Issue 43 / April 2014

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Issue 43 

April 2014 

We Are Catchers by Paul Hitchmough 

We Are Catchers 

Drohne 

Moats 

Jagwar Ma 

Lorelle Meets 

The Obsolete

ar | kitchen | stage | club 

open til late. tickets available from bar 

and kitchen during opening hours 

24 hour hotline : 0844 847 2472 

book online : ticketweb.co.uk 

mamacolive.com/evartsclub 

90 seel street l1 4bh 

wood street 

seel street 

bold street

Bido Lito! April 2014 3 

Editorial 

Partly out of burning intrigue and partly due to a procrastinating restlessness, I found 

myself rummaging through my Dad’s record collection the other day. I’d been meaning to do 

it for a while, purely from a curious (and slightly selfish) perspective to see how it matched up 

to my own, but also because I was convinced there were some hidden gems in there: I wasn’t 

wrong, but it took a fair amount of sifting to divide the nuggets from the waxy depths. 

Amid the assortment of dusty 45s and falling-apart LPs I uncovered some genuine 

surprises (Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana among them), and more than a few guilty 

pleasures (the Xanadu and Flash Gordon soundtracks – oof!). The slightly anarchic jumble 

contained as much cause for hearty laughter as it did incredulity, not least the idea of 

scrawling your name on the middle of a record. Why anyone would want to lay claim to a 

Shakin’ Stevens LP I’ll never know. 

What really interested me was the story that the collection told, and how it held a set of 

memories that are passed on, in a way that digital libraries aren’t. The same holds true for 

the (occasionally dubious) cassette and CD collections of my five older siblings, from which a 

glimpse of the personalities of the individuals behind them can be gleaned. It took an awful lot 

more bottle back then to go down to Woolies and buy that 

Pato Banto single than it does to click buy on iTunes; the 

selections committed to these physical libraries therefore 

have even more than just a monetary investment in them. 

One 7” in particular stood out from the tottering piles 

of chipped vinyl and demanded to be listened to. Beat 

In Liverpool, a live recording put together by a German 

magazine, which claims – if my German is still up to scratch 

– to feature two of Liverpool’s “particularly popular groups”, 

The Clayton Squares and The Hideaways. Admittedly it’s 

not great, but through the warm crackle and pop of the records you can hear the band 

barrelling through some classics as a boisterous Cavern crowd cheers them on. The idea was 

to capture a moment in time, a cut that could stand as a record for future generations, and in 

this they succeeded. The twelve minutes or so of audio here aren’t gonna change the world; 

their value, to me at least, lies in the preservation of a set of feelings that give a backstory, 

something that it would take a thousand books to tell. 

For me, the beauty of records is that they’re chunky entities that can be passed on and 

shared, and in to which people’s memories can seep, alongside the dust and dirt accumulated 

over the years. In many ways this makes them richer things than when they were first 

pressed or bought, showing that they’ve played a part (however small) in someone’s life: 

physical things that have traversed the trials and tribulations of the world in a way that an 

mp3 (or a WAV, if you’re lucky) never can. If those grooves could talk, eh. 

What will our legacy be, from our pixelated, digitised age? What stories will future 

generations be able to glean from our iTunes libraries and Spotify playlists that say 

something about us? I don’t know about you, but I think the prospect of my kids one day 

leafing through my own record collection – the hits and the guilty pleasures alike – and 

discovering some half-forgotten tales along the way, is quite reassuring. There’s an art to 

assembling a good record collection; in essence it’s storytelling in another way. 

That’s why I’ll be queuing up outside Probe on Record Store Day on 19th April, to make sure 

that I add some limited edition chapters to my own story. What story are you going to tell? 

Christopher Torpey / @BidoLito 

Editor 

Features 

6 

WE ARE CATCHERS 

8 

LORELLE MEETS 

THE OBSOLETE 

10 

DROHNE 

12 

14 

16 

18 

MOATS 

EVERISLAND 

JAGWAR MA 

GIT AWARD 2014 

Regulars 

4 NEWS 

20 

PREVIEWS/SHORTS 

22 

REVIEWS 

Bido Lito! 

Issue Forty Three / April 2014 

bidolito.co.uk 

4th Floor, Mello Mello, 40-42 Slater St, Liverpool, L1 4BX 

Editor 

Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk 

Editor-In-Chief / Publisher 

Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk 

Reviews Editor 

Sam Turner - live@bidolito.co.uk 

Online Editor 

Flossie Easthope - flossie@bidolito.co.uk 

Designer 

Luke Avery - info@luke-avery.com 

Proofreading 

Debra Williams - debra@wordsanddeeds.co.uk 

Intern 

Josh Ray 

Words 

Christopher Torpey, Craig G Pennington, Dave Tate, Mike 

Townsend, Ryan McElroy, Jack Graysmark, Sam Turner, Dan 

Brown, Josh Ray, Richard Lewis, Flossie Easthope, Alistair 

Dunn, Mat Oates, Patrick Clarke, Jessie Main, John Wise 

Photography, Illustration and Layout 

Luke Avery, Paul Hitchmough, Nata Moraru, Ria Fell, Alex 

Wynne, Robin Clewley, John Johnson, Keith Ainsworth, Adam 

Edwards, Andrew Ellis, Mark McNulty, Brian Roberts, Warren 

Millar, Andrew AB, Stuart Moulding, Adam Akins, Mike Sheerin, 

Glyn Akroyd 

Adverts 

To advertise please contact ads@bidolito.co.uk 

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The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the respective contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the publishers. All rights reserved. 

T 

WOODEN SHJIPS ------------- SPECTRUM ------------- SUUNS ------------- HOOKWORMS ------------- DISAPPEARS 

THE GROWLERS -------------- FÖLLAKZOID ---------------- PINK MOUNTAINTOPS --------------- TERAKAFT --------------- 

NIGHT BEATS ---------------- ELEPHANT STONE ---------------- MUGSTAR + MANY MORE ---------------------------------------------- 

6 + 7 JUNE 2014 

EindhovenPsychLab.com

News 

Record Store Day Trippers 

Saturday 19th April marks the eighth celebration of RECORD STORE DAY and Liverpool is stepping up its preparations for the 

annual vinyl fest. There’s plenty on offer this year to occupy your time once you’ve been and relieved the stacks of Probe, 3B and 

Dig of some of their limited edition stock. MelloMello are holding their own record fair from 12 noon, featuring cuts from the likes 

of Warp, ATP Records, Heavenly and Tesla Tapes, while FACT are screening a selection of music films from 2pm, beginning with the 

documentary Hit So Hard which details the lows and lowers of Hole drummer Patty Schemel. recordstoreday.co.uk 

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Chair 

Writers and wrestlers unite! On 17th April The Kazimier will host the latest event from literary collective The Wild Writers that 

combines both of these disparate activities. An intriguing concoction of writing, wrestling and music, SANCHO PANZA will pit the 

city’s best scribes against each other in the ring. Spanish Announce Team will soundtrack the evening, which features masked writing 

luchadors attempting to outwrite their opponent under timed conditions, in front of a panel of judges. With the heavyweight title belt 

up for grabs, conditions could get ugly in this battle of words. Follow @wildwriters for more info. 

Acts Confirmed For Africa Oyé 

Liverpool’s summertime musical behemoth AFRICA OYÉ festival is gearing up for its twenty-second outing with the latest 

announcement of artists confirmed for the weekend. The preliminary wave of international acts so far is JUPITER & OKWESS 

INTERNATIONAL (DRC), WARA (Cuba) and HAJAMADAGASCAR & THE GROOVY PEOPLE (Madagascar). As well as this impressive list of 

names, headliner and Scottish reggae/trip hop star FINLAY QUAYE (pictured) will enthral gatherers with his Saturday set live in Sefton 

Park. Together with the usual host of stalls, artists and activities, the family-friendly event will run on 21st-22nd June. africaoye.com 

Improv Your April 

This year’s fifth annual IMPROPRIETY IMPROVATHON is heading up April with two days of continuous comedy. For the event, 

Wolstenholme Square is set to be transformed into the fictitious English countryside setting of Umbridge for a theme of 

quintessential 50s country life. Aiming to create a weekend-long soap epic, a whopping 2014 minutes (over 33 hours) of 

unscripted sketches will be performed. Providing the improvised soundtrack to each scene will be members of the Harlequin 

Dynamite Marching Band, Dead Hedge Trio, Dogshow and The Kazimier Krunk Band. impropriety.co.uk 

The Gloom Punk Odyssey Continues 

Former cover stars SALEM RAGES have much to celebrate this month with the release of their debut album Aspects Of The 

Deepest Gloom. Recorded in Yorkshire for the reason that it was “the last place in England a woman was burned for being a 

witch”, the record will correspond to the DIY standards of the band’s goth rock ethos. Perks of previous releases include handmade 

stickers and unique artwork by frontman Roman Remains. Drawing inspiration from art-house horror and 80s new wave 

simultaneously, the ‘Rages are an esoteric breath of fresh air and we expect nothing less from the album. salemrages.co.uk 

Bido Lito! Dansette 

Our pick of this month's fresh wax cuts... 

The War On Drugs 

Lost In The Dream 

SECRETLY CANADIAN 

Sub-Dylan space-blues? Bruce Springsteen 

on acid? Maybe, but Adam Granducial’s third 

masterpiece has more to say. Underneath the 

neon-tinged synth fades hark a cacophony 

of uplifting power choruses and lyrical soulbearing. 

At points self-deprecating and at 

others life-affirming, Granducial challenges 

gloom head-on in Lost In The Dream’s 

selection of sonic effigies. Enough to burn 

into the consciousness. 

Omi Palone 

Omi Palone 

FAUX DISCX/NEGATIVE 

SPACE 

If Parquet Courts had a sensible English 

upbringing then OMI PALONE is pretty 

much what they’d sound like. The 

cascade of chugging riffs and relentless 

rhythms on their debut LP that hover 

just below full throttle are the main 

driver of these comparisons, as they’re 

given a fuzzy scrub down that knocks 

off some of the straighter edges. Neat. 

Spires 

Candy Flip 

TOO PURE 

Attached To The Label 

COMPETITION! 

Edge Hill University’s The Label Recordings have announced that the first two signings to their roster - HOOTON TENNIS CLUB 

(pictured) and THE INKHEARTS - will release their debut singles via the university-run label on 7th April. Set up by Edge Hill lecturer 

and former Farm bassist Carl Hunter, The Label provides an opportunity for students to work on all aspects of a record release, from 

A&R to press. The bands will also receive the full support of the label, and will play a special showcase at The Kazimier during this 

year’s Liverpool Sound City. 

Fancy scoring a couple of free tickets to this year’s LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY festival? We’re running a competition to win 

two delegate passes, which includes entry to all the gigs as well as both conferences days at the Hilton Hotel. 

This year the team has already pulled back the curtain on ALBERT HAMMOND JR, JON HOPKINS and FUCK BUTTONS 

appearing on the line-up, and they haven’t stopped there. The latest additions make for exciting reading: JAGWAR MA, 

FACTORY FLOOR, TENNIS, WOMAN’S HOUR, AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR and THEO VERNEY are all set to join the 360+ 

acts playing across 25 stages. Taking in to account the once-in-a-lifetime guest speakers THURSTON MOORE (pictured) and 

JOHN CALE, as well as panel discussions with music professionals from around the globe, can you really afford not to be 

there? To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, simply answer the following question: 

Which 90s alt. rock band was Thurston Moore formerly a member of? a) Nirvana b) Pixies c) Sonic Youth 

To enter, email your answer to competition@bidolito.co.uk 

by 17th April. . All correct answers will be placed in a pink bowl, the winner drawn at random 

and notified by email. Good luck! 

Brooklyn’s SPIRES make an outing on 

the Too Pure singles club circular. Riding 

the psych wave and catching attention 

from both sides of the Atlantic, Candy 

Flip is a drone-laden dream. Washes of 

guitar reimagine 60s influences and 

everything you liked about The Stone 

Roses. Produced by The Drums’ Connor 

Hanwick, this is one 7” that’ll stay firmly 

on the turntable for weeks. 

Hillary And The 

Democrats 

Local Residents 

LOOK TO THE SKIES 

Good indie pop revels in simplicity, 

yet it’s also exceptionally easy to get 

wrong. Loveable geeks HILLARY AND THE 

DEMOCRATS toe this line very well on new 

single Local Residents, with just the right 

balance of catchy hooks and bookish 

charm. B-side Around Your Fingers cranks 

the pop up a notch, and the bonus cover 

that comes with the download is a treat. 

bidolito.co.uk

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We 

Are 

Cat c h e rs 

Words: 

Words: Dave Tate 

Photography: Paul Hitchmough

“I’ve always loved the mystery and freedom connected to the 

water here," says Peter Jackson of his native Liverpool. Jackson, the 

writer, singer and producer behind the city’s latest dreamweavers 

WE ARE CATCHERS, sounds irresistibly drawn to somewhere 

distant. “It’s the idea of it taking you away. I think maybe that 

comes across in the music too." 

Reflective, nostalgic and, at times, pensive, We Are Catchers’ 

eponymous debut LP feels much like the product of some bygone 

era. Its piano-driven dream pop recalls a time when, legend 

would have you believe, rock and roll held unlimited potential. 

The record’s characteristic vocal melodies and chord progressions 

are imbued with the naïvety and optimism of the Sun Studios-era, 

but, much like a lot of those early records, there is something 

intangibly distant to them. The hiss of the tape, the echo of the 

reverb and the sombre lyrics paint a restless, daydreaming, and 

not always optimistic world-view. 

We Are Catchers is a record full of gems that feel like old 

friends upon the first listen, with tracks such as Waters Edge 

and Thousand Steps having an ethereal, fluid quality to them. 

But, like reflections caught by the river and distorted by ripples, 

Jackson’s moods are obscured just enough to retain intrigue on 

repeat listening. Drenched in reverb and muddied by recording 

techniques, there is an isolation implied both by the production 

and the lyrics on the album. What they lack in clarity, however, 

they balance with hazy warmth, feeling something like the tail 

end of summer as the nights draw in and we try to squeeze 

what’s left from the sun. 

