2010, which saw the West Palm Beach four-piece gain a huge amount of critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, as well as notable kudos from the whole indie spectrum.
Surfer Blood follow on from Astro Coast in much the same mode as previously, creating guitar driven, alternative indie rock with a strong American flavour. Mixing large amounts of garage rock and pop-punk, the group still have that fun, quirky vibe to their music, perhaps even more so than before, but there is also an element of self-awareness, tinged with a hint of insecurity. This geeky affability is probably partially why the group have been compared to Weezer in the past, but similarities between the bands are also evident in Surfer Blood’s music, from chord progressions and key signatures, to guitar timbres, to vocal delivery and lyrical content.
Surfer Blood’s music throughout this EP could also be compared to that of Cake; in fact, you could probably make associations with the work of Surfer Blood and a whole plethora of US 1990s/2000s alt rock acts, including Fountains of Wayne, Motion City Soundtrack and The Rentals. That is not to say that the group are stuck in a musical vacuum – their music does not sound dated. There is simply a clear genealogy to their sound. The music throughout Tarot Classics could also be compared to many hip and progressive contemporaries on the indie scene, such as The Drums, Tennis and Local Natives. There is notability less aloofness in Surfer Blood’s music to that of these acts however. Whilst they share a Morrissey influence with The Drums, especially on tracks such as Drinking Problem, each song on Tarot Classics has a subtly upbeat, whimsical side.
Like the group’s previous work, this EP is guitar centric, with a whole host of guitar sounds at the front of the mix. Twangy chops mix with wails and distorted segments, and the odd bit of shedding makes the occasional appearance. Numerous guitar parts are combined together in a highly harmonious fashion. The guitar is the focus throughout, which is refreshing, especially as it is done well. There are some synth sounds involved at times however, as well as interesting percussion and odd flecks of orchestral strings placed subtly, intricately and cleverly in the general texture of the track.
Tarot Classics is a nice little release from Surfer Blood then, and hopefully they might manage an LP at some point in the not too distant future.
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