What Jane’s Listening to this Week

Posted by jane – August 14, 2010

At first glance, Standard Fare are not my usual cup of tea. Unlike my usual listening material, their wholesome, cherubic faces are completely devoid of smeared eyeliner, whiskey drool, hairdye, tattoos or glitter. Usually, this would not bode well for a girl of such dubious sleaze-rock tastes as me. But undaunted, when a link to their Myspace landed in my inbox alongside rave reviews from Artrocker and The Sunday Times, I decided to put aside my cynicism and see what all the fuss was about.

And lo and behold, I may be doing it more often, for I too soon found myself infatuated. Gloriously jangly guitars combine with heartfelt but upbeat boy/girl vocals from Danny How and Emma Kupa, and it wasn’t long before I was getting all misty-eyed and nostalgic about my misspent youth of endlessly listening to Kenickie and Belle & Sebastian on repeat. Like their audible influences, Standard Fare are all about the infectious melodies and bittersweet, sentimental smart-mouth lyrics delivered with a jaunty energy that it’s hard not to be charmed by.

Their catchy choruses will have you alternating between fond smirks of recognition and winces of empathy (“You’re only fifteen, what was I thinking?”), and anyone with a soft spot for the lyrical twists and turns of Hefner and The Long Blondes is sure to be smitten. Just don’t let their twee, wholesome appearance put you off.

Standard Fare’s debut album, The Noyelle Beat, was released at the end of March, and they’re touring the UK over the summer. Their latest single, Philadelphia, came out in July and you can watch the adorably DIY video right here:

(Originally published on luscious lady-music site The Girls Are)

The Weekend That Was: Hige Club and the William Farewell Show

Posted by jane – August 5, 2010

It has taken some time to recover from the weekend just gone. It started with an unusual Friday gig at the Curzon Cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue for a late night live performance of a Serge Gainsbourg album dedicated to his daughter Charlotte. It was performed by a veritable South London supergroup: Gavin and Mark from William alongside Markus (Their Hearts Were Full of Spring / Marketstall Records), Gemma (John and Jehn / Hindley) and the lovely Chuckie. The sound was a little off as cinemas are not designed to have bands on stage, you have to turn off all the speakers behind the screen you know, but I was very intrigued by tracks 3 (Oh Daddy Oh) and 4 (Don’t Forget To Forget Me) both of which can be found at Marketstall Records along with more info about this project. I’m looking forward to comparing this album with the original Gainsbourg one which I’m reliably informed is a lost classic. Hitting the 12bar after is where the initial damage was done, but, well, it was open unlike the rest of Soho and they do sell pints and shots and we did have the director of the ‘actual’ Gainsbourg movie with us so it would have been churlish of us not to really.

At this point I would like to thank everybody that attended the last ever William show on Saturday, especially those that came from far away (Birmingham, Coventry and Harrow were just the ones I know about). It was a very, very big party as you can imagine. Actual crowd surfing happened, I’ve never seen that in our little venue, there was a great big stage invasion and even Spiderman put in an appearance. I’m not sure there is any Sailor Jerry’s or Jagermeister left in The South of England now. The Eulogy below was written by Danny twobob. I’m reposting it here for safekeeping as it sums up how a lot of us feel:

William, It Was Really Something

Following in the lineage of the best of the 80’s/90’s indie rock scene such as Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Dinosaur Jr* but with a Darren Hayman-esque take on suburban lyricism, a very British ability to write songs about bicycles and a fresh spark that was all their own, William, our favourite ungoogleable band, have called it quits. It is with great sadness that we have to announce their farewell show at the Fox and Firkin on Saturday 31st July 2010. In support are two bands we adore who have been through it with them over the years, Popular Workshop and Sunset Cinema Club.

The thing that always causes pain in break-ups of both the musical or romantic kind is when it feels like not everything has been done. That perhaps there was more life left in it than the parties involved even realised. Certainly, new track Lustreless had already gone into our top 3 William songs of all time and it didn’t seem to us like time to call it quits. It only takes a run through a list of everyone’s top indie bands of the last twenty years (Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Sonic Youth) to see that great success sometimes takes a long time in a business so fickle, full of lucky breaks and chance encounters. This felt the case with countless bands who seemed to split when the music was still strong. As with other friends of our such as Their Hearts Were Full of Spring, Chet, Special Benny (who thankfully came back even better) …the feeling that other, more rubbish, ‘human’ factors played a part as opposed to a simple “the music had run it’s course” excuse always makes it harder to take.