Thanks in part to the collaboration with Bill Ryder-Jones, 

Jackson has been able to see the transformation of these songs 

from their demo stages to the finished album. "Bill's been 

involved from the very start as he was the first to really pick up 

on the tunes from some really rough demos, so I've lots to thank 

him for. He's helped produce the record alongside Darren Jones 

[at Elevator] and myself but he's just been great to work with, 

really. There are some great guitar bits on the album from him 

too, as you'd expect." 

While some may have opted for immaculate digital recording, 

We Are Catchers leans toward the warmth of worn analogue. For 

Jackson this aesthetic was an integral component of the songs. 

"We started out trying out a few different studios and producers, 

but the demos always had this feel to them which was what 

made the songs work. After a few false starts we decided to just 

go back to the 8-track which I'd used for the demos and back to 

the piano in my house. Instantly the feel and honesty came back 

to the tunes, so we stayed with it." 

His reluctance to distance the music too far from its original 

demos is understandable. It was, after all, these initial recordings 

that brought Jackson to the attention of indie heavyweights 

Domino. "I got signed a bit out of the blue about a month or two 

after getting together my first demos ... that took a bit of getting 

used to. Domino had the belief in us to let us take our time and 

make the record we wanted and were happy with. It’s been 

great to just forget all the usual everyday pressures and throw 

everything into making this one piece of work. The belief Domino 

gave us was everything in making the album what it is.” 

The dislocation that permeates the album perhaps stems from 

a fascination with a different era of music. "I always seem to listen 

to the old records I like a lot rather than listening to loads of new 

music,” admits Jackson. “I think most of my influences probably 

come across on the album.” Certainly, it would be difficult to 

pinpoint a specific influence from the past twenty years. “I’ve 

always loved that raw sound of some of the older records by 

the likes of the Kinks, The La's and Shack. I think it makes those 

records sound more real, so that was something I wanted to try 

and capture too. We had a few studio people along the way who 

would hear bits and come across a bit shocked that we were 

going down that route as it's not really the done thing, so it took 

a bit of bravery." 

The songs, while always direct and honest, have an insular, 

daydreaming quality. Attempting to transport the listener to 

some far-off place, this is an album as much inward gazing as 

outward looking. "I suppose if I can just get a sincerity across 

in the music and try to take the listener away somewhere else 

then I'd be happy with that. I always seem to write with another 

place or time in mind, so hopefully that feel comes across on 

the recording." The lyrics are marked with a distinct loneliness, 

with oblique references to places, people and events. "I think, 

especially with these songs [on the album], I'd been writing in 

the house for a while on my own and it was a good way of getting 

away through the music." 

Key to We Are Catchers is the songs’ juxtaposition of a sunkissed 

aesthetic with a melancholic core. Despite the presence of 

other musicians on the album, at times it feels like Jackson is an 

isolated figure. “I think I’ve always been a bit of an outsider, really. 

The expectations put on you to live a certain way just weren't 

for me, probably like a lot of artists and musicians. I’ve never 

really been into all the material things most people are into, and 

I probably kind of shut myself away from the world and threw 

myself into songwriting to get through that. But, you know, I think 

I'm coming round to it a bit more now as it feels like a bit of a 

new start for me getting this record out, and it's maybe given me 

some direction which I was missing before,” he explains. “These 

songs in particular were all written at a pretty hard time in my 

life when not much was happening; I certainly had no idea that 

around the corner they might get released, so hopefully there's 

an honesty to them which can’t always be found when you know 

where you're going." 

We Are Catchers is out on Domino Records on 24th March. 

We Are Catchers will play at District on 19th April as part of the 

UCG/Fracking concert. 

soundcloud.com/thecatchers

8 


Bido Lito! April 2014 

Grocery shopping isn't necessarily the first image 

that springs to mind when you think of the rock and 

roll lifestyle. Nevertheless, it's one of the tricks that 

Mexican psych duo LORELLE MEETS THE OBSOLETE 

have picked up to pass the time on the road. 

Alberto González, the husband half of the 

husband-and-wife band, shouts down the 

phone line, struggling to be heard over 

the noise and bustle of a crowded Italian 

shopping centre. "We just wanted to find 

a place to shop for some groceries on the 

tour," he yells, "but it's very busy!" 

The band are currently on a lengthy 

European stint on the back of latest LP 

Chambers, which will take them from 

Italy to France via Spain, Switzerland, 

Germany and the Netherlands, and 

come to an end in the UK, with the final 

date at Liverpool's Shipping Forecast on 

12th April. It's an unexpected but nice 

surprise for Alberto, who says that they 

feel like stars in Europe compared to their 

Lorelle 

Meets 

The 

Obsolete 

local circuit in Mexico. "So far it's been 

very nice; we've played in front of bigger 

audiences than in Mexico, like for example 

playing at the Liverpool Psych Fest last year: 

we played in front of a huge crowd and I don't 

Obsolete 

think we've ever done that back home." 

Chambers, the band's third LP, mixes psychedelic 

influences and 70s-style prog, welded to the raw 

post-post-punk noise of Sonic Youth. The result is a 

warped and texturally magnificent assault of blistering 

guitars and soaring psyched-out vocals; the sign of a band who’ve really got to grips with their sound. As Alberto explains, it's also what he considers to be their most collaborative and 

straightforward record yet: "This is the first record where Lorena 

Words: Ryan McElroy 

you 

[Quintanilla] and me have been writing most of the songs together. 

look it's 

They came out of jams mostly. In the previous two records most 

impossible 

of the songs were written by Lorena, and I maybe contributed 

together." 

to miss Daily 

a couple, but the main idea for most of the songs came from 

Lorelle 

Meets 

Mail-esque 

headlines 

her. I guess as a band we're more integrated and it's like we've 

The Obsolete are the 

decrying the state of the 

developed some sort of language between us musically." 

latest psych band from a country 

country, pictures of David Cameron's 

A lot of the influence, he says, came from the things that they 

that has a long and deep history with psychedelic 

waxy mug trying to look important and in touch, dole 

have picked up on the road; they found inspiration from many of 

music. Back in the 1960s, Mexico was governed by the 

queues skyrocketing, education and health funding falling and 

the bands they encountered at SXSW in Texas, including cosmic 

Institutional Revolutionary Party (or PRI) and civil unrest was rife. 

the innumerable other components that make up the rusty, 

surf band Holy Wave and many of the more punky acts on the line- 

This culminated in 'la guerra sucia' or 'the dirty war', characterised 

spluttering machinery of so-called Broken Britain. Psychedelia 

up. "We listen to the CDs that we pick up along the tour a lot," 

by a government backlash against the rising left-wing student 

represents a way out. It's apolitical escapism at its most pure, as 

Alberto adds, "like for example when we get to know new bands 

groups, which came to a head in the Tlatelolco Massacre in 

Alberto suggests: "Nowadays I don't know what exactly would 

and we take their CDs and listen to them in the van, that's great." 

which government employees shot dead dozens of students and 

inspire psychedelic bands," he says, "but that would be an 

Once written, the album came together quickly, with the band 

protestors. The result of it all was a nationwide desperation for 

important reason. At least for us it works that way. We don't have 

dividing recording between small studios in Wisconsin and Chicago; 

escape, for anything to take the minds of the Mexican people 

the same reasons to be angry about stuff or to be protesting, but 

just one of the many benefits Alberto says there is to being a two- 

off the poverty and violence; it's this desperation that Alberto 

I guess it is a form of escaping to your own reality and to what 

piece. “I guess it has its positives and negatives. You don't have 

believes ushered in the first wave of Mexican psych bands. 

makes you comfortable. I think this kind of music frees your mind 

to debate a lot of things when you're a couple, so it's very easy to 

"Sometimes life can get very hard in Mexico; it can sometimes 

and it opens you to new experiences." 

communicate, but I guess the bad part is that we don't have the 

get so overwhelming that maybe making psychedelic music, in 

After all, great art and innovation are forged in the fires of 

ability to be more like a jam band because we can't have everything 

the 60s and 70s at least, was some kind of protest and a way 

hardship, to which today's international youth are no strangers. 

going on at the same time.” Doing everything as a unit is one of 

to escape from the violence and day-to-day life. In the late 60s, 

Perhaps that's why, in some small part, psychedelic music is once 

the defining characteristics of the band. Having been introduced 

when Three Souls In My Mind were playing or Los Dug Dugs or La 

again coming to define the sound of a generation. 

via a mutual friend while they attended university, they played in 

Revolucion de Emiliano Zapata, maybe it was a way [for] them to 

various outfits with each other throughout the years, eventually 

escape and to be able to communicate what they were feeling at 

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete play The Shipping Forecast 

getting together and deciding to form Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. 

the time. When this period of psych bands in Mexico was around, on 12th April. Chambers is out now via Sonic Cathedral and 

You might think it would be stressful on any relationship to spend 

the government wasn't a dictatorship but it was pretty close to Captcha Records. 

so much time together, but Alberto is sure that it's not the case. 

being so, so definitely music was a sort of protest." 

Head to bidolito.co.uk now for an exclusive ‘Mexican Psych: Then 

"We pretty much do music all day and do band-related stuff so we 

Could this civil unease be the explanation behind psychedelia's 

And Now’ playlist, put together by Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. 

spend most of our time together. It's more weird when we're not 

recent resurgence, not just in the UK but worldwide? Everywhere 

obsoletelorelle.bandcamp.com

Words: Mike Townsend / @townsendyesmate 

Photography: Nata Moraru / natamoraru.tumblr.com 

The first time I came across DROHNE, the live electronic 

partnership of Luke McCulloch and Richie Craddock, was as they 

supported Factory Floor at The Kazimier last December. Vocalist 

McCulloch growled over a frenetic, warped collection of sounds 

that almost resembled a beat, whilst the jarringly silent crowd 

fidgeted awkwardly in some kind of confused trance as they tried 

to get their heads around what the fuck was happening in front of 

them. Like myself though, every pair of eyes was fixed firmly on the 

two shy, sketchy-looking lads nodding their hood-enclosed heads 

assertively on the stage; the audience were at one in our intrigued, 

fascinated and mesmerised bewilderment. “Yeah, that’s exactly 

right,” Luke laughs, recalling the gig warmly. “People do seem to 

know us as that band with their heads down and hoods up.” 

Drohne have nearly a year’s worth of demos available on their 

SoundCloud page and, even though Luke is keen to remind me 

that these are old songs and not necessarily a strict reflection 

of the band in front of me now, they do still act as interesting 

signposts for how the duo have progressed and what form 

their music might take in the future. T.M.R (The Mother Road), 

which gave them their first taste of radio airplay with the help 

of an excellent Harvey Brown remix, uses cloudy and saturated 

textures to enclose and swallow the faint residue of a melody. 

Suppression, equally as restless and deliberately uncoordinated, 

simmers contently as parts slip in and out of line with each other 

with controlled abandon. Throughout these songs, McCulloch’s 

vocals are so impossibly singular that they sound profoundly 

alone, drenched in despair as if they are the last cry from a 

man who has resigned himself to madness. It’s a powerful and 

moving display of humanity from a genre where technology so 

often dominates. “I don’t just see myself as the guy who sings in 

the band though,” Luke quickly reminds me, keen to move away 

from the idea of his voice as a structural centrepiece. “With our 

new songs, I like the idea of my vocals being more murmured 

and ambient, almost blending into the soundscape rather than 

jumping out at you as they have done in the past.” The effects of 


this can be seen already, in the grooving, more immediate track 

Soul-Jo. It is certainly the closest Drohne have come to being 

danceable, with a rolling beat and twinkling synth work creating 

this sepia-tinged, almost tranquil atmosphere. Everything is so 

gorgeously calm and lo-fi that you’ll hardly even notice the brittle 

vocals of McCulloch nudging the song towards a conclusion 

in the closing moments. The musicality of Soul-Jo in the midst 

of all the dissonance and tension that underpins their body of 

work is almost jarring, and highlights their ability to expose the 

contrasts between the digital abrasion of their production and 

the natural warmth provided by tone and melody, with disarming 

consequences. 

With limited recorded material available, Drohne have gathered 

most of their support based on a handful of live shows around 

the city. Support slots alongside East India Youth, Slow Magic and 

the aforementioned Factory Floor have enabled them to present 

themselves as a live electronic act, rather than just a production 

duo. And, whilst workstation software is obviously important, they 

are keen to remind me that, first and foremost, they are a band. 

“We don’t really consider ourselves as producers,” Richie explains 

cautiously. “We get bored of it quite easily, as it’s just there on a 

screen. Making the music has to be a more visceral experience 

for us, I think. The way we write a song is that we’ll have an idea 

and just jam with it for a while, lay it down, build on it, tweak 

it, add and change some vocals or guitar, until it just emerges 

into this sort of brainchild.” It’s telling that the pair don’t consider 

themselves producers; that isn’t to say that any note that isn’t 

strummed, plucked, bowed or blown is a purer form of expression 

than, say, one produced from a box of wires. Richie’s idea that 

songwriting needs to be visceral - that they need to feel each 

tone and melody before they subject it to digital manipulation 

- is essential to Drohne’s musical backbone in the sense that it 

provides them with anchorage to the strange, unpredictable 

results that emerge at the end of their creative process. 

However, despite a healthy collection of demos and live 

performances, we’ve still yet to see an official release from 

Drohne. Their future is far from uncertain though, with an EP due 

out imminently. The concept of using their live shows to shape 

the recordings has allowed them to develop the EP around how 

they want it to be experienced, as well as how they want it to 

sound. “We’re planning on going to Amsterdam for a bit,” Luke 

says confidently as he explains their plans for the next twelve 

months. “There is a place we’ve got our eye on right in the centre 

of the city. It’s a huge brickwork building, and you can pay to rent 

out one of the floors for a month. It’s unbelievably big, like one 

hundred square metres of open space. We would just set up all our 

equipment over there and write an EP. It would be a different vibe 

completely living over in Europe, which would have an interesting 

effect on our music and the way we sound.” Whilst it may sound 

ambitious, that notion of locking yourself away in isolation as a 

means of creative stimulation has shaped some of the best albums 

of our time. And you get the feeling that, given the emotion and 

care they clearly invest in being Drohne, this kind of departure 

from reality will allow Luke and Richie to harness it into a singular 

piece of work that they feel can adequately represent them. 

