"endless talking about stress..."
"CONSTRUCTION" by London-based Beige Banquet and from their "ST" EP, with it's angular construction, punchy bass lines, feral guitar strikes and Tom Brierley's automaton-esque yelping (audaciously artful or art school) vocal aesthetic made me flash on late 70's proto punk / new wave bands like Gang of Four, Devo, and the B52's ( I feel the same kind of wound up guitar Tourette's of Ricky Wilson, R.I.P.) and I thought of the amazing 90's Bloc Party as well. Kudos to Rosie Pearce's stoic, terse spoken word that lends to the musical havoc.
Brierley (guitarist/vocalist ) 2020 DIY bedroom project has evolved into a 5 piece band featuring Joe Munsey (Guitar), Danny Gillies (Bass), Ian Crafter (Drums) and Blake Carlson-Joshua (Percussion/Synths). "ST" is a follow up to their debut "Beta" (2021) and "features collaborations with a cast of future bandmates and friends, with clarinet by Theo Bergot, backing vocals by Joe Munsey and Benjamin Mace-Crossley and additional vocals and lyrics by Rosie Pearce."
Brierley shares:
"It’s much more introspective than Beta. On the album I wanted to create a world through the music, while the EP leans to a more raw and personal style, focusing on myself rather than adopting characters. It feels like four separate songs, all different, but intrinsically linked by the theme of internal realization. Four fragments, sonic moments, or memories that only feel connected when reflecting back on them."
In my mind "ST" is not a retro or homage collection of songs and while aspects may have been adopted or inspired by iconic sounds, Beige Banquet are most assuredly their own creation in tone, texture and what the have to say.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Bandcamp
Formed in 2020, London-based Beige Banquet has evolved from the solo recording project of guitarist and vocalist Tom Brierley into a full five-piece band featuring Joe Munsey (Guitar), Danny Gillies (Bass), Ian Crafter (Drums) and Blake Carlson-Joshua (Percussion).
After a critically acclaimed response to their 2020 debut single ‘Wired/Weird’, including airplay on BBC Introducing London, Boogaloo Radio, Amazing Radio and PBS (Melbourne), the follow-up album is an exciting feast of 12 drum-machine-driven, bedroom-recorded and self-produced outsider/weirdo/art/post-punk tracks, delivered within 33 minutes.
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