Perhaps it was some kind of fate. Did they tempt it spending too much time listening to bands that never got the attention they deserved like The Embarrassment? William were a band that had bona-fide hits as well as the ones that would grab your heart when you paid more attention on the third/fourth listen. As a Drowned In Sound review once said, they “should fill indie dancefloors soon”. The countless times we put them on or saw them play the response was always great. Dancing, rocking out, singing along, mosh-pits in Coventry on £7 pills, shouting abuse at the bassist. Whether playing to ten or 300 people, there was always something special about their performances and they always gave it some fucking heart. Alas though, we’re just the promoters. We can only stop sobbing, hope they’d given it as much of a go as the music itself deserved and that future projects bear fruit half as sweet.

Maybe they were just ahead of their time. After all, Mark Thomas had that whole “has a vagina” rumour going well before Lady Gaga was even out of drama school.

3 skaters, 6 years, 1 album, 1 mini album, lots of Budweiser, lots more good times. Come celebrate the last…

*sorry for using the same old reference points boys
- Danny 2bob

The twobob William farewell show featured on the Lewisham News Shopper!

Posted by jane – August 5, 2010

One of the most frequent players on the Fox’s stage over the past few years has been a band by the name of William, an indie trio signed to Tough Love Records, recently receiving airplay from Radio 1 and rave reviews from John Kennedy and Drowned in Sound.

A Fox favourite, William have decided after six years that it’s time to call it quits. And although the regulars will be sad to see them go, they’re never ones to pass up an excuse for a shindig. So, this Saturday, William will be playing one final farewell show, with support from Popular Workshop and Sunset Cinema Club.

Last weekend’s farewell to William was featured on the Lewisham News Shopper’s website last week. Read the rest here.

What Danny’s Listening to this Week…

Posted by jane – July 30, 2010

2BOB stalwarts Breton have been beavering away these last few months in their factory (yes, factory), writing new material, expanding the line up and taking the DIY ethic to new extremes. Aside from making their own videos, instruments and t-shirts they’ve now manufactured their own limited edition E.P. The handsomely talented bastards.

Of Montreal released their recent album in the form of lampshade, which was pretty inspired, but we struggle to think of a more apt idea for Breton than a build-your-own working synth kit. Much more than a novelty release then, plus it’s work of bloody art. Not since 1994 where Sam from year 6 rocked Adidas Predators to football practice (despite the fact we played on concrete) has my object lust been so strong.

Oh, and the music is hardly secondary. Stand-out track The Well is a feast of big trip-hop beats, disjointed vocals and thundering synth, 15X is a jittering dance hit and title track Sharing Notes like Daedelus remixing the opening theme to Psycho. Soldering irons at the ready. Pre-order it from Rough Trade now.

The Month in Telly: May

Posted by jane – May 31, 2010

Iron Chef UKWelcome to the month in telly, where I sort the chaff from the champs of all the televisual entertainment the universe has to offer.

Iron Chef UK launched on Channel 4 in the typically mind-composting 5 o’clock time slot. The premise is excellent. Four amateur chefs attempt to out-cook a chosen champion of the cooking world on dishes based on the ingredient of the day, presented to them in bulk at the beginning. The drama is derived from the almost gladiatorial nature it is presented in: They do battle in the “Kitchen Arena“, the theme is always “Battle Beef“, “Battle Potato” or “Battle Lobster” and the war is overseen by a Japanese fella who appears to jizz himself every time a dish is served. I hope this gets another series as it breaks up the monotony of Coach Trip and Come Dine with Me re-runs in my hectic TV schedule.

Sadly the current series run is over, and in their infinite wisdom they have replaced it with a show, aptly dubbed The 5 O’Clock Show. If you think the name is inventive, wait till you hear the concept: Imagine The Paul O’Grady Show, but with presenters who AREN’T Paul O’Grady.