The pair aren’t afraid to dodge convention either, happy to arrive 

not fully formed, but in a state of constant development. And I 

don’t just mean in the literal sense (they have shaken off two 

former members over the last year), but musically as well. Their 

brief collection of songs, like their live shows, sound strikingly 

incomplete, as if they are a collection of ideas rattling around like 

loose change at the bottom of a bag. They wilfully resist cadences 

and conclusions, pushing their music into gentle spins that slow 

down, speed up, slow down again, but never quite stop. In an age 

of constant output and reproduction, Drohne are embracing the 

negative space between expectation and reality to ensure that 

their relationship with their audience, and with their own music, 

remains in an ongoing and enthralling state of flux. 

soundcloud.com/d-r-o-h-n-e

12 


Moats 

They’ve got us 

surrounded 

Words: Jack Graysmark / @ZeppelinG1993 

Photography: Nata Moraru / natamoraru.tumblr.com 

bidolito.co.uk


When was the last time you stumbled across a sound check 

where, after finishing, the band mooches across to their kitchen 

for a quick swig of beer? Such are the luxuries offered at a MOATS 

live event. This is the second time the four-piece have converted 

their living room into a gigging space; gone are the settees 

and TV, replaced by guitars, mics and a myriad of wires. House 

parties can range from intense shindigs to intimate affairs, but 

throw a couple of bands into the mix and you get both. When 

Juniors step up to open the night, their frontman Jamie Hives 

sums it up perfectly. “The fire exits are here and here,” he points, 

casually. “Other than that, there are no rules.” 

James Pyrah, guitarist for Moats and occupant of the Pilgrim 

Street pad, watches over the proceedings with a cautious glance. 

However, in person he reassures me they’re not too worried 

after the first one went so smoothly. It came about, he recalls, 

because a gig at the Shipping Forecast fell through. “We had a 

gig with Pixel Fix on 7th December, but it was cancelled, and as 

Will [Elliot, Bass], Matt [Duncan, Vocals] and a load of friends 

had booked tickets, we didn’t want their journey wasted.” 

Moats began in Bedfordshire and their story has been spun 

into a tale of two cities, with Elliot and Duncan choosing to 

study in Leeds while Pyrah and drummer Nathan Price opted 

for Liverpool. Having been active in previous projects, the 

members decided they needed a fresh start. “We wanted to get 

our creative juices flowing again,” says Duncan, as Bido Lito! 

and the band members retreat upstairs for a chat, “because 

we’d made a sound for ourselves that we weren’t 100% happy 

with. We wanted to take things more seriously, be a bit more 

imaginative with what we’re doing.” 

It’s very easy to get lulled into a false sense of optimism by 

wishful thinking, but Moats began pushing forward as soon as 

they were settled on the new name. Bring them together, and 

beneath the down-to-earth exterior you get a sense these four 

lads truly give a damn. You get this with Absorb, the product of 

several months of solid work and the first hint of what the band 

have in store for us. The guitar fuzz comes sharp on the opening, 

before retreating under Duncan’s strident, 

King Krule-esque 

vocals. The track 

swells with raw 

energy and, 

while this is hardly 

groundbreaking in guitar music, you 

can often forget why it works 

so well. 

That’s not to 

say there isn’t 

merit to be found 

within the tracks 

present on Singapore, 

a mini album the 

band put out within 

weeks 

of forming, which is still free to 

download on their Bandcamp 

page. Produced by Elliot in his old 

bedroom, Singapore is striking in 

its variation, demonstrating the 

range of ideas the lads had for the 

band. “It cost nothing to record it, but also 

it felt right to let people know what we were doing,” Elliot 

reasons. “With Moats, we had a new name and a new direction 

we were happy with.” 

“We don’t want to sound like a typical indie band anymore,” 

says Pyrah firmly. “It’s one of the most screwed-up genres; 

there’s so many people trying to make their way up.” There's 

more than teenage rebellion at work here, though. Quite simply, 

Moats refuse to let the music they fell in love with growing up 

go stale. It never feels like it is being done simply for the sake of 

being outlandish; rather, a natural reaction to seeing how 

they can push the boundaries to develop their sound. It’s 

this versatility that sets Moats apart, which Duncan puts 

down to the fact that they all bring ideas to the table, rather 

than there being one main songwriter. 

“It’s pretty good in that sense that we don’t see each other 

constantly,” he states, referring to the pitfall of having the 

band spread across Liverpool and Leeds. “Because we 

have so much time apart, we’re always getting our own 

ideas and finding different influences, so when we come 

round to practising we just chuck it all together. Then, we 

choose one we like and we develop it. We can write a 

song 

in a practice and then 

finalise it at the next 

one, which is quite 

lucky.” 

This 

makes for 

a healthy 

relationship, 

bouncing 

off 

one 

another’s 

thoughts, 

and 

it makes the music all the 

more dynamic. 

As we head downstairs, 

the atmosphere is bewildering: both 

tense, a result of the increasingly cramped 

performance space, yet relaxed 

as friends and fans mingle with the band 

members. Juniors step up to open the night, their 

trump card being that 

one of the members also lives 

under this roof, and 

the trio deliver a scorching set, 

with special mention going to Hives, who effortlessly balances 

complex chord progressions with vocal duties. 

By the time Moats take to the stage the room is packed solid. 

Punters are pushed back to the hallway, squinting over the 

multitude of faces eager to see what the fuss is all about. The 

band cook up an intense live experience, but one that is kept 

inviting by the personality of the performers, in particular that 

of frontman Duncan. Completely at home in the live setting, 

he rarely stops smiling, and takes every opportunity he can to 

make a wisecrack (“This track’s called Dry, although I’m pretty 

moist!”), embracing the swarm of punters before him. 

Whether old (Toothache) or new (Snakepit), each track is 

met with resounding cheers. The beauty of the event lies in 

its informality, where there is no sense of separation between 

the band members and the crowd. The sound certainly isn’t as 

polished as you would get in the Kaz, but what’s a little distortion 

when you can bring your own beer without worrying about 

security? Admittedly it sounds like a recipe for unmitigated chaos, 

something Moats could easily soundtrack, but instead everyone 

is largely co-operative; making the most of the live experience 

here doesn’t mean resorting to mindless destruction. 

The set is over in a flash, and the band look even more at 

ease as the after-party immediately begins. It’s not surprising, 

considering the wealth of opportunities the band has coming 

up: after playing the main stage at this year’s Threshold Festival, 

they embark on a Belgian tour in April, organised partly by 

friends they made on a previous venture. “We’ve got a lot of 

new releases ready,” promises Pyrah, “but we want to play it 

safe for now so that when the time comes for the big push, 

we’ll be ready.” It seems that Moats are content to wait around 

for a short while for you to get on board, but not for long; and, 

considering what’s at their fingertips, can you blame them? 

moats.bandcamp.com 

bidolito.co.uk


Not Your Average Journey 

Words: Sam Turner / @samturner1984 

Illustration: Ria Fell / riafell.co.uk 

Normally, the transition from the street to inside a gig venue 

is quite an unremarkable affair. Often the most exciting thing you 

can expect is a crude smiley face drawn on your hand, or trying 

to decipher if the perplexing stamp you’re branded with has 

any relevance to the show you’re about to enjoy. For promoters 

EVERISLAND, these are the minutiae that matter. At their first 

event of the year, held at the Williamson Tunnels, the gig-goer has 

to navigate a dark subterranean tunnel to reach the performance 

area, before being greeted by hula-hooping deep-sea creatures, 

iridescent in glow-in-the-dark leotards. With an eerie soundtrack 

bouncing off the damp stone walls and dripping ceiling, you’re 

transported to another world. This isn’t your average gig; this is 

Aquaria, the first of The Island Chronicles. 

The event is the inaugural happening in the Liverpool 

promotions company’s year-long Island Chronicles project, and 

a happening it truly is. The idea is to do something more than 

your usual pint of lager, support and headline act; with The Island 

Chronicles, at each event you step into another realm. everisland 

founder Samuel Garlick explains: “We wanted to take people 

on a journey and really immerse them in the concept we’ve 

concocted around this element-based series.” There will be four 

events spread across the year in different locations around the 

city, with the limiting factors of each theme and venue forcing the 

organisers into producing more ambitious, meaningful events 

with greater focus and purpose. “Each Chronicle is formed around 

one of the elements,” Samuel elaborates. “Aquaria – water, Infernia 

– fire, Subterrania – earth and Cyclonia – wind. Each will represent 

a whole new and imaginative environment. Aquaria will be a 

tough act to follow, but we’re very excited by the challenge and 

the high expectations.” It’s an ambitious project which, judging 

by the beaming faces and enthusiasm of the Aquaria gathering, 

will be met with open arms by Liverpool’s gig-going community. It 

also helps that everisland already have a track record for holding 

extraordinary events. 

Samuel formed everisland two years ago alongside Clarry 

Mowforth (now Assistant Manager of The Kazimier). The duo met 

writing for a certain pink-paged music mag and soon decided 

that they wanted to become more involved in the music scene 

they were tirelessly documenting. Seeing a gap in the market 

for shows that merged theatrics and music, everisland hosted 

Thirteen on 13th January 2012. The concepts (along with the event 

titles) have continued to develop in imagination and scale ever 

since. Hannah Colson joined Samuel at the beginning of this 

year and has given the whole thing a shot in the arm, sparking a 

reinvention for everisland. “We’ve always been lucky enough to 

have had a great reception to our ideas but audiences became a 

bit too familiar with what we had to offer, so we wanted a change 

and to possibly boost expectations, and Hannah has injected 

a whole new level of enthusiasm to everything,” says Samuel 

about his new partner-in-brine. 

The journey that the audience goes on during a night at one 

of their shows forms a large part of the consideration that goes 

into building an everisland show, from both an aural and a visual 

perspective. Aquaria is a truly multi-sensory experience: you may 

be looking at a creature peering out of a coral cave when a drip 

from the ceiling interrupts the reverie you slipped into, aided 

by the ambient aquatic soundtrack composed especially for the 

evening’s event. “You can’t have an immersive experience without 

creative output aimed at as many senses as possible,” says 

Hannah glowingly, alluding to the soundtrack’s composer and his 

concept. The track was crafted by the elusive Liverpool producer 

Killøtto and certainly adds a further dimension to proceedings. 

With music being the most integral part of an everisland event, 

Samuel and Hannah have obviously taken care to ensure the lineups 

at their events represent the brightest in Liverpool’s crowd 

of up-and-coming talent, as well as emerging acts from beyond 

the city. More importantly, they select artists who suit the mood 

of a particular night and buy into the vision of an immersive 

experience. Hannah explains that it’s not just a case of jumping on 

a bandwagon: “It is a celebration of the local scene, but they also 

have to fit with the atmosphere of the night.” “We tread the line 

between picking artists that are cohesive and flow well together, 

but also are different enough to offer an aural journey throughout 

the night,” adds Samuel. “It’s not as simple as the headline band 

gets the best slot – we try to anticipate how the audience will react 

to each act and plan accordingly to what suits the event best.” 

A key ingredient to everisland’s success has to be the fertility of 

Liverpool’s creative crop. By The Sea are amongst the conspirators 

lined up to play the next Chronicle event, and they’ll join an 

impressive list of past everisland headliners that reads like a rollcall 

of the region’s most successful breakout artists over the past 

two years: Stealing Sheep, All We Are, Bird, Loved Ones, The Tea 

Street Band, and now VEYU and Southern. 

The Island Chronicles depends on open-minded audiences, 

quality bands and extraordinary spaces. The choice of the 

Williamson Tunnels as the setting for Aquaria was certainly 

inspired. “A lot of research goes into location, as it is key to 

personifying the identity of the event. Aspects such as acoustics, 

aesthetics and malleability of the space are all considered,” says 

Samuel. Hannah adds that the importance of the city’s creative 

community is also vital to the company’s forward momentum. “It’s 

competitive in the best possible way. There are a lot of promoters 

who strive to deliver great independent entertainment in this city 

but they’re not out to tread on each other’s toes. There’s a nice 

sharing culture between the creatives and there’s a lot going on, 

but that keeps the scene healthily competitive.” 

Rising Scouse starlet Låpsley is in the process of composing 

the soundtrack to the next Island Chronicle instalment, Infernia, 

an event which will see the Wolstenholme Creative Space 

brought back to life and transformed into a fiery furnace. “With 

the blessing of Priya and the other founders, we’re really excited 

by the possibilities of [WCS]; it was always such a fantastic and 

creative institution. We can’t wait to see what costume, set and 

visuals our design collective come up with for it,” says Samuel 

of Three Moons Collective, the design team who made such an 

impressive job of transforming the Tunnels. “The level of detail 

and thought that have gone into set and costume design [for 

Aquaria] is incredible; it perfectly encapsulates the whole concept 

that we envisaged,” Samuel adds, his enthusiasm matching that 

of the Harlequin Marching Band, who have Aquaria’s tunnels 

swinging as we reach the evening’s climax. 

The project obviously means a great deal to Hannah and 

Samuel, whose mission is a simple one: to put on events that they 

would enjoy themselves. “The audience response has certainly 

been a highlight. People that come to our shows always welcome 

the imaginative, and often weird, ideas we come up with – it feels 

like they appreciate that we’re not latching on to trends [but are] 

creating something original.” 

Samuel goes on to explain how everisland wanted to push 

beyond the stasis which is easy to succumb to as a promoter 

putting on regular gigs. “Events can sometimes feel a little 

meaningless – as though the promoter is hosting it just to keep 

on people’s radars, and we’ve been guilty of that in the past – but 

this allows us to produce vastly different and continually fresh 

experiences for each night, both visually and musically.” And with 

that we emerge from Aquaria inspired and elated, looking ahead 

excitedly to what everisland has in store next. 

