evacuee

This band were another muxtape find. I have no idea how I came across their page (it was a year ago now) but downloading Rated Rookie (for free) turned out to be something of a catalyst for my musical vibe of summer 2009.

They take a raw, stripped-down garage/punk aesthetic and put a totally unique spin on it. I’m tempted to compare them to Minutemen or Black Lips (I’m not sure they’d feel positively about the latter) but in reality, they sound nothing like either of these bands. Layers of fuzz riffs and dry, dirty vocals are given pulse through pounding bass and drums; the songs are massive, I mean, absolutely gigantic. And there is something unhinged about the overall sound, which doesn’t detract from the tunes, but rather, gives them a real sense of character. The best way I could describe it is as a sort of carefully calculated mess being blasted towards you at high volume (evacuee feels loud even when being played quietly, but trust me, you should play them loud).

Lyrically, too, evacuee are supreme. They balance weird humour (‘my name is Edward, the best equestrian’) with (seemingly) genuine aggression (‘fuck the Rolling Stones, who are you suing now?’), as double-tracked voices and guitars blend to create a deliciously meaty chaos.

Look forward to a new record sometime soon; in the meantime, find out more through their all-encompassing website (an increasingly rare treasure among indepdent bands) or go through the usual channels:

muxtape, myspace, twitter, etc.

The Swiss

I am, herein, referring to the Bristolian Swiss, who might or might not still be alive, and who will mostly come up second after the Australian Swiss, for example, on websites such as Last.fm.

I am, happily, acquainted with 3 out of 4 members of The Swiss. However, I only managed to get hold of their highly elusive LP, Figure Like Jan Molby, in November of last year. The band is apparently marred by the erractic behaviour of genius, breaking up, reforming, gigging a bit, and releasing records not a whole lot. However, the three demos I had in my library since God-knows-when (2004?) were played and replayed enough times for me to nag Nigel (drums/backing vocals) into sending me a CD.

Figure Like Jan Molby is, frankly, in another league to any other fuzz-infused, bass-heavy, post-punk/power-pop you might hear coming out of Bristol this decade. The guys bring together a massive range of musical experience and a gigantic pallette of influences, and the fact that lead man Stew (primarily a guitarist) plays bass, while Leroy (the meanest, funkiest bassist in the South-West) plays guitar, should signify that The Swiss intend to make rock music in a way that is different. By which, of course, I mean clever, well-crafted, interesting…

The songs are brief, witty, and explosive. The versatility and refined talent of each of the four musicians is masterfully disguised behind some of the poppiest, catchiest tunes you will ever hear. This is a band that truly blows my mind, even though you could easily catch a snippet of them on the radio and just say, ‘Meh.’
Such is life.

I thoroughly recommend tracking them down, perhaps through MySpace, and trying to get hold of some songs. Live Swiss performances have recently made their way onto YouTube, and Liam has been drawing attention to them through twitter.

Check out The Swiss’s youtube channel and myspace page to hear more.

Tanimura Midnight

Tanimura Midnight are a band I would probably never have encountered, were it not for the wonders of Muxtape, and more specifically, the Muxtape blog, which, for a time, hosted screenshots of some of the coolest-looking band pages.

I have never denied being a total sucker for packaging, and a combination of the sexy page design, the exotic band-name, and a one-time listen to the tracks hosted on the page, convinced me to pay the $6 (or however much) it cost to download the album from iTunes.

I have definitely got my $6 worth (and more) from this record. The cool, sensual beats, spine-tingling melodies and driving basslines combine to form a rare quality: I can listen to Tanimura Midnight almost anytime. Whatever the mood, they seem perfect – because they are reflective and melancholy, or because they are chilled but uplifting, or peculiarly intense and exciting, or whatever. It means that they are great for playlists, and I find them to be a band people inquire about pretty regularly when I slip on one of their tunes.

They now have a bandcamp page, where you can download all 7 tracks (plus awesome artwork) for $3.33 – a bargain by anyone’s standards. I really recommend that you get hold of these tracks, because whatever your taste, I mean it, I see no reason why absolutely anyone would not love this refreshing blend of melodic, electronic and world music.

So, to reiterate, check out muxtape, myspace, and bandcamp for more.