As if Channel 4 hadn’t fucked this one up enough, you will never guess who they chose to helm the inaugural two weeks of this shit storm…Only Peter “more pectoral implants than brain cells” Andre! Needless to say, do not watch this, unless you are about to receive a frontal lobotomy and are feeling apprehensive about the surgery, in which case this will save you a great deal of hassle.

My Rating: If I could, I would kill Peter Andre.

Lord (nee Sir) Sugar has adopted the attitude of tobacco companies worldwide, realising that it is best to “get ‘em when their young” with his new show: Junior Apprentice. Same concept, just moody ruthless teenagers instead of ruthless moody adults. Lord Sugar is just as bastardly to the young ‘uns too, describing one child before summarily giving him the finger (of firing) as “A disgrace, you’re useless and you have no concept of business management.” What a nasty, nasty man talking to a 16 year old like that, I usually use a few words that they can understand and keep it monosyllabic when I’m telling them to fuck off on their micro scooters from my front garden…

My rating: I’d give the Junior Apprentices a good hiding before they grow up to be real capitalists, especially that blonde girl, she is fucking ruthless…

Simon-Cowell--denies-buying

From one evil Lord to another, The Lord Beelzebub was back with his other show, Britain’s Got Talent, and as I write this I am watching Mr. Cowell casting his eye over a gang of dancing twelve year olds, apparently trying to decide whether they would be worth more as performers or as meat for his chihuahua.

I could spend my time tearing into the uglies who are only on the show as a sort of 21st century revival of the freak show, or I could take the piss out of the fella who swallows all the shit then regurgitates it, but Piers Morgan gets a hard time as it is!

You have to look at the good side of it as well. I mean, they’ve got this day centre for people with issues near me and they always look busy, so it’s good that there are little diversions for them lot, you know what I mean?

Worse than the show itself, as with many of these reality shows, is the satellite show afterwards which is always staffed by recovering cokehead children’s TV presenters. Britain’s Got More Talent ironically just features further failures from the audition stages who were either too ugly or too mental for prime channel viewing.

It is irrelevant who wins on this contest, because the real winner will always be Satan – I mean Simon Cowell – and the forces of evil. At least this year’s winners (SpellBound) actually have the gymnastic skill and elasticity to take the regular Cowell-Rape in enough positions to make it slightly joyous for the receiving partner…

My Rating: I give this years Britain’s Got Talent three X’s, and I don’t mean like the good ones on the front cover of Backdoor Entry 8…

Big Brother launched with Davina McCall proclaiming “Welcome to the greatest show on earth” in her typical ‘I’ve just received a caffeine colonic’ peppy style. When you consider that Galileo studied the celestial bodies till he went blind, and people fell to their deaths trying to admire the wonderment of Niagara Falls, it is great to know that now we are fulfilled by watching 14 or so strangers picking fights with a disembodied voice in the most desperate popularity contest since, well, the general election.

The wonderful thing about Big Brother is that it has a universal appeal. Like a tank full of piranhas just about to turn on each other with cannibalism, you have to keep staring at it in case you miss that precious moment when that couple fucks, or those two posses finally clash in a racist water fight.

Throw in a double amputee with the tattoos and false eye of a bond villain’s henchman and the rumour that this year there will finally be the forever speculated ‘mole’ to really fuck with the house mate’s heads, not to mention the fact that this is allegedly the last run of the show, this could be one of the least-worst series yet!

My rating: 81 people waited to go in on wednesday, 14 entered. So I make that uhh 81 – 14= 67 souls saved from a life of “OI, OI, you’re that twat off Big Brother 2010 aren’t ya?!”

Thanks for reading.
Peace and Love,
Dan Gerrous

Carl Reviews the Weekend That Was

Posted by jane – April 15, 2010

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I’m only just recovering from the weekend just gone. The Alice in Wonderland Party was fun, well-attended and tremendously well-dressed. The effort folk put into their costumes is most of the reason the Fox’s dress-up parties are so legendary.

Even I got involved, which actually only meant sticking a product tag in my Victorian top hat this time. If there was a prize for the best-dressed I’d hazard it would have been a toss up between the pink flamingo and the Johnny Depp-style Mad Hatter (pictured), both costumes made from scratch with special mention to Emily and Sammy’s respective white rabbits. Em is the one with the big ears!