Infernia, the second instalment in The Island Chronicles, takes 

place at Wolstenholme Creatiove Space on 10th May, headlined 

by By The Sea. 

facebook.com/everisland 

bidolito.co.uk

16 


It’s become something of a tradition now for the closing night 

of Liverpool Sound City to be a rather special occasion, and since 

learning that JAGWAR MA are inked-in to round off the Saturday 

night within the confines of Wolstenholme Square's pop-up Garage 

space, we're pretty certain that the 2014 closing party is in very safe 

hands. So, ahead of the best party you will have in a car park this 

year, we spoke to the festival headliners who’ll be making sure 

that Sound City signs off in spectacular style on 4th May… 

Frequently name-checked by the likes of Foals and the xx, 

Jagwar Ma are a band that have surprised us all. Not only did the 

group appear seemingly from nowhere, establishing themselves 

as one of the most exciting new bands on last summer's festival 

circuit, but they are also the creators of one of 2013's best debut 

LPs, Howlin. Although they are now based in the UK, the trio 

originally hail from Sydney and are quite nimbly following in 

the footsteps of their antipodean counterparts POND and Tame 

Impala, as a swirl of international and hipster acclaim gathers 

around them. 


Words: Dan Brown / @danbrownnn 

Illustration: Alex Wynne / blak-hand.tumblr.com 

Though frequently compared to psychedelic pop bands of the 

60s, there is an awful lot more to the Jagwar Ma sound than 

you might think. Picking apart their songs reveals how they 

incorporate a wide range of influences and styles into their tunes, 

making them difficult to pigeonhole. Therefore, the group make a 

strong argument for their inclusion among the freshest new acts 

that alternative music has to offer. Their idiosyncratic fusion of 

dance music and indie rock has thrown up comparisons with the 

Happy Mondays and others of that early-90s “baggy” tag, but the 

group are keen not to restrict themselves. “It’s definitely not an 

insult; we’d much prefer being compared to bands we like rather 

than Hanson or something!” laughs the band’s guitarist and 

vocalist Gabriel Winterfield. “I think the best way of representing 

who we are is as collage artists.” 

The nature of Jagwar Ma’s sound being something formed by 

neatly interlocking jigsaw pieces is a pretty apt visualisation of 

the menagerie of influences that make up Howlin. It’s a facet of 

their style that allows listeners to deconstruct what they hear 

and reassemble it however they want, and also lends itself 

particularly well to being remixed. In fact, a probable reason for 

the longevity of Howlin’s success (it was released in June 2013) is 

the myriad possibilities it has for being reinterpreted by the remix 

brigade; a quick visit to their SoundCloud page shows dozens 

of reimaginings of the record’s eleven tracks, with The Time And 

Space Machine’s dub session remixes slated for their own vinyl 

release this year too. 

Another aspect of the band’s sound is rooted in shoegaze, 

especially in the case of Winterfield, who used to be in a shoegaze 

band himself. “We were called Ghostwood; at the time we didn’t 

really think of ourselves as a shoegaze band but, upon reflection, 

we were very within that genre … we were more aggressive 

though: I was singing and the vocals were really up in the front; 

the guitars were very colourful. Being in a shoegaze band when 

you’re a young guitarist is just a good way explore musical colour 

palettes because it’s such a textural style of music, but a lot of it 

lacks a real rhythmic complexity … A lot of the melodic sensibilities 

do hark back to psychedelic pop groups though. If you strip back 

a lot of the pedals you’d probably end up with something that 

sounded like The La’s!” 

The La’s are not only one of the group’s most personal 

connections to Liverpool, but they have also proved to be 

highly influential on Winterfield’s songwriting. “They were a 

band I really loved; they were the unsung hero on Howlin … 

especially on songs like Let Her Go. I remember talking to a 

friend of mine and being like ‘Remember that band that does 

There She Goes?’ and he said ‘Yeah?’, so I told him ‘I’ve just got 

their record and it’s fucking amazing!’ I was about 17/18 when 

I realised how difficult the record had been to record and to 

actually get out, so it was then that I also heard that there 

were so many La’s bootlegs … now I’ve got about fifty different 

copies of Timeless Melody!” 

Despite having pop sensibilities, it is evident from their 

music that Jagwar Ma certainly aren’t a band that are scared 

to experiment, and are perhaps even willing to gamble their 

indie credibility in the name of delivering something interesting 

that stands out from their peers. If you combine this with 

Winterfield’s recent listening habits then there’s every chance 

that Jagwar Ma’s sophomore album could prove to be something 

altogether darker than the colourful - but nonetheless brilliant - 

tunes that we heard on Howlin. “I’ve been listening to heaps of 

early Sabbath: Master Of Reality is just incredible … Sweet Leaf 

and Embryo – man! I love how people have this perception of 

Sabbath, but when you listen to their records they’re actually 

quite intelligent songs. When you also look at how early their 

records came out you remember that people were still wearing 

flowers in their hair at the time and that in comparison they were 

just so aggressive! It came very naturally to them.” 

The surprise that was a by-product of Jagwar Ma’s success 

definitely hasn’t worn off yet for Winterfield - “I don’t think that 

the excitement we feel ever changes!” - but despite this the group 

have heaps of self-confidence about the path they’re moving 

down. They are very much aware that, as a young band, they’re 

still developing somewhat and that Howlin could prove to be a 

launch pad for even greater things. “It has sunk in in a practical 

way, in the sense that we have to deal with what our lives are like 

now,” explains Winterfield. “If I kept on denying it and acting like 

nothing has happened then it would have a negative impact on 

progress. You’ve got to stay kinda relatively down to earth… but 

that doesn’t mean I’m not still pinching myself, I’m just trying to 

keep the pinching down to a minimum!” 

Jagwar Ma play at Liverpool Sound City on Saturday 4th May. 

soundcloud.com/jagwarma

SATURDAY 19TH JULY | THE FLORAL PAVILION | NEW BRIGHTON 

2014 

WIRRAL’S NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL 

BILL RYDER JONES THE TEA STREET BAND BY THE SEA THE LUCID DREAM TEMPLE SONGS 

BIRD SUNDOWNERS VEYU GHOSTCHANT featuring LAPSLEY THE WILD EYES WET PELICAN 

SANKOFA OXYGEN THIEVES DEATH MASKS FILTER DISTORTION JIMMY AND THE REVOLVERS VIOLA BEACH 

DOMINIC DUNN BAND DAZES MERCURY 13 KIDSWARVE (DJ) TWO SUNSETS (DJ) NICK POWER (DJ) 

REVO (EVOL) (DJ) JAY VENTURE (DJ) BIDO LITO! (DJ) + MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED 

Tickets adv £10 plus £1 booking fee from www.thefloralpavilion.com / 0151 666 0000 or in person 

from the Floral Pavilion Box Office. Tickets £12.50 on the day. All ages welcome. 

WWW.ASTRALCOAST.CO.UK 

1 HESKETH ST 

AIGBURTH, LIVERPOOL 

L17 8XJ 

020 7232 0008

18 


GIT Awa 

All We Are 

This multi-cultural three piece’s irresistible pop melodies 

and infectious grooves mark them as one of the nation’s 

hottest properties. 

Dan Croll 

The concoction of afrobeat vibes and warming melodies 

on Croll’s debut album has left fans and opposition alike 

in Sweet Disarray. 

Forest Swords 

Matthew Barnes’ organic electronica - inspired by the 

beautiful Wirral coastline – is a tribal, gorgeous walk 

through desolation. 

Bill Ryder- 

Jones 

Championed by Zane Lowe and signed to Universal, 

the last six months have seen the indie rock quartet 

become a force to be reckoned with. 

Evian Christ 

After working with Kanye West in 2013, Joshua Leary’s 

brand of bleached-out post-future-garage electronica is 

soon to hit the big time. 

Mad Brains 

After causing a storm with his ZADE mix-tape back in 

2012, the 21-year-old MC will cement his success with 

an EP release later this year. 

Circa waves 

Championed by Zane Lowe and signed to Universal, 

the last six months have seen the indie rock quartet 

become a force to be reckoned with. 

Ex-Easter 

Island Head 

Benjamin Duvall’s maximalist collective have moved 

on from straight-up guitar malleting to compose the 

equally mesmerising Large Electric Ensemble. 

Ninetails 

The long gestation period proved fruitful for this 

quintet, allowing their art-rock leanings to merge with 

a myriad other styles in spectacular fashion. 

bidolito.co.uk


rd 2014 

Outfit 

Showing that there’s more to his repertoire than 

nimble guitar work, Ryder-Jones’ unique and cinematic 

songwriting has hit sublime form of late. 

The Tea 

Street Band 

Having been a staple of Liverpool’s live circuit for the 

past few years, the Balearic-infused rockers have now 

crystallised their metronomic sound. 

Veyu 

A band who have seemingly come from nowhere to 

become one of Merseyside’s most exciting new bands 

via their sweeping textures of melody. 

Entering its third year, the GIT AWARD is set to once 

again applaud Liverpool’s latest international exports 

whilst shining a light on some of the city’s lesser-known 

gems, as the run-down of this year’s nominees on the 

left suggests. Ahead of the ceremony - set to be held at 

The Kazimier in an American Hustle-themed night on 11th 

April - we caught up with last year’s winner Baltic Fleet. 

Awards, what are they good for? Absolutely plenty 

would be Paul Fleming’s answer, if you were to ask him. 

Since being declared the winner at last year’s GIT Award 

showcase in Leaf, Fleming’s Baltic Fleet have been quick 

to capitalise on the opportunities that winning the Award 

has granted them. “Musicians can get by without winning 

awards that’s for sure,” Fleming tells us, “but what it does 

is put you in public consciousness more; it gets you out 

there. I think every band starting out or in the early parts 

of their career needs as much help as they can get. Unless 

you get a single out that goes viral or it gets a ton of 

radio play, you need all that help. I think the Award has 

shown there’s a sort of ecosystem there; press, promoter, 

labels, radio, all working together and I think that really 

helps because you bring all those people together and 

that creates a platform in itself.” 

Having seemingly bypassed the regional scene, 

Baltic Fleet had already established a good national 

following before the Award, having secured themselves 

a niche with their eponymous debut and gaining 

widespread acclaim for their fully-realised motorik 

follow-up Towers. Fleming recalls: “I was already sort 

of… I wouldn’t say successful. Over the first couple of 

albums I’d probably already done more in London than 

[in] Liverpool, even though I was based in Liverpool.” 

For Fleming then, the regional attention he garnered on 

the back of receiving a nomination was as important as 

the other facets of winning. 

Leading up to the award, Baltic Fleet were able to 

further cement their name locally when they played a 

handful of local support slots, whilst playing the GIT 

Award showcase was an honour in itself for Fleming. “For 

me just to be nominated, looking back, that was huge. To 

win it was great but to be amongst those acts that were 

nominated was a really major thing for me. I’ve got a lot 

of respect for the acts that were on the shortlist.” 

Elaborating on this point, Fleming explains that 

winning the Award also served as a kind of recognition 

of the work he was doing, and encouraged him to kick 

on. “For me, it was massively important, it was a major, 

major milestone and it’s helped me take things to 

another level with Baltic Fleet. I was making music in 

my bedroom; then the next thing, I’m winning an award. 

Hopefully that inspires other kids in their bedrooms 

writing music. You can get out there and get that platform 

and be recognised.” 

As well as giving Baltic Fleet a firm root in Merseyside it 

also helped to establish them in the public’s consciousness 

on a national level. “I did notice around the country that a 

lot of people started getting in touch for interviews and a 

couple of labels were in touch, different promoters, bands 

asking for remixes. So it definitely had a wider spread 

than just Liverpool.” This wave of publicity culminated 

in a showcase spot on the opening night of the Yoko 

Ono-curated Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre 

in London. “We had good momentum anyway,” says 

Fleming “but that definitely sort of put a rocket behind 

it for a period.” 

The local networks Fleming has been exposed by off 

the back of the Award will provide the perfect avenues 

to ensure that the third Baltic Fleet release – currently 

in the offing - is heard across the width and breadth 

of Merseyside. The significance of securing a base in 

Liverpool is not lost on Fleming. “There’s a lot about the 

legacy [here], there’s a long-standing historical scene, an 

arts scene, a music scene especially. Going back [to] the 

days of it being the world’s biggest port and it’s just gone 

on since then through the sixties and the Mersey Beat 

to The La’s and going back to the 80s post-punk stuff. So 

there’s always been a scene going on in Liverpool and 

I think that’s why people come because they know it’s 

a ready-made cultural ecosystem. And it’s a great city as 

well; there’s great venues, there’s so much stuff always 

going on.” 

Looking at this year’s shortlist, Fleming says he can see 

that Liverpool’s music scene has hit a rich vein of form. 

“I really like Outfit, I think their album was brilliant, and 

Forest Swords’ album was brilliant too. I’ve not heard the 

Tea Street Band’s album yet but I have remixed one of 

their tracks and I know they have a big following locally.” 

Given that the judging panel includes tastemakers from 

the Guardian, BBC 6 Music and XFM, it would be safe to 

assume that this year’s GIT Award will garner even more 

attention than in previous years, putting great momentum 

behind the winner. Regardless of who wins, anyone on 

the shortlist - or anyone making music in Liverpool for 

that matter - should hold a collective sense of pride as 

the GIT Award’s diagnosis of the local scene indicates 

that it is in fine health. Fleming concludes: “if you’re in 

a band and you’re not on that list, it’s not something to 

be disheartened about, it’s something to actually make 

you go further and to work harder and keep doing what 

you’re doing.” 

The GIT Award ceremony takes place at The Kazimier on 

11th April. 

bidolito.co.uk

20 


Edited by Richard Lewis 

Previews/Shorts 

ÁSGEIR 

Making his first appearance on 

Merseyside, acclaimed Icelandic alt 

folk musician ÁSGEIR appears at EVAC 

next month. With Dýrð I Dauðaþögn 

quickly becoming the highest-selling 

debut album by a domestic artist in Iceland, the English language version In The Silence was 

helmed with translation and production assistance from John Grant. The album was released 

to universal praise in January, meaning that this gig comes hugely recommended. 

