Hello again!
It was
brilliant to see so many of you at our Mary Ocher show this week! Thanks so
much for coming down. Today, we have our record label hat firmly on as we’re
very happy to usher two excellent, new releases into the wild! Feature’s jaw-dropping debut album Banishing Ritual is released digitally
today, with the LPs hitting shops next Friday, whilst Candle Power by Rat Columns,
a masterwork of melancholic jangle, in available now on LP/CD and digitally
as of now! Here’s some more info on both of those albums, plus details of our
next concert, also for Rat Columns. I sense a theme developing.
Feature were (alas
they are no more!) adept at drone-dipped melody
chasing. Liv Willars, Heather Perkins and Jen Calleja shook up the power trio
formula, tearing through songs with abandon and a nod to the motorik bop.
With their debut album Banishing Ritual they strike from bare, menacing punk to harmonious
post-punk to blisteringly fast garage-pop to ponderous instrumental, showing
not only their overlapping music tastes, but also how the band had gained broad
influences over the years representative of the diversity of the UK DIY scene
from Joey Fourr to Good Throb. Jen Calleja’s lyrics are sparse narratives: a
love song for a twin consumed in the womb, the stalking of a doppelganger, a
rallying cry against the lack of belief in women’s ability to be artists, a
tongue-in-cheek look at jealousy and bitter competitiveness. Though Calleja
provides a leading vocal throughout, all three members sing on most songs to
create unmatchable and unexpected vocal harmonies, plus friend and fellow
London DIY musician Joey Fourr provides his immense vocal range on two tracks.
Feature gigged all over the UK and played their
final shows at Tramlines/Alternative Tramlines and Indietracks Festival in and
around Sheffield and Nottingham at the end of last year. They supported bands including
The Julie Ruin, Chain and the Gang, Verity Susman and Protomartyr, played
Supernormal Festival, were in session with Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music and their
only non-UK show was also one of their final, a joint headline show with Diät
in Berlin. Liv has now relocated to Sheffield and has started a new band, Jen
plays in Sauna Youth and their alter-ego Monotony along with new band Gold
Foil, whilst Heather is currently on tour with Slowcoaches, with the band
having just released their debut album also.
Rat
Columns is the mutable musical project of David West, an artist as prolific as
he is diverse in his output. West is the driving force behind the groups
Rank/Xerox, Liberation and Lace Curtain, he was also a member of Total Control,
and most recently debuted a solo album proper. Whether its forward-facing punk
or turning his hand to crafting sleek prisms of pop, West’s credentials check
out. Rat Columns is no exception, always central to his vision and returned to
many times since its inception in Perth almost a decade ago. Over the years the
band has morphed and continued with an array of different friends from the USA
and Australia, always finding David West dancing through the long shadows at
its core. Working with many distinguished underground imprints including
Blackest Ever Black, Adagio 830, Smart Guy Records and RIP Society, Rat Columns
have left in their wake a trail of 7”s, EPs and two full length albums. Now a
third album, entitled Candle Power is
released today through Upset The Rhythm.
Recorded in Guildford, Western Australia, with
the Perth crew of West, Amber Gempton, Louis Hooper and Chris Cobilis, Candle Power sees the band's universe of
chiming guitar pop explode into new worlds of colour and shade. It’s an album
as happy to walk home in the rain as it is to reel dizzily through daylight.
It’s melancholic lilt tempered by a quietly-sung optimism. Candle Power tunnels further than ever before down the pop
mainline, cutting in with moments of soul, disco and experimental plots. West
is a magpie-like musician, unafraid to assemble songs from a motley collection
of influences and ideas. He weaves songs together with a deft hand and an acute
grasp for the memorable yet momentary.
Since we last
talked, we also announced a very exciting full live band show for Richard
Dawson. Taking place at St John on Bethnal Green on June 22nd,
Richard will be joined by a motley crew of performers, colouring large the
mural of his forthcoming new album ‘Ogre’ (Weird World / Domino). Tickets on
sale now, check out our listings section for details.
