Happy to be part
of the Independent Promoters Network
Also part of
the Diskant network:
14.11.02:
the customers + the loves + the fairy traders
+ summerteeth
The Customers: Two singer/songwriters, two
electro-composer/musicians & one live artist/lyric writer, The Customers
are:
Will - songwriter/lead vocal/guitars/organ
Gabriel - songwriter/lead vocal/bass
Steve - guitars/organ/harmonica
Joe - drums/electronics
In various forms The Customers have been busy since 1995. Paths first
crossed in South Devon where Will and Gregg wrote a fistful of songs for
a studio project which embraced various musicians (including Steve). This
was the unofficial birth of The Customers. Meanwhile, in a neighbouring
village, Gabriel and Joe played as The Upsides.
The five wouldnÕt work together as todayÕs collective until some six years
later, as one-by-one they swapped Devon for Sussex and their paths crossed
again in Brighton. Gabriel and Will played acoustic sets as ÔWillisÕ until
Christmas Day 2001. Steve 'returned' to the band in February 2002 (after
brushing the charts with Elevator Suite) and Joe completed the line-up
in May after developing the much celebrated, and ongoing, Metronomy project.
Gregg remains a remote fifth member, writing again with Will. The Customers
continue to live, work and play in Brighton.
"Formed around the writing partnership of Will and Gabriel, The Customers
are the sound of an open heart. The band soar between mellow melancholia
(I'm Good When I'm With You But Without You I'm Fine) and screaming art
rock (Darling Blindfold), ultimately sounding like Pavement jamming with
Will Oldham." - Logo Magazine
The Loves: The Loves are:
Simon - guitar and voice
Liz - keyboards
Pnosni - guitar
James - bass guitar
Dave - drums
Catrin - voice and percussion
Forming in Simon's head since 1996 The Loves first came to the public's
notice with the release of their first single, the universally acclaimed
double A-side "Little Girl Blues" and "She'll Break Your Heart" in May
2001. John Peel described it as "a very fine single".
A Radio1 John Peel session followed (described by the man himself as "an
excellent first session") as did an agreement with the good people of
the Track and Field label to produce a few singles for them. "Boom-a-Bang-Bang-Bang"
(the first of the few) was issued at the beginning of September '01. To
promote this The Loves performed live from the BBC's legendary Maida Vale
studios, again, for the John Peel show.
Up and coming for
The Loves:
* Dates New York
* A version of "Cold Turkey" on the Fortuna Pop! Xmas EP
* A version of "True Love Will Find You In The End" (Daniel Johnson) on
the Track & Field compilation
"Ooooh shang-a-lang/Wig wam bam!/Sugar baby love/Sha la la la..... It's
The Loves playing at the garage...it looks like 3 of the byrds with a
Sgt Pepper loner Lonely Hearts Club Band with a Mini-Pops version of the
Human League ladies...it sounds kinda like stomping 70's pop thing with
a nice gang of six chant-a-long-a-chorus- and a bit of Suicide type Cheree
Cheree stuff and early 70's Stones cowbell type honkytonky too." - Artrocker
"Fate. Were The Loves from New York or Detroit I think we can safely assume
that they'd be getting more attention from the press. Were it 1977 I've
no doubt 'Boom-a-bang-bang-bang' would be a Top10 hit. But neither of
these things is true and so The Loves are going to have to think on their
feet. I suggest controversy, stories of alleged incest, riots at gigs,
disgusting backstage antics, ritualised humiliation of music journalists.
You spot an NME hack at the gig and, rather than buy them drinks and lie
about how much you respect the old journal, you replace all the toilet
paper with cut up sheets of their latest reviews. Too tame I suppose.
They'd probably find it flattering. So would I, come to think of it.
'Boom-a-bang-bang-bang' is the archetypal 'fab 'n' perfectly constructed
pop song' confidently spanning, like the old Severn Bridge itself, all
that's good and distracting about rock n roll. Blending 1960s melodrama
- i.e. the talkie bit, the shangalang, shangalang bits - with a bit of
punk verve and nonsense - i.e. the snarly bits, the Shelleyesque emotion
('Someone help me please, cos I just don't understand what she's doing
to me...') - with the eternal disquietude of the teenager in love - i.e.
the o-ah-woah-woh bits, the rush, the whole goddam thing. Exhilarating.
Love it. One day I'll tell you about my video idea involving The Loves
at a Butlin's holiday camp, as redcoats popping in and out of chalets,
fraternising with the campers, crossing the unspoken Rubicon of trust
between staff and punters. But tasteful, honest. " - Wide Open Road fanzine
on 'Boom-A-Bang-Bang-Bang'
"There were apparently A&R bozos in to hear The Loves tonight and they
heard a cracker. They're like the Partridge Family crossed with the Manson
Family, full of sun-kissed sixties melodies but with a sussed, cunning
edge. Songs are driven along by a stream of parpy organ riffs, insistently
poking you in the ribs to demand attention, while a guitar barrage massages
your skull with garage rock riffs. On record, I always found the cheeriness
of Boom-A-Bang-Bang-Bang to be a little too forced, especially when played
on a hungover Sunday, but live it's fun, sassy and ridiculously catchy
Ð it's been playing on my internal jukebox for days afterwards. The other
Track and Field single Me and Bobby D is slightly darker, wordier and,
no offence, cleverer than some of the poppier songs. The Boobytrap single
Little Girl Blues is a bit of a garage-punk stomper too while Depeche
Mode shows a sense of humour....The Loves were asked to perfom an extra
special St Valentines Day radio session live from John Peel's house."