East Village Arts Club / 9th April 

SKY LARKIN 

Building up acclaim over three 

albums, SKY LARKIN received the 

best notices of their career for last 

year’s Motto LP, the most focused 

collection by the quartet to date. On 

the road to push new 45 Newsworthy from the album, the group’s profile recently received a 

boost following lead singer Katie Harkin moonlighting as a touring keyboardist with Leeds 

compadres Wild Beasts. 

The Kazimier / 16th April 

XL proportioned garage 

rock revue KING KHAN & THE 

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES 

SHRINES bring their soul-infused 

psychedelia to the city in the last 

week of April. 

Based in Berlin, 

Canadian émigré Arish ‘King’ Khan has led the band through a myriad of line-ups and 

genre shifts over the past 13 years with 2013's Idle No More scooping some of the best 

reviews of their career. 

Korova / 23rd April 

Ian Broudie 

A man who requires virtually no introduction, former Lightning Seed, acclaimed producer and an integral 

part of the Liverpool music scene since 1977, IAN BROUDIE performs a special one-off concert at The 

Philharmonic in April. He first came to prominence locally via legendary club Eric’s, as the songwriter found 

himself amongst the nucleus of musicians who would go on to form scores of bands in the 1980s, including 

the likes of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and The KLF. 

Best known for the Lightning Seeds, who issued a string of hit singles and albums throughout the 90s, he 

also created - with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner - the indisputably best known football anthem of all time 

with Three Lions. Establishing himself as a producer from the outset, with his work alongside future record 

company mogul Dave Balfe, he was at the helm on early offerings from Echo & The Bunnymen. 

Originally a studio project that mutated into a fully-fledged live group, the Lightening Seeds’ genesis 

gives an insight into the songwriter’s skill at the recording console. Possessor of an impressive CV, Broudie 

has produced albums by Liverpool luminaries The Coral, The Zutons, Wild Swans and Shack along with The 

Fall, Terry Hall and I Am Kloot. With specially commissioned song arrangements created for the event by the 

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and very special guest performances promised, this unique one-off 

show will also feature tracks from Broudie’s extensive production catalogue. 

Philharmonic Hall / 4th April 

BOB LOG III 

Cult one-man band BOB 

LOG III returns to Merseyside as 

part of an extensive worldwide 

trek, his visits to MelloMello now 

approaching an almost annual 

occasion. Continuing the rich tradition of American outsider music, the Chicagoan has 

supported the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Franz Ferdinand live and counts Tom 

Waits as a fan. Support on the night comes from THOMAS TRUAX. 

MelloMello / 29th April 

ANDREW WEATHERALL 

The labels ‘icon’ and ‘legend’ 

are often used all too cheaply in 

music circles. Neither are misplaced, 

however, when referring to one 

ANDREW WEATHERALL, who remains 

as vital today as he did when adding his production nous to Primal Scream’s ecstasy-drenched 

Screamdelica masterpiece in the early 90s. Expect acidic selections on a house tip at this 

unique event, held within the apocalyptic Williamson Tunnels. 

Williamson Tunnels / 20th April 

Purveyors of old school indie 

rock par excellence, Brighton 

PEGGY SUE 

collective PEGGY SUE return to 

Merseyside for a date at Leaf. A firm 

cult institution on both sides of the 

pond following support stints with Jack White and First Aid Kit, the quartet have gradually 

moved away from their embryonic DIY folk influences, embracing a darker sound heard on 

2013's lauded Choir Of Echoes. 

Leaf / 11th April 

Ex-Easter Island Head 

The Kazimier hosts something of a Bank Holiday spectacular on 20th April as EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD 

perform the first showing on Merseyside of their colossal LARGE ELECTRIC ENSEMBLE opus. Eschewing 

the project’s regular set-ups as a duo or trio of musicians, Large Electric Ensemble is the first piece 

by E-EIH to be created for massed electric instruments and drums. Redolent of the guitar orchestras 

utilised by American avant-garde musician Rhys Chatham along with No Wave pioneer Glenn Branca 

and groundbreaking minimalist composer La Monte Young, the performance sees the group expand to 

comprise twelve prepared electric guitars and drums to create a maximalist wash of amplified strings 

and droning overtones. 

Commissioned by the first annual World Event Young Artist festival (WEYA) held in Nottingham in 

September 2012, and first performed at the event, the thirty-minute piece was developed alongside an 

ensemble of local musicians from a variety of musical backgrounds. Following its debut at the festival 

the composition was developed over further months, then recorded completely live and with no overdubs 

over two days in March 2013. Support on the night comes from acclaimed Northumbrian folk musician 

RICHARD DAWSON with folk-drone trio TROUBLE WITH BOOKS and EDM outfit LUNAR MODULAR completing 

the bill. And what’s more, the entire event is a wallet-boosting affair with tickets only costing a fiver. 

The Kazimier / 20th April 

bidolito.co.uk

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW! FROM SKIDDLE 

MADE HERE & 3BEAT RECORDS. £25/£20 NUS 

BALTIC TRIANGLE 28TH - 30TH MARCH 2014 

GREG WILSON 

IN CONVERSATION 

WITH BERNIE 

CONNOR! 

thresholdfestival .co.uk 

@thresholdfest - 

#threshold14 

Including... 

TWOTHOUSANDFOURTEEN 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW! FROM SKIDDLE 

MADE HERE & 3BEAT RECORDS. £25/£20 NUS 

BALTIC TRIANGLE 28TH - 30TH MARCH 2014 

GREG WILSON 

IN CONVERSATION 

WITH BERNIE 

CONNOR! 

thresholdfestival .co.uk 



#threshold14 

Including... 

TWOTHOUSANDFOURTEEN 

TWOTHOUSANDFOURTEEN

22 


Reviews 

Cate Le Bon (Andrew AB) 

CATE LE BON 

Sea Lion 

Harvest Sun @ Leaf 

CATE LE BON, dubbed the Nico of the Valleys, 

protégée of Gruff Rhys, and recent migrant to 

Los Angeles, worms her way through the crowd, 

almost imperceptibly cocooned by her band. 

With her newly-acquired pageboy haircut and 

conservative black shirt buttoned to the top, 

perhaps tonight we’re encountering a more 

sombre Cate than the one we saw in this same 

room in 2013. Charming though the coo of her 

lustrous Welsh pipes are, tonight she means 

business. 

Earlier, the shiny disco balls trip the light 

fantastic something fierce for Gothenburg local 

SEA LION’s slightly tardy entrance onstage. 

Replete with a coy fringe and guitar, Linn 

Osterberg bleats maudlin lyrics to an almost 

mute audience. The voice is high, almost 

comically so, gesturing somewhere between 

Kate Bush, Julee Cruise and Joanna Newsome. 

Alas, Osterberg lacks the charming eccentricity 

of these comparisons, but the complexities 

and twists to her lyrics speak a certain insight. 

Obviously a fan of the woodier side of acoustica, 

Sea Lion scores the first cover of the night, a 

Damien Jurado number laced with intricate 

fingerpicking on her Telecaster. All in all, a 

mellifluous start to the evening. 

Le Bon soon dives into the quirks of her 

latest offering, Mug Museum, with first 

track I Can’t Help You, an aloof and lyrically 

brilliant song on its own, which stands up to 

the effortless cool of the recorded version. 

Equally as polished and heart-warming is the 

wistful Are You With Me Now?, a would-be 

off-kilter CND anthem, falling off The Velvet 

Underground’s lorry of potential B-sides. As 

the baroque filter on Duke fades out with an 

eye-wincing top note from Le Bon, the set is 

struck by technical hitches thanks to a faulty 

amp lead. Le Bon fills the interim with an ad 

hoc version of Frank Mills from the musical 

Hair, her Welsh siren song washing over the 

track, moving between New York City and 

Penboyr in one two-minute rendition. 

Technical mishaps solved and ice broken, 

she introduces the band, which includes her 

partner Huw Hawkline on keys and compatriot 

and fellow troubadour Sweet Baboo on bass. 

It is with this family of beatnik souls Le Bon 

leads into the jewel in Mug Museum’s crown, 

Wild, which she dedicates to her Uncle Roger, 

in attendance somewhere near the bar. 

The nuances of the set fall very much in line 

with an evolved Le Bon. Gone are the days when 

clumsily assigned labels of ‘twee’ could be 

forgiven. Both unconventional and understated, 

she exudes the lackadaisical prowess of The 

Strokes teamed with her own Welsh Bohemia. 

Who knows how this will translate to her 

American audience, but for now we still pander 

to her distinctive chorale. Très bon. 

Flossie Easthope / @feasthope 

PAWS 

Cavalier Song 

BamBam!Bam! @ Maguire's Pizza Bar 

Pizza and live music are two things that most 

people will agree are a good thing. However, 

despite the efforts of Macauley Culkin and his 

band The Pizza Underground, they are entities 

that are usually enjoyed in separation. Maguire's 

Pizza Bar is, in that sense, an important force for 

change, and tonight CAVALIER SONG step up to 

help them fight the good fight. 

The Liverpool-based three-piece eschew any 

form of musical mediocrity. Their opening track 

is testament to this: a droning and memorably 

persistent bed of guitar and bass, over which 

drummer/vocalist Frederick Walton reads a 

passage from William Gibson's Necromancer. 

Add to that the use of live melodica sampling, 

and the fact the song spans ten minutes, 

and you might start to get an idea of the way 

they operate. Their set rolls over the small 

but attentive audience in waves, with the 

intricate and interweaving guitars rising to 

near-crescendo point before lulling once more 

to an anticipatory hum. All of this leads to 

a Slint-esque climax, during which guitarist 

Luke Mawdsley falls to his knees in a state of 

emotional intensity that resembles an exorcism. 

It is a predictably impressive set from a band 

that will surely soon receive the attention they 

so obviously deserve. 

PAWS, a much-hyped three-piece hailing from 

Glasgow, are touring in support of their highly 

anticipated sophomore LP Youth Culture Forever, 

bidolito.co.uk

LIVERPOOL’S INTERNATIONAL ARTS VENUE 

WHAT’S ON 

Spring Season 2014 Full listings www.thecapstonetheatre.com 

Spring Season 2014 Full listings www.thecapstonetheatre.com 

Martin Taylor 

Sunday 23rd 

March, 7.30pm 

£11.50 

(£10 concessions) 

Ivo Neame 

Quintet 

Wednesday 26th 

March, 7.30pm 

£11.50 


Shatner’s 

Bassoon / 

Space F!ght* 

Friday 28th 

March, 7.30pm 

£10 


Peatbog 

Faeries 

Saturday 12th 

April, 7.30pm 

£15 

Arun Ghosh 

Quintet 

Friday 11th April, 

7.30pm 

£10 


Johannes 

Möller 

Friday 2nd May, 

7.30pm 

£11.50 


Dark 

Inventions 

Friday 16th May, 

7.30pm 

£10 


Roger 

Beaujolais 

Quartet 

Saturday 17th 

May, 7.30pm 

£11.50 


BOX OFFICE 0844 8000 410 

www.ticketquarter.co.uk

with their travels gaining them a loyal following 

which is strongly represented at tonight's show. 

With an early curfew in place, the group refrain 

from banter and immediately launch into a 

frenzied exhibition of their back catalogue. In 

a similar vein to bands such as Wavves, their 

garage surf offerings are lapped up by the 

crowd, who match the energetic performance 

on stage with much slam-dancing and general 

appreciation. Fan favourite Catherine inspires a 

raucous sing-along, and it is clear that the people 

present did not stumble into the venue looking 

for a hot slice. 

Though the surf rock aesthetic has perhaps 

become a little tired in recent years, it has to be 

said that PAWS absolutely nail the formula. Their 

melodic and relentless pop hooks are wrapped 

up in a fuzzy web of crunchy distortion and 

Misfits-style refrains. Phillip Taylor's indifferent 

yet captivating voice is the perfect tool for 

presenting his seemingly innocent lyrics about 

alienation and unrequited love, while Josh 

Swinney and Ryan Drever provide the steady, 

driving rhythm section typical of the genre. 

The only pause (no pun intended) in their long 

set of songs, propelled with relentless explosive 

energy, is for Taylor to ask for a floor to crash 

on post-gig. A request that is met with as much 

fervour as you would expect from a crowd of 

fans who have been treated to a rather good gig. 

Now, anyone for a Domino’s? 

Alastair Dunn 

DOGSHOWDISCO 

Craig Bratley 

Analogue Bubbles @ District 

We are the frivolous Generation-Y: always 

connected, we consume and dispose, trend 

like tweets, and our satisfaction is temporary 

and soon replaced. One of the main causes of 

these changes is digitisation, and it is this very 

aspect that provides the differentiating crux for 

Liverpool’s relatively new venture, Analogue 

Bubbles. 

The battle of digitisation rages on amongst DJs, 

as veterans prefer the concentrative, non-visual, 

and tactile experience of mixing with vinyl; while 

the new-age digital movement hail creativity and 

improvisation (just as the infamous SYNC button 

is brushed over). Analogue Bubbles stands in the 

former camp, promising a “stripped-back vinyl 

attack”, set to transport attendees to a time when 

music was pressed as opposed to downloaded, 

bought then treasured, and not stored on hard 

drives to be soon forgotten. 

The third rendition of Bubbles takes place 

at District with Magic Feet label head CRAIG 

BRATLEY releasing his sound into the newly 

refurbished venue. His set is a sublime voyage 

through energy-inducing, piano-driven house, 

which occasionally falls into more stripped-back 

bass-centric territory. Bratley crafts an enduring 

set with tracks from all fragments of the musical 

spectrum, sounds that remain fresh yet distinct 

from the trends within electronic music, and 

floods the room with reverberations of the 

night’s fundamental principles. 

