The Fly May 2013 by The Fly

Issue n째160

May 2013

Kur t Vile

FREE

Savages Silenc e Yourse lf

The Debut Album THE-FLY.CO.UK

THE WORLD USED TO BE SILENT NOW IT HAS TOO MANY VOICES AND THE NOISE IS A CONSTANT DISTRACTION THEY MULTIPLY, INTENSIFY THEY WILL DIVERT YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT'S CONVENIENT AND FORGET TO TELL YOU ABOUT YOURSELF WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF MANY STIMULATIONS IF YOU ARE FOCUSED YOU ARE HARDER TO REACH IF YOU ARE DISTRACTED YOU ARE AVAILABLE YOU ARE DISTRACTED YOU ARE AVAILABLE YOU WANT FLATTERY ALWAYS LOOKING TO WHERE IT'S AT

YOU WANT TO TAKE P AND EVERYTHING TO YOUR HEAD IS SPINN AT THE END OF YOUR UNTIL YOU HAVE NO AND YET IF THE WORLD WOUL EVEN FOR A WHILE PERHAPS WE WOULD START HE THE DISTANT RHYTHM OF AN ANGRY YOUNG AND RECOMPOSE OU PERHAPS HAVING DECONSTRU WE SHOULD BE THIN PUTTING EVERYTHING SILENCE YOURSELF

Out 06.05.13 2

PART IN EVERYTHING O BE A PART OF YOU NING FAST R SPINE FACE AT ALL

LD SHUT UP

EARING M G TUNE URSELVES

UCTED EVERYTHING KING ABOUT G BACK TOGETHER

[REGULARS] IN THE STUDIO O4 WIN STUFF O6 JOHN KERRISON’S GRAPHIC CONTENT 1O STOP’N’CHAT 12 FILM 14 ONESTOWATCH 16 [FEATURES] KURT VILE 22 THE CHILD OF LOV 3O MOUNT KIMBIE 34 LEWIS WATSON 4O 44 [REVIEWS] ALBUMS 46 LIVE 56 SIX SHOTS 66 Welcome to issue 16O of The Fly magazine. I hope you enjoy our sexy new format and great-smelling new paper. This month I spoke to Kurt Vile about drugs, Neil Young and how mayonnaise has inspired his lyrical delivery. He is a great man. And not just because he looks like Otto from The Simpsons. I hope you enjoy browsing this punctiliously-presided-over and pleasantly pungent new issue. JJ DUNNING, editor The Child Of Lov, shot by Tom Oldham for The Fly, London, April 2013

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I N T H E S T U D I O

Smith Westerns Cullen Omori and Max Kakacek on guns, guitars and their grown-up third LP... Title: ‘Soft Will’ Producer: Chris Coady Confirmed Track(s): ‘Varsity’, ‘3AM Spiritual’, ‘Best Friend’, ‘Fool Proof’, ‘XXIII’, ‘Idol’ Studio: Sonic Ranch, El Paso, Texas Due: June 2012 Hi guys, happy to have LP three finished? Cullen Omori: “We’re happy, but it’s coming out six months after it was made. We recorded without a label. Some of the labels wanted to handle things differently and we felt we’d earned a long time in the studio. We weren’t going to rush it [like ‘Dye It Blonde’]. We weren’t disenfranchised or disillusioned; we just wanted to do THE-FLY.CO.UK

it properly. We’re stoked, it’s a good record and we want it out ASAP, but we also want Smith Westerns to be represented how we want.” It seems you’ve been away for a while... Cullen: “In fall 2011 me and Max got an apartment with Ziyad [keys] and started writing. ‘3AM Spiritual’ was written then. We’re slow writers and were super burned out from playing the same songs every night. It’s like painting the same picture...what the fuck do you do?” Max Kakacek: “We relaxed and hung around Chicago. I don’t think there was a moment where we thought of going back to school or stopping music.”

