"I want to be local here, me and the man with the stumps..."
Brighten (UK) based seven piece divergent art punk outfit Keg manifests a manic sense of high anxiety, a kind of communal claustrophobia on their new single "Farmhands" and in a surreal animated Official Video directed by Andrew Howarth which imagines the septet into a "Smelve Village" and not ending particularly well as they succumb to a sea beast version of the band's guitarist Frank Lindsay. The sprite guitar plucks and forward pushing bass lines and feral drumming suggest an intense movement like a fast moving train as Albert Haddenham's wild eyed broad vocal theatricality stabs out words about the gentrification of St. James Street (in Brighton) and surrounding areas, "My bamboo products quake in their cupboards / My macchiato spills over the plant ladder / All the greasy spoons hemmed in by bike shops / Their dishwashers shrink and fall down the drain" while others passages suggest pushing the undesirables out of the way, far away from hipster and upper crust eyes.
I love the cascading, pummeling instrumentation, strident broad vocal theatricality, the artful jazz horns that seems to spiral out of control in a cacaphonous collision of art punk sounds and social commentary like a subversive amalgam of artists like Devo, Talking Heads, Gang of Four, Richard Hell & the Voidoids and The Cramps.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.instagram.com/kegband/
https://www.facebook.com/kegbandboys
https://open.spotify.com/track/2L9iusCnqtNtNaz39eI1Bs
Erupting from a frenzied passion for the ‘song’, Keg toe a fine line between the angular throb of contemporary post-rock sensibilities and a timeless necessity for harmony and meticulous songwriting. This push-pull can be heard woven into each of their compositions. What you may not hear upon first listen is the achingly personal nature of their lyrics as well as the myriad influences injected into it by its instrumentalists, all of who come from varied musical backgrounds.
Albert Haddenham (vocals), Joel Whitaker (bass) & Will Wiffen (synth) grew up together around the seaside Yorkshire town of Bridlington; and like many artists growing up in removed quarters of the country, they shared a yearning to leave. Spreading around different parts of the country after leaving school, they found their bandmates in their respective cities and found one another once again on the southern shores of Brighton.
Frank Lindsay (guitar), whose background resides mostly in hip-hop, afforded the sound a unique pulse with a guitar sound which is manic, discordant but firm. Jules Gibbons (guitar, also in Spang Sisters) whose songwriting sensibilities come from a love of cadence and craft of beautiful soul ballads, imbued the band with his structured sense of composition.
Both Charlie Keen (trombone & shell) and Johnny Pyke (drums) come from classically trained Jazz backgrounds. Johnny - throughout Keg - is able to demonstrate this, as well as his ability to remain in the pocket. Similarly, Charlie can both compliment the bands manic moments as well as improvise, uniquely bringing the trombone to the foreground of the sound.
There is but one aim that Keg look to achieve - to write good music, with a wry smile. Keg's new single "Farmhands" is out now. The band's debut EP 'Assembly' is available to purchase on 12" vinyl in two colour variants: Tatooine Sun (orange vinyl) here and the limited edition Endor Fauna (green vinyl) via Alcopop! Records here.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.instagram.com/kegband/
https://www.facebook.com/kegbandboys
https://open.spotify.com/track/2L9iusCnqtNtNaz39eI1Bs
Erupting from a frenzied passion for the ‘song’, Keg toe a fine line between the angular throb of contemporary post-rock sensibilities and a timeless necessity for harmony and meticulous songwriting. This push-pull can be heard woven into each of their compositions. What you may not hear upon first listen is the achingly personal nature of their lyrics as well as the myriad influences injected into it by its instrumentalists, all of who come from varied musical backgrounds.
Albert Haddenham (vocals), Joel Whitaker (bass) & Will Wiffen (synth) grew up together around the seaside Yorkshire town of Bridlington; and like many artists growing up in removed quarters of the country, they shared a yearning to leave. Spreading around different parts of the country after leaving school, they found their bandmates in their respective cities and found one another once again on the southern shores of Brighton.
Frank Lindsay (guitar), whose background resides mostly in hip-hop, afforded the sound a unique pulse with a guitar sound which is manic, discordant but firm. Jules Gibbons (guitar, also in Spang Sisters) whose songwriting sensibilities come from a love of cadence and craft of beautiful soul ballads, imbued the band with his structured sense of composition.
Both Charlie Keen (trombone & shell) and Johnny Pyke (drums) come from classically trained Jazz backgrounds. Johnny - throughout Keg - is able to demonstrate this, as well as his ability to remain in the pocket. Similarly, Charlie can both compliment the bands manic moments as well as improvise, uniquely bringing the trombone to the foreground of the sound.
There is but one aim that Keg look to achieve - to write good music, with a wry smile. Keg's new single "Farmhands" is out now. The band's debut EP 'Assembly' is available to purchase on 12" vinyl in two colour variants: Tatooine Sun (orange vinyl) here and the limited edition Endor Fauna (green vinyl) via Alcopop! Records here.
No comments:
Post a Comment