At each gathering the promoters promise a 

live analogue act, and this time it is the turn of 

DOGSHOWDISCO, a spin-off from The Kazimer’s 

very own madcap duo Dogshow. Increasing the 

pace from Bratley’s earlier set, their performance 

takes listeners on a trip through speedy 

percussive beats, heavy bass switches, and 

disjointed industrial techno sounds reserved for 

the later hours. Smoke floods the room to blur 

faces, reveal lasers and submerge the audience 

in musical transcendence, while the duo are 

stood behind an oversized vinyl record with the 

night’s roster printed on it. Their analogue live 

percussion set is a seamless addition to the 

grassroots approach, helping to elevate the 

night above Liverpool’s other unsteady latenight 

offerings. 

It can be easy to mistake the intention of 

Analogue Bubbles as pretentious – but this is to 

misunderstand. Vinyl is not the divine spirit of the 

party but the signifier of quality music played with 

passion. It is not an attempt to gather Liverpool’s 

musical elite together for a celebration of their 

knowledge over canapés and champagne, but to 

play a night of timeless records, the ones that 

you want to own and hold in your hands, not 

download and delete. Sounds that do not trend 

but remain fresh and earnest to the scenes and 

artists that these tracks represent. 

At times it is difficult to distinguish whether 

this is a night of dancing or a night of listening; 

do you turn up with a bottle of water and no 

intention to sleep until the small hours, or with 

a few friends for an enjoyable drink? It is never 

going to be a sell-out student event and yet it 

would never want to be. If the promoters are 

able to decide whether people should sit down 

and listen or stand up and dance – or seamlessly 

mix both – then Analogue Bubbles may just have 

the potential to become as timeless in Liverpool 

as the records that it plays. 

THE STRYPES 

The Turning 

Mat Oates 

East Village Arts Club 

A lone ticket scalper shivers outside the venue, 

where the arrival of Irish rock tykes THE STRYPES 

is imminent. "Is it busy in there tonight, mate?" 

snickers one passer-by, sceptical at the lack of 

any queue outside the venue. “Busy? It's fucking 

sold-out!” comes the reply. He isn't lying; the 

reason there's nobody outside is because the 

inside is rammed full of fans young and old alike, 

as the air hangs heavy with anticipation. 

Openers THE TURNING hit the stage in a flash 

of suits and slick haircuts. It's not uncommon for 

bands to pick support acts similar to themselves, 

but it's hard to shake the feeling that this band

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YELLOWMAN 

Dillinger – The Sagittarius Band 

Oyé Touring & Trading @ District 

are essentially Strypes-lite, with the same suitedand-booted 

aesthetic of the headliners, along 

with their blues-infused rock sound. Hell, they're 

even from the same country. Nevertheless, songs 

like Badboy court nods of approval from the 

clusters of fans in the audience. Frontman Luke 

McLaughlin enthusiastically belts out the band's 

tunes with fervour but the songs teeter on the 

cusp of sameyness. However, what The Turning 

lack in variety they make up for in consistency of 

quality, with closer Monkey Business picking up 

the pace once again with a strong bassline and 

more hooks than a pirate convention. 

The Strypes’ singer Ross Farrelly arrives 

nonchalantly, hurling the mic about like 

a younger, scrubbed-up Robert Plant. The 

caterwauling harmonica intro to She's So Fine 

fanfares the band’s entrance to the stage where 

they proceed to deliver a relentless barrage of 

songs of the classic blues rock persuasion. The 

last time The Strypes rolled through town was 

in support of Arctic Monkeys and, unfortunately 

on that occasion, they came across as slightly 

underwhelming. It’s a different story tonight, 

with the four-piece on top form, haranguing and 

clambering over the audience, who love every 

second of it. 

It's true in a way that The Strypes and their ilk 

simply pander to the stale dregs of rockism; they 

sound exactly like your dad's record collection 

and are essentially just a bunch of teenagers 

playing rock ‘n’ roll. Don't you have to pay your 

The Strypes (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu) 

dues to play the blues, or something like that, 

man? But to say that is to miss the point. No, 

you won't find anything new or ground-breaking 

here, but that's doesn’t bother anyone in EVAC 

tonight. Looking around the venue, there's not 

a foot in the house that isn't tapping and nary a 

head that isn't bobbing as the band run through 

riff-rock winners like Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Concrete 

Jungle and Mystery Man. 

It's easy to wax philosophical about the 

nature of music and art and what it represents, 

but that's not what The Strypes are about. They're 

about no-pretence good-time rock ‘n’ roll. What 

is music supposed to be if not entertaining, and 

this band sure as hell are. 

Ryan McElroy 

In Liverpool, a city where the demand for 

African-Caribbean music far outweighs the 

supply, you can expect a sizable turnout 

whenever one of the greats come to town. 

It is therefore no surprise to see District 

brimming tonight as it awaits the arrival of 

two of Jamaica’s finest toasters: YELLOWMAN 

and DILLINGER. Famed as heavyweights of 

dancehall – reggae’s bastard son – the duo 

gained much notoriety in the late 1970s as their 

controversial lyrics and rub-a-dub riddims took 

hold of Jamaica’s soundsystems. 

As always, Oyé Touring & Trading have 

attracted a diverse cross-section of the city to the 

surprisingly charming Baltic Triangle warehouse. 

With a pungent aroma of Caribbean cuisine in 

the air, the warmly lit space – furnished with 

plants, candles and tribal masks – has a real 

festival cheer to it as the smiley-faced revellers 

await the arrival of the two dancehall dons. 

Predictably, the duo leave the crowd waiting 

but this does little to dampen the mood as 

selectors Lord Borthbury and K Marley J keep the 

party alight with a rock-steady selection of dusty 

classics and modern-day covers. 

The four-piece SAGITTARIUS BAND are the 

first to take to the stage and treat the audience 

to a bass-heavy dub instrumental before 

soundtracking Dillinger’s arrival with a painfully 

wonky riddim. Garbed in a white trilby, shades 

and a shirt that might possibly have been 

fashionable at some point in the 1970s, the 

infamous toaster wastes no time in hyping up 

the already boisterous crowd. 

Showing exactly why he rose to such 

prominence, Dillinger owns every inch of the 

stage and keeps the crowd fixated on his every 

move until he disappears behind the speakers. 

Finishing his set with Cocaine In My Brain, 

the living legend seems to be drawing from a 

newfound energy reserve and leads the baying 

crowd nicely to the next act. 

Little time is wasted before Yellowman arrives 

onstage to a sea of jubilation. The lanky albino 

vocalist has an endearing quality that makes 

him universally loveable. Despite the fact 

that he is old enough to qualify for a free bus 

pass, the king of dancehall acts as though he 

is still in his prime, pogoing away to bangers 

like Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt and 

Zungguzungguguzungguzeng. 

The idiosyncratic master provides plenty of 

lighters in the air moments as he continues 

through hits like Blueberry Hill, before finishing 

with a rendition of Take Me Home, Country 

Roads. With a salute, Yellowman retreats, having 

reaffirmed that the doors of the dancehall are 

always open to new adherents. 

Josh Ray / @Josh5446Ray 

bidolito.co.uk

PARR JAZZ 

PARR JAZZ has grown over the years into a nationally 

renowned night on the UK jazz scene promoting international 

touring artists alongside the many talented northern based 

musicians & performers. 

25th March: 

DAVE GOLDBERG and 

22nd April: 

ROD MASON 

FRIENDS 

29th April: 

GRAHAM CLARK 

1st April: 

ZOE CHIOTIS 

6th May: 

MICHELSON MORELY 


PARRJAZZ 5th BIRTHDAY 

13th May : 

VICTOR BROX 

PARTY featuring JEREMY SASSOON 

20th May: 

ALAN BARNES 


JAMIE BROWNFIELD and 

LIAM BYRNE 

27th May: 

SUEYO 

Every Tuesday night at Frederiks on Hope Street. £3/NUS and jammers free. 

www.parrjazz.co.uk 

Facebook/twitter @PARRJAZZ 

SNARKY PUPPY 

The Grammy Award Winners are back in town. 

The Grammy Award Winners are back in town. 

Venue: 

The Kazimier 

Date: 

12th of May 

Doors: 

7.30pm 

www.skiddle.com 

SOUL INSPIRED EVENTS 

Threshold Stage 

29th of March 

Venue: District (2-6pm) 

The Soul Rays, POAM, Kristyna Myles, 

Redeyed Jedi, Christina Malley, Charlotte 

Ashdown, Rosh, Catherine Murphy 

Venue: Unit 51(6.30pm) 

Harleighblu, Jay Alexzander, Little 

Grace, Tyler Mensah, Rawschac, Lauren 

Housely, Judith Ude 

www.soulinspiredevents.co.uk 

AUDIOFIX 

(1st Saturday of every month at 

The Hatch, Mathew Street) 


The CLUB 

3rd May: 

Lauren Housley 

www.facebook.com/audiofixlive 

Soul 4 Soul 

(Last sunday of every month 

Studio 2 Parr Street) 

30th March: 

J Appiah, Amique 


Kristyna Myles, Shell Deliah 

www.facebook.com/s4slivemusic

THE PRESIDENTS OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

The Front Bottoms 

East Village Arts Club 

THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF 

AMERICA were never really critics’ darlings. 

Arriving at the tail end of grunge they drifted 

towards absurdity and the borders of novelty 

rather than grand artistic statement; while Kurt 

Cobain was screaming his way into the hearts 

of the disaffected, The Presidents were writing 

songs about a cat stealing their food, complete 

with meows. Yet here we are twenty years on, 

and The Presidents are as popular as ever: EVAC 

is at capacity and new album Kudos To You! 

reached its crowd-funding target in a mere 

nine days. Amongst the ludicrous puerility it’d 

seem as though they must have been doing 

something right. 

Setting the stage, THE FRONT BOTTOMS supply 

the anguish The Presidents never had, along with 

a hectic blend of pop punk and emo that seems 

more at home in the suburban garages of their 

native New Jersey than inner-city Liverpool. They 

don’t let that bother them though, with Brian 

Sella’s angsty vocals howled with the confidence 

of a performer twice his age, atop Mathew 

Uychich’s drums performed with a ferocity akin 

to Travis Barker. It’s a cacophonous noise, and 

though the mix occasionally muddles amongst 

the volume, when Ciaran O’Donnell’s surprisingly 

delicate guitar shines through, it does so with 

something special, exemplified in the earworm 

riffs of set-closer Twin-Size Mattress. 

As The Presidents run onto stage to the theme 

from Chariots Of Fire – in slow-motion, of course – 

it would seem as though that’s it for the heartfelt 

stuff. A mere “How’s it going?” from vocalist Chris 

Ballew (48, balding, still in cargo shorts) is enough 

to evoke rapture from the crowd, before the trio 

launch into a cover of MC5’s Kick Out The Jams. 

From the very beginning the band aren’t letting 

up, and neither are the crowd, who are moshing 

and singing throughout along to every meow. 

After a well-received but less than spectacular 

performance of their biggest hit Peaches, the 

group begin their encore with a version of Video 

Killed The Radio Star so bizarre that it borders on 

the farcical, before a reprise of Kick Out The Jams 

concludes the set. 

Ballew, along with drummer Jason Finn and 

guitarist Andrew McKeag, performs with an 

infectious, childlike enthusiasm – “We made 

a record!” he shouts with a doltish grin as he 

holds up a copy – but this betrays a real musical 

proficiency on all parts. While there’s nothing 

revolutionary about their sound, every jump, 

whoop and pause seems perfectly calculated 

to add to an already exciting atmosphere. With 

more-than-dodgy dance moves from band and 

crowd alike (and at least one Nickelback T-shirt 

on display amongst the latter), this is far from 

a cool gig, but it’s this freedom from pretence 

that carries it. Everyone in the room is there for a 

good time and nothing more, and The Presidents 

Of The United States are in many respects the 

perfect group to provide it. 

Patrick Clarke / @paddyclarke 

KELLEY STOLTZ 

The Cubical – AJHD 

Harvest Sun @ The Shipping Forecast 

In 1967, San Francisco became the epicentre 

for the post-war social revolution that was The 

Summer of Love. Morals were loose, love was 

free and KELLEY STOLTZ was brought into the 

world. Well, roughly then. Fast-forward fortyish 

years to the basement of a Liverpool pub and 

Stoltz is unleashing his psychedelic garage upon 

an audience that is perhaps unaware of the 

perennial implications of such an event on the 

man from San Fran. For Stoltz himself tonight is a 

significant occasion given his love for Liverpool, 

brought about by a lifelong obsession with Echo 

& The Bunnymen. Piercing the veil of this fateful 

evening, AJHD (AKA Alastair Dunn and Dave Tate) 

warm things up with some melancholic indie 

guitar work, shortly before THE CUBICAL blow 

through a typically rambunctious set. For tonight 

though, the first main order of business is Stoltz’s 

new Third Man-released record Double Exposure 

– a catalogue of hazy love letters set to right-on 

swathes of lo-fi rhythm guitar. To this end, he 

wastes no time launching into opener Storms, 

deigning to thank the support with his nasal 

pool of a voice. It’s cold, we’re in a basement, but 

the spirit of ’67 by the Bay is channelling itself via 

a breeze of synth. 

Half an hour in and Stoltz has taken us 

into the warm depths of his newest release, 

including the feel-good Americana on Are You 

My Love?, Marcy and eponymous anthem Double 

Exposure. One of the defining features of the set 

is the hypnotic throb of killer basslines; a Kelley 

Stoltz trademark of quality. 

He ends the jaunt with Kim Chee Taco Man, a 

would-be ‘jam’ of choice for any beat generation 

author. Stoltz and band move into an entr’acte 

cover of Link Wray and it appears that things are 

coming to a conclusion. But the gig is far from over, 

for now Stoltz has more live wizardry to purvey. 