So you’re feeling more mature and committed now then? Cullen: “We’re surrounded by older bands. There’s a sense of arrested development. Our world is totally upside down; it’s alright to be 30 and touring, whereas our friends are graduating. That feeling is so much a part of my life. the debut had joke lyrics and ‘Dye It Blonde’ used love to talk about other things. ‘Soft Will’ is more honest. It’s not that the songs are darker, some have a sense of disillusionment, of having to prop yourself up.” How was El Paso? Cullen: “Chris [Coady] was great. Whoever we work with, if we get along we usually continue

that relationship. The studio had dorms and they cooked for us. The owner is a super eccentric dude with lots of guns and weird alcohol. He shared them pretty liberally. We shot a bunch of guns.” How did you want ‘Soft Will’ to sound? Max: “We wanted to settle. It’s slower and more melodic, not sadder, but

a little less pop happy. There’s an instrumental [‘XXIII’] that’s tongue-in-cheek epic. We’re braver, better musicians. We wanted clear vocals, to move totally away from lo-fidelity. That we use guitars and solos is distinctive, but in the grand scheme of things we’re making pop songs, these are just slower,

more brooding or something...” Cullen: “Writing pop songs from a guitar background makes it interesting. We all write together, we’re not on laptops in different cities. That’s a cool thing about us.” Does ‘Soft Will’ signal the end of an era? Cullen: “We’re grateful it’s turned

out like this. We’re all based in reality; we like making music and want to continue. All our records feel like the end of something. It’s a cool way to chart our growth as people and musicians. To say the music doesn’t reflect personality changes is wrong. Max, do you have anything to add [laughs]? Max: “No.”

BONUS FA C T O I D S Cullen hopes to include “a Smith Westerns action figure mascot” with the album Max’s favourite moment is the climax to ‘Fool Proof’ because it was recorded on his birthday. Awww :) Max has two dogs THE-FLY.CO.UK

Peace: one band for whom “DJ” will never mean “Dinner Jacket”

Free Entr y To Bloodshake! A new weekly club night comes to London this May... May sees the launch of Bloodshake, a brand new club night on Fridays at The Garage in Islington. On Bank Holiday Friday 3rd May, the first night will see Popstrangers play live, plus a DJ set from Peace. The Fly is also celebrating its new look – in your very nicely manicured paws this very instant – at the venue that night. THE-FLY.CO.UK

BLOODSHAKE, MAY LISTINGS: FRIDAY 3rd Peace DJ Set, Popstrangers (live), The Fly DJs FRIDAY 10th Superfood (live), Antidotes DJs FRIDAY 17th Paradise (live), BEAT DJs FRIDAY 24th Big Deal (live), O Children DJs, Kaya Kaya DJs

FRIDAY 31st Troumaca (live), John Major Lazer DJ, Noisey DJs To celebrate the launch, we are giving away 10 pairs of tickets to each night throughout May. Simply head to www.the-fly. co.uk/competitions For more information, head to www.bloodshake.net

Tom Oldham

W I N S T U F F

THE NEW ALBUM OUT 13TH MAY “PRIMAL SCREAM’S MOST SATISFYING ALBUM SINCE SCREAMADELICA” ★★★★ MOJO “PRIMAL SCREAM HAVEN’T SOUNDED THIS VITAL IN AT LEAST A DECADE” 4/5 Q INCLUDES IT’S ALRIGHT, IT’S OK & 2013 primalscream.net

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x x

x x x x

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No-2x x

x x

x x x

x x

Tribes

Thanks for sending in your questions x Tribes x x Twitter. x x Here x arexthe best x x for via ones, each winning a pair of tickets to x x x x x x x x x the Beck’s Live show at East Village Arts Club, Liverpool on Wednesday 15thxMay... x x x x x x x x @nickdobbs2 What’s your favourite song x x x x x toxplay xlive?x

x x

An answer to this question is always going to x x butxtodayx it’s ‘Abbey x x Road’. x x x change,

Art teacher. Art was just about the I xwas x x only x thing x (bar x music) x vaguely interested in at school. I x x x up to x my art x teachers. x x always looked Nice guys, art teachers. x

x x

x x Square Garden. It would have been insane. x

x x

@Eva_stewartjs What was x x x x x x different about recording in America? x x x x x x

x x x

‘Wish To Scream’ is released on Island on 20th May. x x x x x x x

88 x

x x

xTribes x x

It’s difficult to say. We’re massively proud of ‘Baby’, but To is honest x x ‘Wish x x Scream’ x x a more x x x portrayal of the band we are at heart.

