Thursday 12 March 2009

Who's For Some Ramshackle Grunge With Noir Phraseology?

There are too many bands. There are too many magazines. Any business that can support itself by having people write horseshit like, "lush with 60’s accents and drizzled with noir phraseology" is a business that need to be burnt down and the space left behind requisitioned for a statue of a weeping parrot or something equally worthwhile. What, pray tell, is a "60's accent"? Do you mean that this band sound a bit like, oh dear, they're from the 60s? Oh please, please, please, please, please make it stop. We don't need anymore, "blitzing folk grunge", or "crooked melodies", or "skronky guitar pop" or any of that stuff. We're full now! Over full, in fact. Pretty much sick to our stomachs! Anyway, thanks to a senior LiS operative who sent this in from the field:

"A cover of Dead Kennedys' Holiday In Cambodia which sparks a stage invasion."

A stage invasion. At Norwich Puppet Theatre.

Jesus wept...


Begin forwarded message:
From: "Matthew Grundy" [matthew@plummusic.com]
Date: 11 March 2009 17:05:12 GMT
Subject: The Woe Betides NME review

Hi there, just to let you know that my new band, The Woe Betides, scored a glowing live review in the NME last week, being described us as "deft puppet-masters of indie". I've attached it in all it's glory for your viewing pleasure.

We've just come to the end of the tour for the release of our debut EP 'Play Dead' (Songs in the Dark), and are preparing for the online release in April. Please have a listen to the band at www.myspace.com/thewoebetides and let me know if you'd like to find out more about us!

Some of my favourite reviews over the last few months:

"Four ramshackle tidbits of skronky guitar pop. Resolutely lo-fi, DIY, rough around the edges and all the better for it" (Artrocker)

"Agreeably grungey and off-kilter folk-pop duo... suggesting both Simon & Garfunkel and Josh Homme's Desert Sessions." (Time Out)

"The Woe Betides spin wonderfully blister like crooked melodies that hush, stir and pounce into animation without warning, lush with 60’s accents and drizzled with noir phraseology." (Losing Today Magazine)

"Blitzing folk grunge. These voices were made for those guitars, those melodies and those handclaps... woe betide anyone who doesn't play dead." (CMU Music Network)

"A strong sense of drama... asymmetrical folk-pop with unexpected structures and complex arrangements... ‘Boredom is the Killer’ is a fine piece of Brian Eno-style artrock" (SoundsXP)






















































3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Losing Today Magazine the most self-aware title for an indie music publication ever? Or just unintentionally witless?

Lost In Showbiz said...

It's a shocker - make no mistake.

Profitganda said...

Not entirely sure what the point is of this attack? Some new and struggling band gets their first review in the NME and a couple of indie fanzines and then try and use those good reviews to get some interest in their self-released CD and Myspace page? Not exactly a coup. How else do you expect new artists to try and get an audience? And why belittle the band for the way their reviewers write?