Regressing into a husky San Franciscan alter ego, 

he starts a bout of ad-lib jazz poetry accompanied 

by his saxophonist. A metaphysical journey over 

the Golden Gate Bridge to “Sean Penn’s house” 

hits the crowd in all the right places, a stunning 

testament to Stoltz’s showmanship. Rounding 

things off, a joyous version of Cheap Trick’s 

Surrender is as well received as his own material 

and leaves the audience on a natural high, fifty 

storeys high to be exact. Stoltz’s lunar eclipse of 

an appearance in Liverpool marks him as one 

of the great performers of his genre. A leader 

of the west-coast garage psych movement, the 

consummate enjoyment of artist and audience

Reviews 


speaks volumes. Maybe one day Liverpool will 

have the pleasure again; until then, however, 

adieu. 

Flossie Easthope / @feasthope 

Your bag? 

Your Bag? 

Catch The Burning Hell @ 

View2 Gallery on 11th April 

TOY 

EVOL @ East Village Arts Club 

Whilst two albums in as many years might 

sound like a recipe for the unspectacular, Londonbased 

quintet TOY are operating enviously close 

to the top of the UK’s list of emerging guitar acts 

this year. Forming from the ashes of Joe Lean 

and the Jing Jang Jong – a band that managed to 

garner such unanimous hatred that you have to 

admire their courage for not moving to another 

continent altogether – their reinvention into the 

ambitious, psych-leaning band that appears 

in front of us is certainly interesting, even if it 

might appear insincere for those on the wrong 

side of the bed. 

An appearance at Sound City last year is well 

worth remembering, as they held their own 

in the eyes of God in the incomprehensibly 

large Anglican Cathedral to produce one of the 

standout performances of the festival. Their 

second album, Join The Dots, has been released 

since then as they attempt to cross the tenuous 

gap between UK buzz band and regional festival 

headliner before their time is up and we all 

move on with our lives. 

The whole thing is intensely stylised, from 

the clothes and the hair, to the buckets of reverb 

on the guitar and vocals, and the sepia-tinged 

lightshow behind them. Their commitment to 

the cause is certainly admirable, at least: barely 

uttering a word with their collective gazes fixed 

firmly at the floor throughout the performance. 

Guitarists Maxim Barron and Dominic O’Dair 

share vocalist Tom Dougall’s disinterested 

deportment, as they work purposefully through 

the likes of Colours Burning Out and Left Myself 

Behind so stoically that you’d be forgiven for 

assuming they’d taken the whole psychedelia 

thing too literally and were losing their minds 

on an acid trip. 

TOY (Adam Akins) 

The line of MBV-indebted indie bands is 

threatening to become a landfill at the moment, 

as more and more guitarists sync Loveless to 

their iPods and straighten their shoulder-length 

hair in an attempt to maintain any sort of 

staying power beyond their Zane Lowe Hottest 

Record in The World. The problem TOY face is 

that they find themselves nestled awkwardly 

between that kind of feet-shuffling art rock 

and screaming-sixth-form-girl indie darlings, by

30 Bido Lito! April 2014 

Reviews 

tentatively offering these challenging and dense 

shoegaze textures but keeping their musical 

emphasis on melody. The contrast between 

the sprawling, nine-minute psych freak-outs at 

the end of Kopter and Fall Out Of Love, and the 

punchy, immediate It’s Been So Long, is too vast, 

castrating their obvious ability with a melody 

and their striking levels of noise and leaving 

them awkwardly in the middle. We are shown 

two sides of TOY tonight and, whilst both might 

be impressive in their own right, their attempt 

to distil them into a singular entity leaves them 

coming up short on both fronts. 

Mike Townsend / @townsendyesmate 

Your bag? 

Your Bag? 

Catch Lumerians @ The 

Shipping Forecast on 9th April 

WARPAINT 

All We Are 

O2 Academy 

That a band as idiosyncratic as WARPAINT 

would choose the O2 Academy as the location 

for their return visit to Liverpool speaks volumes 

as to the LA crew's ever-increasing popularity. 

Judging from the size of the crowd tonight, not 

to mention the size of the bus parked outside, 

Warpaint are riding high on the fame accrued 


from two successful albums and don't mind 

sacrificing a touch of originality to cram a couple 

more hundred bodies in. 

Support for this evening comes in the form 

of local sedative-heavy funk starlets ALL WE ARE. 

Finding themselves sandwiched between The 

Fresh from the Sundance Film Festival, the band 

Twang and New Found Glory, the uninitiated 

prove they are every bit the slick, well-oiled 

would have very little to distinguish Warpaint 

machine that support slots of this size require. 

on the posters from yet another also-ran, 

Even if the scale of the venue does strip them of 

milking the last of their marketability. Of course 

some much-needed intimacy, their glitter-bomb 

Warpaint are a long way off this and perhaps it's 

approach to dream pop resonates well with the 

just the feeling of being lost in the crowd, but 

home crowd. All phasers and popping basslines, 

this show feels a far cry from the excitement and 

they sound more than a little like Yeasayer, 

immediacy I got from the Warpaint of four years 

albeit minus the off-the-wall inventiveness and 

ago. A perfectly enjoyable, if ever so slightly 

energy. Just as the crowd recovers from one final 

soulless show. 

All We Are crescendo, Warpaint are slinking on 

Dave Tate 

stage to rapturous applause. 

One of the most enjoyable aspects of seeing Your bag? 

a band at a live performance is the potential to 

glean some new understanding of their material. 

For example, the Cocteau Twins influence 

becomes so blindingly obvious from the first 

few chords that I'm almost embarrassed to say 

I hadn't spotted it much earlier. The difference 

Warpaint (Michael Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com) 

Your Bag? 

Catch Rhodes @ Leaf on 

1st April 

CHEATAHS 

between their first and second albums is also 

Harvest Sun @ East Village Arts Club 

thrown into sharp relief, particularly by this 

evening’s rendition of their 2010 breakthrough As Alex Turner’s jelly-jawed, pupil-dilated Brit 

single Undertow, which they strangely introduce Awards acceptance speech inspires love, hate 

as a cover. Unsurprisingly this gets by far the and bafflement all over the nation, London indie 

biggest reaction of the night, but it’s arguably princes CHEATAHS finish off the UK leg of their 

one of their least compelling performances. worldwide tour on Seel Street. As one of the 

Sapped of its angular energy and frenetic anxiety, current leading lights of British guitar music, 

it slows down what was, up until that point, a set the question is can they make good on the 

full of momentum. That the band are talented confident young Yorkshireman’s declaration: is 

musicians and songwriters is undeniable. The rock ‘n’ roll alive and well? 

pristine vocal harmonies on Billie Holiday and 

Bedecked in lumberjack shirts and carrying 

arrangement on tracks like Disco/Very prove just a clear penchant for Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr, 

why they can sell out the larger venues, but for Cheatahs’ sound is about as English as Turner’s 

tonight at least they lack the spark of an exciting accent has become but, my, it’s a joyful Yankee 

band. I can't shake the feeling that the show is racket. Lead guitarist James Wignall paints 

some kind of relic of a bygone era of rock ‘n’ roll. irresistible hooks on frontman Nathan Hewitt’s

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eakneck riffs as bassist-cum-producer Dean 

Reid steadies the canvas with a solid easel of 

chunky basslines. 

Hewitt’s asides to the quietly appreciative 

crowd are as indistinguishable as the two-part 

harmonised lyrics of the songs coming from the 

hotly-tipped band’s eponymous debut album. 

Nevertheless, there’s a feeling of rapture in the 

air as many are revelling in seeing their new 

favourite band. 

Cheatahs’ narrow perimeters of a fourpiece 

exploring what Foo Fighters would have 

sounded like if they stayed at their Everlong-era 

peak instead of going for stadia mega bucks 

retains interest, but the discreet appreciation 

could be mistaken for a mid-set lull. However, 

the international quartet (hailing from the US, 

Canada, Germany and Leicester) save the best 

until last with familiar early singles The Swan 

and Cut The Grass bringing a joyous close to 

proceedings. 

Cheatahs are certainly an exciting proposition; 

in fact as the band come in from the early break 

in The Swan they seem vital, but whether their 

niche sound of early-90s American alt. rock can 

keep “that rock ‘n’ roll” from “the sludge” is 

another question. It is perhaps more accurate to 

assume Cheatahs prefer it in the sludge. 

Sam Turner / @samturner1984 

LUKE SITAL-SINGH 

Eliza And The Bear – Annie Eve – Farewell JR 

Communion @ Leaf 

The tagline for Communion Music's inaugural 

New Faces tour boasts “an incredibly exciting 

and diverse four-band bill” with some of 2014's 

most hotly-tipped artists. It's definitely a bold 

claim, so does it measure up? 

Cambridge five-piece FAREWELL JR, led by 

bearded troubadour Nick Rayner, open the 

show with a highly intoxicating set of rootsy 

chamber-pop from their latest EP Health. 

Rayner's vocal style is heavily reminiscent 

of Jeff Buckley and also brings to mind the 

sandpapery fragility of Iron & Wine, with the 

lyrics delivered sensitively but with tremendous 

power. Swooshing crash cymbals from a 

double percussion section lend texture and 

presence to the songs, along with haunting 

five-piece harmonies á la Fleet Foxes, together 

with the occasional spacey synth. 

Londoner ANNIE EVE is the next act on, mixing 

harmony-laden alt. folk with echoed slide guitar 

melodies and a thunderous rhythm section that 

gives a hefty backbone to her soaring vocal and 

raw emotional delivery. A nonchalant vibe that 

evokes Lana Del Rey or Anna Calvi, in addition 

to songs like Hunters and Elvis, showcases 

her incredible heart-on-sleeve approach 

to songwriting, which is simultaneously 

introspective and powerfully emotive. 

Raising the energy levels a few notches, 

ELIZA AND THE BEAR burst onto the stage with 

a cascading, boisterous and excitable flurry 

of up-tempo indie tunes that stand in stark 

contrast to the restrained and introverted 

sound of the previous acts. Bringing a buoyant 

vibe to the night, be-quiffed guitarist Martin 

Dukelow bobs his head wildly along to every 

song while the band run through recent 

singles Friends and It Gets Cold, along with a 

couple of as-yet-unreleased tracks. Their sound 

combines the textural elements of Crystal 

Fighters with the preppy, guitar-driven quality 

of Two Door Cinema Club, while Earbuddy 

features pealing trumpet riffs that lends a 

somewhat mariachi feel to the song. Despite 

none of the five blokes that make up the band 

being called Eliza (and, disappointingly, no 

bear either), they're nothing but energetic, fun 

and undeniably danceable. 

Thus, it feels like it could be something of an 

anti-climax when headliner LUKE SITAL-SINGH 

opens his set with I Have Been A Fire. That is, until 

he starts singing. Sital-Singh brings a powerful 

and emotionally charged performance that 

represents an artist who fully becomes his music 

and lives every second of it. Time and space fade 

into the periphery as rasping guitars are married 

with his gritty but sensitive vocal delivery and the 

audience is drawn to the front of the stage and 

into his world. Songs like Luna and Nothing Stays 

The Same speak entirely for themselves and Sital- 

Singh needs none of the bombast or distraction 

of busy, quick arrangements as his material has 

an absorbing and understated complexity that 

packs the emotive punch of Damien Rice and the 

guttural fire of early Springsteen. 

Gig PR can often vary from the lightly 

hyperbolic to the fully ridiculous and untrue, so 

it's nice to see that Communion have made good 

on their word. Incredibly exciting and diverse, 

and wholly enjoyable. 

Your bag? 

Your Bag? 

TANKUS THE HENGE 

Ryan McElroy 

Catch Ben Watt @ East Village 

Arts Club on 17th April 

The John Rangan Band – James Lyons – 

Harlequin Dynamite Marching Band 

Speakeasy @ The Kazimier 

Once again The Kazimier time-warps back 

to the Roaring 20s as Speakeasy take over the 

Wolstenholme Square venue. Guys and dolls in 

sharp suits and flapper dresses Charleston and 

foxtrot in an absinthe-fuelled haze to the jazz/ 

hip hop mash-ups of local DJ duo The Chicken 

Bros, who lord over the punters from the top of 

the stage until the acts arrive. 

It can often be hard for opening acts to grab 

the attention of the audience, but that’s a nighon 

impossible feat with HARLEQUIN DYNAMITE 

MARCHING BAND; with a constantly shifting

34 


Reviews 

LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL 

JAZZ FESTIVAL 

The Capstone Theatre 

membership of roughly fifteen, formed 

from members of various other local outfits, 

they feature an extensive live set-up with a 

dedicated horn/woodwind and impressive 

drum sections. Their frenetic mix of gypsy 

jazz, disco and off-beat avant-garde blasts 

out from the stage and draws any remaining 

punters hanging in the rafters down onto 

the dancefloor. Vicious saxophone riffs and 

explosive syncopated drum solos along with 

vocal delivery via megaphone give the band 

a delightfully chancy appeal; the only minor 

complaint being that the megaphone vocals 

have a tendency to get lost amongst the 

furore of the instrumentation. 

Following a short interlude in which 

JAMES LYONS brings an unusual display of 

traditional beatboxing mixed with flute and 

harmonica to the table, the night segues 

into its third act with Glaswegian folk 

trio THE JOHN LANGAN BAND. Harlequin 

Dynamite are not an easy act to follow by 

any stretch of the imagination, but Langan’s 

driving rhythms and tub-thumping prog folk 

melodies punch far above the weight of what 

would be expected from a small three-piece. 

Perched atop a cajón, with one shoeless 

foot working a pedal beater and the other 

tied to a tambourine, Langan, along with his 

double bassist and violin player, stomp, slap 

and thump their way through a selection 

of rootsy folk tunes. Impressive three-part 

harmonies, drawn mainly from the Demons 

From The Bones Of Contention album, litter 

what is a stellar set. 

Finally, TANKUS THE HENGE explode onto 

the Kazimier's stage, led by dynamic and 

effervescent frontman Jaz DeLorean, dressed 

in a brilliantly outlandish bright orange zoot 

suit. Riotous piano solos and onstage devilry 

are the order of the day as Tankus unleash 

their unique brand of carnival-influenced rock 

and roll upon the audience. Singles Cakewalk 

and Smiling Makes The Day Go Quicker 

prove particular highlights, summing up the 

band's inventive rascality and penchant for 

ceaselessly singable choruses with Madnessmeets-Cirque 

Du Soleil weirdness. Not one to 

be content simply with musical pyrotechnics, 

DeLorean succinctly caps the night off by 

setting his top hat alight for the finale. What 

more could you ask for on a night out at the 

Kaz? Incendiary stuff, old sport. 