\ \ \ \
\ WEDNESDAY 19 APRIL / / /
/ /
RAT COLUMNS
HONEY JOY
SLUSHY GUTS
Wednesday 19 April
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, Islington, N1 9JB
RAT COLUMNS is the mutable musical project of David
West, an artist as prolific as he is diverse in his output. West is the driving
force behind the groups Rank/Xerox, Liberation and Lace Curtain, he was also a
member of Total Control, and most recently debuted a solo album proper. Whether
its forward-facing punk or turning his hand to crafting sleek prisms of pop,
West's credentials check out. Rat Columns is no exception, always central to
his vision and returned to many times since its inception in Perth almost a
decade ago. Over the years the band has morphed and continued with an array of
different friends from the USA and Australia, always finding David West dancing
through the long shadows at its core. Working with many distinguished
underground imprints including Blackest Ever Black, Adagio 830, Smart Guy
Records and RIP Society, Rat Columns have left in their wake a trail of
7"s, EPs and two full length albums. Now a third album, entitled 'Candle
Power' is cued for release through Upset The Rhythm this April. 'Candle Power'
is packed full of chiming guitar pop, cutting in with moments of soul, disco
and experimental plots.
http://ratcolumns.tumblr.com/
HONEY JOY are five mates who came together
through a mutual love of curry, Mean Girls and Paul McCartney’s hand gestures.
They play indie punk music and have been compared to The Thermals and Xray
Spex. They released two brilliant EPs last year and have just finished recording
their first full length with MJ from Hookworms, which is soon to be released in
the US through Infinity Cat records.
https://honeyjoy.bandcamp.com/
SLUSHY GUTS is more of a group then a band (M.E.S
distinction), having revolved around founding member Steve Keane since it's
inception in 2009. Originally a solo bedroom project (B. White definition)
Slushy Guts has mutated (H.P Lovecraft style) over the course of 4 albums and a
"shit-load" (Slim Pickens) of tape and cdr releases. Evolving
organically (according to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck), it's presentation
facilitated by whoever's around, Steve's songs exist in the spaces between
genres, at once melodic and discordant (Engelbert Humperdinck definition),
concerned with deconstructing 'it all' (definition unknown) and gluing it back
together again. With current members Sam and Luke Walsh on bass and drums and
James Rowland on guitar, Slushy Guts is currently something closely resembling
a rock 'n' roll quartet (Rev. David A. Noebel definition.) Bobby Davro, 2017.
https://slushyguts.bandcamp.com/
Have a brilliant weekend!
UPSET
THE RHYTHM
x
\\\\\
UPSET THE RHYTHM /////
/////
UPCOMING SHOWS
\\\\\
MARY OCHER
BAMBOO
MOONBOW
Wednesday 5
April
The
Islington, 1 Tolpuddle Street, Angel, London, N1 0XT
RAT COLUMNS
HONEY JOY
SLUSHY GUTS
Wednesday 19 April
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, Islington, N1 9JB
GROUPER
Sunday 23 April
Tin Tabernacle, 12-16 Cambridge Avenue, Kilburn, London, NW6 5BA,
UK
LATE SHOW: 8.30pm | £15 | SOLD OUT
EARLY SHOW:
6pm | £15 | SOLD OUT
DANIEL BACHMAN
JAKE XERXES FUSSELL
Monday
1 May
Cafe
OTO, 22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, E8 3DL
EX-CULT
Wednesday 3 May
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville
Road, Islington, N1 9JB
IAN WILLIAM CRAIG
RESINA
Monday 8 May
OSLO,
1a Amhurst Road, Hackney, E8 1LL
DUCKTAILS
JAMES FERRARO
SPENCER CLARK
Friday 12 May
The
Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, Islington, N1 9JB
7.30pm
| £10 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/393535
XIU XIU
Monday 22 May
Kamio, 3
Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3JL
PRIESTS
THE SNIVELLERS
Thursday 25 May
OSLO,
1a Amhurst Road, Hackney, E8 1LL
OOIOO
Tuesday 30 May
Kamio, 3
Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3JL
NB. This is the
new date for April’s postponed event, original tickets remain valid.
NOTS
Wednesday 7 June
Cafe OTO, 22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, E8 3DL
THE SPACE LADY
Tuesday 20 June
Cafe OTO, 22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL
8pm | £10 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/396842
Tuesday 20 June
Cafe OTO, 22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL
8pm | £10 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/396842
RICHARD DAWSON
(Full band show)
Thursday 22 June
St John on Bethnal Green
200 Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PA
7pm | £15 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/396949
(Full band show)
Thursday 22 June
St John on Bethnal Green
200 Cambridge Heath Rd, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PA
7pm | £15 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/396949
TERRY
Friday 30 June
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, Islington, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £8.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/393203
Friday 30 June
The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, Islington, N1 9JB
7.30pm | £8.00 | http://www.wegottickets.com/event/393203
SPRAY
PAINT
THE REBEL
Tuesday 15 August
The Lexington, 96-98
Pentonville Road, Islington, N1 9JB
NAP EYES
Thursday 31 August
Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, 44 Pollard Row, Bethnal Green, E2
6NB
DEERHOOF
LE TON MITÉ
Monday 4 September
Village
Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, London,
EC2A 3PQ
NB. This is the
new date for February’s postponed event, original tickets remain valid.
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