Saturday’s Miss Scarlett gig had more technical hitches than the Brit Awards (before they pre-recorded it and edited out the mess) but everyone pulled together to put out the fires (special word to the sound guy), and the professionalism from the bands was phenomenal. Most people in the crowd (what a crowd it was too) wouldn’t have noticed a thing out of place.

Miss Scarlett have built a massive fan base and reputation round these parts in the past year, Tesknota have a unique (Flaming Lips meets Futureheads – bugbear) style with an enigmatic Byrne-like frontman and we look forward to watching Dr Vampire‘s 50s Goth rock instrumentals at Foxfest (1st & 2nd May kids).

Sunday was sweeeeeet, what with Ben Cakebread and his blues rock (I’m really a Corrosion of Conformity fan though I play soul records from time to time) slide guitar ways. Plus Dan German with his rock waif look masking his Dylanesque poetic ways and everyone turning up wearing their lads on tour hats (no irony here) and generally getting battered ways, I’d better have a week off the sauce. But as a Scotsman once told me ‘the liver is evil and must be punished.’ And he was too big to argue with.

Guest reviewer Kes goes to see The Besnard Lakes – Cargo, 31st March

Posted by jane – April 9, 2010

besnardlakes_4477_resized“Hi, we’re The Besnard Lakes from Montreal, Qebec, Canada.”

Thank god for that. I came here last week to see Islands, but they didn’t play – apparently the singer’s girlfriend died, hence the (understandable) cancellation. They were replaced by Graham Coxon doing a live soundtrack to five short films on looped guitar noise and saxophone, which was really good, but still, all in rather tragic circumstances. So it’s a relief when Jace Lasek (who, incidentally, is the spitting image of Creme Brulee rhythm guitarist, Les McQueen) takes the stage with those words – nothing terrible has happened, the show goes on. Phew.

It’s rammed in Cargo tonight, a sell-out show apparently, which nearly meant I missed the gig altogether – I was meant to have a guestlist place thanks to a friend of a friend who works at Cargo, but sorry, no your name’s not down, and sorry no, you can’t buy a ticket, it’s sold out. Didn’t leave me with much option but to turn-tail and head home, but the fellow behind me in the queue had a spare ticket which he gave to me. Even refused to let me pay him for it – thoroughly decent chap.

With entry secured, I had just enough time for a quick peak at the merch stall. Some of my old favourite Ts are reaching the point of expiry and i need replacements so I’ve been eyeing up the shirts on offer at a few gigs recently. Sadly, shoddy merchandise has been a recurrent theme (ask Carl 2bob about Midlake’s sub-standard fare – we both went with £20 in our pockets for a Van Occupanther t-shirt, neither of us spent it). Tonight is different though – I’m pleased to report that I came away with a marvellous new red number with a flaming golden horse on the front, and it only cost £12 – bargain!
Now, to the show …

Like I said, it’s rammed but I managed to manoeuvre my way to a nice central spot with a pretty good view just as the band eased into the wobbly swell of opener Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent – the first track from their latest album, The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night. Everything’s there right from the outset – Jace’s ethereal falsetto (surprisingly more forceful and less delicate than on record, but still beautiful) floats in a haze of drones until the drums, guitars and vocal harmonies explode the song into life like slow-mo fireworks.

And that’s what keeps happening all night. The Besnard Lakes might well be a dark horse, but you could also accuse them of being a one-trick pony. Who cares, though, when it’s such a bloody great trick, and so brilliantly performed? They do the same things with their songs over and over again – sudden contrasts of quiet and loud, minimalist drones giving way to bursts of noise and harmony – but even though the set is over an hour long tonight, it never gets boring and it still feels too short.

There’s no artifice or guile here either, which is a bit of a surprise as sometimes their records can sound a bit like elaborately constructed set-pieces, stitched together with studio craft. I half expected them to crumble and fail in the harsher terrain of the live show. But they don’t – if anything it breathes even more life into the songs. On Bedford and Grand, for instance – perfectly good on record, if a little plodding – acquires a serious groove tonight. A lot of that’s down to Olga Goreas’ bass playing, which is much more prominent live than on their records, and really drives everything. It’s often too easy a comparison to make when you see a female bass player in an indie rock band, but in this case it’s a fair one: she is the Real (Kim) Deal – just listen to new single Albatross if you have any doubts about that.