Your bag? 

Tankus The Henge (Glyn Akroyd) 

Your Bag? 

Ryan McElroy 

Catch Molotov Jukebox @ The 

Kazimier on 3rd April 

There certainly seems to be an excited 

buzz about this Thursday night opener for the 

LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, as 

assembled aficionados anticipate one of the 

UK’s most established jazz session pianists, 

JASON REBELLO. This is a big name, a first for the 

festival which made its debut last year. 

As Rebello starts his show with The Stream 

we wonder if it is going to set a precedent for 

what’s about to come. It is as funky as anything, 

with a punchy backdrop from drummer Troy 

Miller and renowned bassist Karl Rasheed-Abel. 

But when Sting’s former jazz pianist steps up to 

the Steinway, the drums are too loud and the 

piano, for which we are all here, is too low down 

in the mix. It is a disappointing lack of clarity 

for what was meant to be such an impressive 

show. 

But this is not about standing still and 

dwelling, jazz is all about forward motion. With 

that, Rebello introduces a singer on stage who 

he has worked with for 20 years or so, Joy Rose. 

The first track she sings on is a masterpiece – an 

impressive arrangement supported by pad keys 

from Xantone Blacq. However, the keys are very 

electronic and it doesn’t quite gel with the pure 

sound of the grand and the immediacy of Rose’s 

voice; the show may benefit from a decent 

live jazz organ. In addition, Rose, with all her 

extensive experience (though, granted, it may 

Get The Blessing (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu) 

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Thursday 13 th March - MELLOWTONE @ THE SHIPPING FORECAST, LIVERPOOL, 8PM-LATE 

Wednesday 19 th March - W/ KATHRYN WILLIAMS @ LEAF ON BOLD STREET, LIVERPOOL, 8PM-LATE 

Friday 28 th March - THRESHOLD FESTIVAL LAUNCH PARTY, VENUE TBC 

Friday 4 th April - SNOKRYSTALL @ THE SCANDINAVIAN CHURCH, PARK LANE, LIVERPOOL, 8PM-LATE 

Saturday 5 th April - CRABBIES GRAND NATIONAL @ AINTREE RACECOURSE, LIVERPOOL, 12PM-6PM 

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I DESIGN 

BIDO LITO! 

be down to a bad foldback situation) is pitchy – 

pretty unforgivable in these circumstances. 

Despite my gripes, though, the effect of 

Rebello, Miller and Rasheed-Abel as a trio on 

Without A Paddle is fantastic. It’s what we’ve 

come to hear – impressive progressions, perfectly 

tight stops and outrageous solos. It’s a shame 

the rest of the night can’t quite match up. 

Saturday sees Liverpool band THE WEAVE 

gracing the Capstone with their perfectly 

intertwined trumpet harmonies, with melodic 

support from Andrzej Baranek filling in on 

the piano and Anthony Ormesher on jazz 

guitar. Ormesher strikes a gorgeous tone, 

smooth and classic, which provides the perfect 

embellishments to these strong structures. 

Baronek lets loose some incredible solos, hitting 

that balance perfectly between tasteful and 

excitable, and the combination of Tilo Pirnbaum 

on drums and Hugo ‘Harry’ Harrison on double 

bass never fails to disappoint. 

Some of the tracks venture slightly into lounge 

territory, but are very pleasant regardless, and 

Martin Smith (Trumpet) is so entertaining, no 

doubt showcasing some incredible talent, that I 

only wish I had a whisky to sip on to add a bit of 

an edge. 10/10 - would weave again. 

Later that night at the after party in MelloMello, 

I get my whisky, and Harrison pops up again 

with Liverpool’s BLIND MONK TRIO. Reimagining 

Thelonious Monk’s intricate piano pieces across 

saxophone, double bass and drums, the trio truly 

offer a new spin on the idea of jazz covers. They’ve 

evolved a little since I saw them last, added a 

little more cheek and perhaps informality to their 

performance, and it’s a comfortable relationship 

that these guys have with the room. 

Rock jazz quartet GET THE BLESSING are back 

in Liverpool to close out this year’s Jazz Festival 

after their very well-received show in the Kazimier 

in 2012. They’re a sharply dressed bunch, which 

almost seems to fit with the sober environs of the 

university auditorium, but after the first track – very 

coordinated piece, the heaviest we’ve heard at 

the festival, adorned by delayed and reverberated 

licks from the trumpet and saxophone – we are let 

into the surreal sense of humour of frontman and 

bassist/guitarist Jim Barr. Instead of song titles, 

he attributes the compositions to particularly 

inspirational sandwiches – the first being 

ciabatta bread with a parmesan, Parma ham and 

rocket filling. “A fantastic sandwich, thank you.” 

It is ridiculous, but in such a great way that it 

completely relaxes the atmosphere, loosening up 

the rather formal setting. 

The influences for this eclectic band seem 

pulled from all corners of the globe. Lower Earth 

Orbit especially sounds like it has a Middle 

Eastern-inspired riff. The trumpeter Peter Judge 

and saxophonist Jake McMurchie are particularly 

entertaining to watch, playing around with loops, 

distortion and dark harmonic progressions. 

The highlight of the night starts with looped 

low drones from the horns, which provides 

an awesome grainy backdrop over which a 

clicky, clean beat is laid. The guitar carries an 

improvised structure through the track and the 

horns embellish the soundscape with carefully 

chosen frequencies keeping it sparse, yet filled 

out. 

A great booking for the festival finale – they 

leave us looking forward to next year. 

Jessie Main / @JessieMainMusic 

THE ROSCOES 

Mother Superior 

The Pilgrim 

The Pilgrim’s intimate upstairs room is, in 

a literal sense, the hottest venue in Liverpool. 

Amongst the haze of perspiration, the minuscule 

setting for THE ROSCOES’ launch of new single 

When He Gets You Down is packed to the rafters 

with fans, photographers and the occasional 

Pilgrim punter who’s wondering what all the 

racket’s about. That racket, incidentally, is this: The 

Roscoes, one of the most hyped young bands in 

Liverpool at the moment, and there’s a palpable 

excitement in the excruciatingly humid air. 

But as support act MOTHER SUPERIOR take to 

the tiny stage there’s every chance they might 

upstage the headliners, as they give a sterling 

performance of what’s apparently referred to as 

“noise disco”. Dual vocalists Rosa Weiner and 

Fran Fitzpatrick provide captivating interweaving 

melodies atop the louche grooves of Christopher 

Connor’s bass and guitar lines, that drift 

effortlessly from Gang Of Four spikiness to the 

occasional psychedelic freak-out. Every member 

of the six-piece is completely in their element, 

launching from a slap bass solo to a theatrical 

version of Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) 

with barely a slip-up in sight. The only problem 

is that they seem to be dancing more than the 

crowd who, while appreciative, don’t really 

seem to be in the party mood. Whether it’s the 

oppressive heat, bated breath for The Roscoes, 

or just a dislike of slap bass, there seems to 

be something missing from the performance, 

though it’s hard to find fault with Mother 

Superior’s live ability. 

Whatever the reason, it leaves plenty of room 

for The Roscoes to blow everyone away, with the 

crowd now swelling to what surely constitutes 

a breach of health and safety. They kick off with 

Start Again, but again things are mysteriously 

underwhelming. It’s not a bad performance by 

any standards, and they’re as proficient in terms 

of live musicianship as they are on record, but 

at first there’s not too much to prove why they 

should stick out amongst a sea of local bands. 

There’s relief amongst The Roscoes’ sizeable 

fanbase though, as the band seem to snowball 

in stature as the set progresses; by the time they 

reach Own Way Down towards the last third of 

the set things have progressed to something 

truly special, and they follow it with a storming 

rendition of Novahell that really should have 

opened the set.

‘A virtuoso saxophonist’ 

DAILY TELEGRAPH 

‘One man, one guitar 

and a voice sent 

express mail 

from Heaven’ 

TIME OUT 

FRI 9th MAY 

8:00pm 

SAT 17th MAY 

7:30pm 

£15.00* | £13.00*conc 

* plus £1.00 per ticket booking fee 

£15.00* | £13.00* conc 

* plus £1.00 per ticket booking fee

38 


Reviews 

The Wytches (Adam Edwards / @adamedwardsfoto) 

The conclusion is of course the new single, and 

When He Gets You Down is a masterclass in indie 

pop performance. It’s moments like this that 

demonstrate just why The Roscoes are getting 

such plaudits amongst the Liverpool hypemachine. 

With the crowd quite literally begging 

for more, the band conclude with a cover of Neil 

Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere; it’s 

refreshing not only to see a genuine encore but 

a band clearly loving every moment; it seems 

that after a shaky start, The Roscoes have just 

about managed to justify the hype. 

Patrick Clarke / @paddyclarke 

GEORGE EZRA 

Sam Fender 

Harvest Sun @ Leaf 

The crowd is mixed, and I am wondering 

why most of tonight’s audience is middleaged. 

Going on near me is an intense, cyclical 

discussion about the surprising youthfulness of 

our headliner. And, in truth, what GEORGE EZRA 

has accomplished by his 20th birthday is quite a 

feat. He’s played at Glastonbury, had his songs 

Budapest and Did You Hear The Rain? all over 

Radio 1, and has supported Lianne La Havas and 

Tom Odell. And now his first headline tour is 

already sold-out. Intriguing. 

Supporting Ezra tonight is 19-year-old 

bluesy guitarist and vocalist SAM FENDER from 

Newcastle. His voice is huge, with a style close 

to Jeff Buckley’s but with the grainy elements of 

James Morrison and Paolo Nutini; pop no doubt, 

but Fender has realised his own songwriting 

style, which seems fitted around this vocal 

talent. Standout I Don’t Get You Lady showcases 

his impressive level of control even in falsetto 

and keeps the relatively simple bluesy structure 

interesting. The boy has talent and charm, and 

the strength to back it up. 

Ezra takes the stage to loud applause and 

cheering. He is without his band this evening, but 

when he starts playing, it is clear that he can hold 

his own. It is also immediately clear how he has 

attracted an older crowd. He has previously been 

described as having a voice beyond his years, and 

it’s absolutely true – his rich, deep tones have a 

presence that is surprising against his small 

physique, and reminiscent of Leonard Cohen or 

the later works of Johnny Cash. The songs fall into 

the same bracket as maybe Fink or at times Kings 

Of Leon – they’re catchy, but not too typical of the 

singer-songwriter category in which he has been 

placed. It gives an idea as to why the crowd isn’t 

predominantly screaming teenage girls, as you 

might be forgiven for expecting. 

Ezra’s style is dark and melancholy and, 

were he to possess a more pop voice, could be 

accused of being a little ballady, but his register 

keeps them rooted and powerful. 

Did You Hear The Rain is a game changer 

– not alike any of the rest of the set. It starts 

with low moans from the bottom of his register 

that hark back to the kind of blues that started 

in the fields, and then builds up, dropping into 

a rhythmic intro, and a beat that I wish lasted 

longer. Even after his slightly unnecessary 

encore, there is a sense of excitement for what’s 

to come in the many years that stretch ahead of 

George Ezra. 

Jessie Main / @jessiemainmusic 

THE WYTCHES 

Kagoule – Beach Skulls 

Harvest Sun @ The Shipping Forecast 

Following sold-out shows and a shiny new 

record deal with Heavenly, everyone seems to 

be talking about THE WYTCHES lately. Tonight 

the Brighton-based chaps are gracing Liverpool 

with their gloomy presence in a gig billing 

which promises much. Fellow purveyors of 

surf-tinged psych BEACH SKULLS are up first 

to whet the appetites of tonight’s swiftly 

emerging audience, providing smooth-as-youlike 

melodies and hazy vocals aplenty. Meet Me 

At The Beach House drifts through the venue 

in swathes of reverb and spacious percussion, 

signifying a band brimming with ideas and 

enthusiasm for playing live shows. Following 

the release of their recent EP A Different Kind Of 

Smooth, Beach Skulls continue to impress and 

improve. 

KAGOULE scramble onstage next and launch 

into a flurry of incisive riffs and swells of dense, 

overdriven guitar. Their recent single Monarchy 

garners comparison with 90s noise-lovers 

Medicine and Nirvana, with decibels soaring 

into near-stratospheric levels. 

The Wytches will do well to better the two 

bands that precede them tonight, with the 

venue already at near bursting limit. They 

eventually appear onstage to tear into debut 

single Digsaw; a frantic, frenzied display of sonic 

bombardment tinged with a dark, murky strain 

of surf punk psychedelia. The latter continues 

with the acute surf pop of Beehive Queen and 

the phenomenal Robe For Juda, both packed 

with impending malevolence and seething, 

strained screams from singer/guitarist Kristian 

Bell. More recent offerings Wire Frame Mattress 

and Gravedweller offer further insight to the 

band’s songwriting capabilities, with the crowd 

going absolutely berserk in the process. As the 

set concludes with a near stage invasion, it’s 

fair to say that The Wytches have cast their spell 

on the tightly packed, sweaty punters tonight. 

Screams for an encore are met by inevitable 

silence from the band, but the gig has been 

nothing short of superb from the onset. 

John Wise / @John__Wise 

bidolito.co.uk

+ 

+ 

+ 

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LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAl 

FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA 

Camp & Furnace / blade factory liverpool 

26+27 SEPTEMBER 2014 

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anthroprophh. gnod. lay llamas. 

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TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE OUTER REALMS 

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Tri-Tone Presents≈ 

Glass Caves 

Soho Riots 

Girl Friend 

Special Guest* 

& 

Bido Lito! 

djs 

Thursday 

27th March 

The Zanzibar, 

Liverpool 

£5 on the door

Issue 43 / April 2014

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