x x xArts Club, x x x playx at East Village Liverpool, with support from Thumpers and x x x x x x x x JULY, on 15th May. Head to www.facebook.com/becksvier to get tickets. x x x x x x x x x

There was a completely different xattitude x in xthe studio x x inxLA. Itx was xa out very relaxed, but productive pace. The studio x x x x x x x (Sound City), although steeped inxhistory, wasx very unassuming and easy to work in, probably x x x x x x x x the reason so much incredible music came out xof the x place! x x x x x x x

x x

@ryanbakerx Is [new album] ‘Wish To x Scream’ x xgoing x to be x as xgoodx or better x x than x ‘Baby’?

‘No Woman No Cry’ with Bob xMarley. x x x x x

x x

disillusioned the music x x xwith x x x scene around us. We just wanted to make x honest x x x roll... x x x x x good, rock and Obviously, other people in our position felt the same, and x x x x x x x x x British guitar music is back where it should be.

x x

xLed Zeppelin, x x x x x 1973, Madison

@JeremyLuxemburg If you could perform one person x x x live xwith x x x (dead x or xalive)x x who would it be and what song x “WE x x x would x you x play? x x x x x

x competition x x is onlyxopen tox UK residents x xaged 18xor x This over with access to the internet and excluding employees of Beck’s and The Fly magazine. By entering the competition, you x x x x x x x x x agree to our full Terms & Conditions, which can be found at the-fly.co.uk/tsandcs. Closing date for entries is 12th May. All x x will be x responsible x x the cost x of their x own xtravel x applicants for and accommodation expenses incurred in connection with their attendance x xat the show. x x x x x x x x

which gig would you go to?

Kate Beck’sx Livex x Nash x plays x next x month’s x x x show at Camden Barfly, London on 11th June. x x questions x x for her x onxTwitter x x x Send us @TheFlyMagazine with the hashtag x x x x Sunday x x x x #beckslive byx midnight on 12th May. An independent judge will then select the x x x x x x x x x best 10 questions for the publication in the magazine. questions x x Those x x x willx win a x pairxof x tickets for the show!

THE-FLY.CO.UK x x x

could travel x @rabbitvsdove x x x If you x x x xin time, x

x x

axbit xWe were x

JUST WANTED x x x x TO MAKE GOOD, HONEST ROCK x x x x AND ROLL...”

@ep_morris You’ve been using 12-string guitars! just use x x Whyx not x x a 6-string? x x x

x x

What was your inspiration?

@Joe0ussai Which x x x x band x hasxbeenx the most x x inspiring for you?

x x

We use both, depending on what suits the x x song. x 12-string x x addsx a fullness x x particular that a six doesn’t, but then you don’t always xwantxthat.x x x x x x x

x x

become x @bl4ck_fli3s_ x x xHowxdid you x x x a band? x x

@joycekev What’s x x x xyourx favourite x xalbum? x

x x x x HOW ITx WORKS

x x

x x x x xrockers x x Tribes x x getx a grilling x x x from x x x thex fans, x x Camden-based you, x x x ahead x x of xtheir x Beck’s x x Live x x x in x Liverpool... x x x x x x show

@jojo2705 If you weren’t a x x x x x x x musician, what would have been your chosen career path? x x x x x x x

x x

As from childhood x a collective, x x x x x through x xto now, I’d have to say The Rolling Stones. x x x x x x Orx Bob xDylan.

x x

‘Dancehall’, our new single. It’s amazing to x x x x x x x x x see new the material get such great responses.

x x

L Ix V xE

x x

THE FLY PROMOTION

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»John Kerrison’s Graphic Content Korea Guidance: Preparing For The Apocalypse “…it’s the nationality equivalent of being in a relationship with Justin Lee Collins, except presumably with better jokes...” How we’ll spend our last day on earth Searching YouTube videos of nuclear detonations. Adding racist/homophobic/ grammatically offensive comments Making Chuck Norris memes Still complaining about the price of Thatcher’s funeral Frantically trying to complete an advanced Suduko Finding the best Instagram filter for mushroom clouds Relinquishing inhibitions by getting drunk and naked and sharing a mutual love for humankind