The Besnard Lakes are back in London again on 20th April @ The Legion, Old Street. You should go.

Recommendations:

The last two Besnard Lakes albums – … Are The Dark Horse and … Are The Roaring Night – are both excellent. If you don’t have time for an album, start with their latest single, Albatross, and work your way into things from there.

And if you like The Besnard Lakes, try these for some alternative listening:
Ultrasound – Aire and Calder
Ride – Leave Them All Behind
Angelo Badalamenti / Julie Cruise – Falling

TwoBob Talks To: Zombina & The Skeletones

Posted by jane – March 26, 2010

l_87f8d4ded3864cce9d72802c65c1e01dI’m completely obsessed with Zombina and the Skeletones, and I don’t mind who knows it. On my 21st birthday, Zombina , the hottest undead vocalist the music biz has ever seen, gave me a birthday smooch whilst dressed up in a Father Christmas costume. I can’t fail to be infatuated with that level of commitment from one of my favourite bands. And then there’s the music; B-movie zombie doo-wop rock’n'roll that you can’t help but dance to. And so when we heard that they were touring and recording in 2010, of course we had to try and get the goss:

First things first, when are you recording again? Will you have a new record out soon?

Zombina: Yeah! I can’t believe Out Of The Crypt And Into Your Heart has already been out for over a year! We’re working on the songs for the next album and we aim to start recording it in April. It’ll be our first time recording with the new boys, Kyle and X-Ray .

Doc Horror (Guitar & Vox): Even though the new boys got their pictures in Out Of The Crypt…, we actually recorded it back when Jonny Tokyo was still with us so it’s still full of synths and keyboards, whereas the new stuff is gonna be more like the way we play live now, with the saxophone and me having to do all these guitar leads all of a sudden.

Tell me about the video for Evil Science?

Doc: That was the work of one Reuben Armana, who’s a special effects make-up guy. The big Predator-like creature that pushes us round in the wheelchairs is the star of his forthcoming low-budget dark sci-fi film, Lemonheart. We agreed to work with the monster on the one condition that Zombina could knock him out at the end of the video.

Zombina: We shot it this time last year in a freezing cold warehouse with dead pigeons everywhere, and half the band was dying of flu. X-Ray couldn’t make it so he isn’t even in it! It was great fun, though. We did another video with Reuben, for the song Wolf Hands, which I directed. It’s about me turning into a werewolf in my underwear.

If you could star in your own B-movie, what would it be like?

Doc: It would be the story of a rock band that falls under an evil curse and are forever dogged by constant disaster and almost comically bad luck… they think they’re covering their faces with fake blood but it turns out to be washing up liquid and burns all their eyes out… oh, hang on, that’s just our actual life.

Best costume you’ve ever rocked?

Zombina: I think this year’s band Halloween costume takes the prize. I was dressed as a zombie little red riding hood and the boys were all wolfmen, with big pointy ears. I don’t know why, but hanging around with all these wolves made me feel like I was in an imaginary Australian kids show, called Jenny & The Werewolves, and they were my boss wolf mates.

You’ve got a devoted following in the North, especially Liverpool. Does that make playing live more fun? And do you ever find it uncomfortable playing away from your home turf when there’s so much love and loyalty for you at home?

Zombina: Liverpool’s just totally different to play than anywhere else because we’ve played there so much for so long, we know almost everyone in the room personally by now, at any gig. We love it, but the main thing we’re passionate about is getting to travel and play in different countries and stuff. That’s when we start having adventures.

No offence intended, but you seem to have a high turnover of band members – how come? Is it just the usual story of time commitments/other projects/financial faffing, or is there something more sinister going on?

Doc: Sinister? I don’t like what you’re inferring. It’s just accidents, you know. They get accidentally poisoned or decapitate themselves or whatever and it’s normal. Happens all the time. The show must go on. We have Kyle and X Ray now. Of their own free will.

Zombina and the Skeletones current album, Out of the Crypt and Into Your Heart is out now. See their fabulously fake blood and facepaint-splattered website for more info.