- http://www.soundsxp.com
"The perfect summer pop group, love to love The Loves." - Venue
"The Loves have won me over. The Loves are pretty damn cool." - Wide Open
Road fanzine '
Just Like Bobby D.'(the second of the Track and Field singles) was released
on Bob Dylan's birthday to some more ecstatic reviews: "This must be the
illusive yet utterly ingenuous, thin, wild, mercury sound that the great
man alluded to in interviews. The bass line may well be an old fashioned
"sample" maybe from European Son but this is no pastiche or pale imitation
of a sound long since gone. It merely acts as an indicator from which
direction the band is coming from as much as a signpost to where they
are heading.
The guitars growl and howl and the drums kick in like a juggernaut pulling
out of an overnight motorway service station. I guess that's the idea.
This song delights in an audacious coalition of anything cool, sixties
and underground. It sounds as if everything is in one melting pot, yet
surprisingly it avoids sounding like any of them. Instead, pushing, pulling,
manipulating the boundaries of how far the sixties can be transplanted
to the new century, but (and here's the trick) it is not done in a detrimental,
rose-tinted or heavy-handed way.
The song speeds along like an exhilarating ride on Bobby's Triumph, in
fact, the sound of a motorcycle engine does appear on the record but sounds
more like the throaty roar from the Shangri-Las classic single, but in
the words of Eddie Cochran "Who cares?" Trying to pin down something so
exciting, charged and perfectly formed, as this would be self defeating
as well as pointless. Just turn on, tune in and don't drop out.
This is the perfect song for driving fast as the car engine effortlessly
tunes itself in to the organ sound, which is gaudy, garish and as unsophisticated
as anything you will hear. The song is rawer and rougher for my money
than The Strokes and The Hives put together. There I think is both the
allure and the dichotomy because I feel this is a big, bold, unpretentious
rousing single.
I love The Loves, I love the total refusal on their part to apparently
either acknowledge or accommodate subtlety and sophistication, the more
robust and unskilled the better. I loved Boom-a-bang-bang-bang and it
would be a crime if this songÉ oh stuff this! It really doesn't need writing
about; I'm off to play it again." - http://www.pennyblackmusic.com
The Fairy Traders: A Message From the band: Welcome to the world
of The Fairy Traders, the creative collective. We put values before music
and music before everything else. As our name suggests we advocate Fair
Trade and ultimately social justice. We have a clear picture of where
we want to take The Fairy Traders (having fun while we do) and readily
accept that our actions may be cringe worthy. Great things come in fours
i.e. The Fairy Traders.
"The first band I've heard in ages that made me actually sit up and go
WOW!" - Kate St Claire (The Lollies)
"The Fairy Traders, on the other hand, are LOVELY. Girl-group harmonies,
wobbly gin and cigarettes vocals, plinky pianos, wise, straight-talkin'
lyrics and I feel like I'm dancing on the clouds. And the chorus sounds
exactly like drunken angels singing. It's just GORGEOUS! " - DrownedInSound
on the FT's contribution to the "Indiecent Exposure" compilation
Summerteeth: Summerteeth formed around Jan
2001 in the small Somerset town of Frome where there is little to do other
than drink or play music (if youÕre productive, that is). They have an
average age of 19 and comprise of brothers Tom (guitar/vocals/songs) and
Ben Stephens (bass) along with their friends from school Pat (drums) and
Tilly (keyboards/piano).
Tom and Ben began playing guitar in their early teens. Pretty soon they
wanted to form a rock band, but experienced major problems trying to recruit
a drummer and bass player. Then, in a moment of inspiration, Ben took
up bass and in doing so immediately created two-thirds of Summerteeth.
They later recruited Pat as he was the only drummer in school. Three hours
before their debut gig they had their first band practice. Four hours
later Pat left the band, citing musical differences and refused to play
with the two brothers ever again.
The brothers then spent the next couple of years locked in a room recording
songs on 4-track, listening incessantly to records by Leonard Cohen, Flaming
Lips and Sparklehorse, and refining their new style.
It was around this time that Tilly joined them on keyboards/piano. During
the Christmas holidays, the three were presented with the opportunity
of some free recording time. A cash bribe secured PatÕs return to drum
duties and they were off again. This time things were different. They
spent a day recording several songs for a demo EP they christened Ôanother
day of little crusadesÕ and momentum has been building ever since. Recent
demos have shown a new-found maturity in the songwriting, and hopefully
should emerge on Purr Records in the New Year.