TwoBob Talks To: Robots in Disguise

Posted by jane – March 22, 2010

Robots_in_disguiseRobots in Disguise are the grrl-fronted British electropunk duo renowned from London to Berlin and back again as the loudmouth ladies behind cult dancefloor classics Turn It Up, Can’t Stop Getting Wasted and The Sex Has Made Me Stupid. Formed in 2000 by Sue Denim and Dee Plume, they’ve since toured Europe and America with their albums Robots in Disguise, Get RiD! and We’re in The Music Biz, and are currently working on their fourth, although rumours abound that the process has hit them hard financially, leading to the need to solicit donations from fans. Famous faces that they’ve met and befriended include Madonna, Mark Owen and Courtney Love, along with the now world-famous Mighty Boosh crew, who’ve they’ve been close chums with for years.

When I enquire what fans can expect from the album they’re currently recording, they keep their answers cryptic. “Music and movement,”says Dee, whilst Sue’s answer is “a new musical movement.” They won’t divulge any other details, so we move onto the fans who’ve been pledging funds to help get the album done and dusted. Over the last decade, they’ve won over an army of hardcore loyal followers, and I’m curious about the Robots’ opinions on why they inspire such devotion from fans. “Maybe because we’re equally as dedicated as them?” Sue suggests, continuing, “it’s not easy to continue a band for ten years virtually self-funded. Maybe they know we love the music and love them.”

Whenever the music biz is mentioned, they seem somewhat jaded and cynical. Like when I ask what bands or genres they think everyone will go crazy for over the next few months, Sue replies: “I guess the music biz will keep on being as obnoxious and fickle as always. I would love if RiD were the trend everyone would go crazy for. You never know.”

I feel like I have to ask the obligatory Boosh question, about the cynics that claim they’re only as well-known as they are because the Boosh have become so interstellar over the last few years. But their resigned response indicates that they’ve heard that accusation far too many times. “God, we could be miles bigger from our association!” claims Dee. “We haven’t exploited it enough – we’re so English and understated.” Sue seems a tad snappier: “Where are we at now exactly? Trying to self-fund our fourth album and without a record deal! Big thanks to our good long term friends in the Mighty Boosh for putting us in the show – they wrote the parts specifically for us because they like who we are and what we do. And we’ve definitely gained a new following through this exposure, and perhaps that’s helped keep us just above water!Those afore-mentioned cynics probably haven’t tried swimming in the choppy waters of the music biz…”

Feeling it might be prudent to change the subject, sharpish, I want to now what their most memorable experiences in RiD have been. Dee’s is “making our latest video for Wake Up and flying around on a giant lipstick spaceship!” Sue has a few surreal experiences to recount, including “scrapping on Sunset Strip in LA. Meeting Madonna. Nearly being struck by lightning on stage in Estonia was pretty good.”

That’s all the time they have, and I’m left hoping that they manage to scrape the together the pounds and pennies they need to get their fourth album finished. Whilst they can come off a touch prickly, there’s no denying that the Robots in Disguise are a force to be reckoned with. And whilst I’m much more won over by their music than their interview answers, it’d be sad times indeed for the music biz if they fizzled out because of a lack of funds.

The Duke of Catford is not amused……

Posted by jane – March 18, 2010

Last weekend, our outspoken friend, The Duke Of Catford, attended Grizzly Bear supported by Beach House at the Roundhouse in London. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear is down as one of twobob’s albums of last year and Beach House are rapidly becoming firm favourites since BBC6 seems to be playing a lot of them just now. The Duke, however, seemed to be put off by the person bootlegging the gig for YouTube, he writes:

“One thoroughly disapproves of bozos who, rather than watching a gig and taking the wonder of the moment into their memories, spends the whole time with their arms in the air holding a portable media device disrupting the vision of others around them. One simply cannot see the point in capturing the gig from an awkward angle in bad audio, other than to stamp the fact that they went to said gig upon the consciousness of the planet by broadcasting it on Youtube / Facebook.

One’s enjoyment was further impaired by the camera operator in question announcing that a previous gig was “much more intense and intimate” than this one. One wonders if this is the sort of chap who, faced with two minutes in David Lynch’s company, would spend it scrabbling for pen and paper (that will ultimately perish) rather than having a short conversation with the man.

Having said that this person has pretty good sound and it does mean that a c**t like oneself can show off to his friends the finest performance of the night which includes the disarmingly fit bird from Beach House on guest vocals. Enjoy!”