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By the time you’re reading this, I may already be dead. Best case scenario, I will be living underground in a disused tunnel eating the kind of tinned food incapable of expiration and holding court with a poster of Kate Beckinsale I Sellotaped to a football so it resembles a human face. I will have created an analogue form of the internet comprised of pornographic etchings I did with a stick, and will spend extended periods laughing manically at only mildly amusing stray cats. Basically, I will be slowly counting down the hours until my internal organs atrophy and I am relinquished from this hellish existence. In fact, by the time you’re reading this, you may also already be dead, which makes you the first human to have a reading age exceed their life expectancy. Bit too late to gloat about that now, but it’s important to take the small victories. I am of course referring to the impending apocalyptic war we’re assured is about to take place at the hands of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un – a spoilt, overweight child with an oddly two-dimensional face and overinflated sense of self-importance. In short, Asia’s Eric Cartman, with armament codes. HERE’S WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ALL-OUT THERMONUCLEAR WARFARE... If Kim Jong-un Takes Over The World... The North Korean regime is a curious one. Allegedly there are only 28 statesanctioned haircuts seen as appropriate for the populace, mobile phone and internet use are banned, and the public is required to cry on cue during moments of deemed importance. As far as I can tell, it’s the nationality equivalent of being in a relationship with Justin Lee Collins, except presumably with better jokes, and far less chance of an awkward night in listening to Dirk Benedict recall how okay it was being in the A-Team. If It Gets Apocalyptic Up In Here... If the movies have taught us anything, it’s that an apocalyptic world will either be an arid desert-like wasteland full of leather and Mel Gibson, or a flooded, oceanic wasteland full of leather and Kevin Costner. Hands up those who choose death. If We Start Looking For A Cause... Why would North Korea want to bomb South Korea? They both have similar climates, nice flags, and almost exactly the same name. They have so much in common, yet, like competitive Kardashian sisters vying for the same rhinoplasty appointment, there’s measurable tension. What could have caused this? That’s right, ‘Gangnam Style’ doesn’t seem so fucking funny now does it? If We Learn To Adapt... If post-apocalyptic fiction tells us anything, it’s that nuclear fallout causes one of two things – super powers, or physical anomalies. If you survive, don’t be surprised to find you have the ability to move at lightning pace, see through walls, or leap as high as a thousand-storey building. Conversely, also don’t be surprised if your children are born with their genitals on their back. Right at that point they can’t quite scratch. Oh, the humanity.

Who Will Survive The Apocalypse? X-Men style mutants

with utterly underwheming powers. List of underwhelming X-men LOCATO - always knows where his car keys are. TICKBOX - quite good at filling out forms. LACE - notices untied shoelaces immediately. DOUCHE - has the ability to dance like nobodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s watching, laugh like heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s never cried and share shit motivational Facebook updates without hesitation.

Four Horsemen with insider knowledge.

People with good Karma who deserved to live long, healthy lives.

The soulless and malevolent with enough money to build bunkers.

Cliff Richard While waiting for detonation, Cliff will start an impromptu sing-song causing those around him, blinded by rage, to replicate a playground pile-on. He will be shielded from the worst of the blast by the bodies of martyrs.

This tenyear-old boy.

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S T O P ‘ N ’ C H AT

PHIL DANIELS “I HAD A JOINT ONCE WITH JACK NICHOLSON...”

Hello, Phil. Alright mate? “Yeah, I’m alright.” You got to live the rock ‘n’ roll dream in [new movie] ‘Vinyl’, recording and writing some of the songs on the soundtrack. “It was really good to do, because Mike Peters wrote most of it. I wrote some of the lyrics and performed on some of them. So, we were kind of living the life we were portraying, which was really nice.” It’s not the first time you’ve been on a record of course - how often do people shout ‘Parklife’ at you in the street? “Well, the dustmen always shout it at me.” Of course, presumably when you’re getting rudely awakened by them? “Yeah. It happens every now and then people say something from ‘Parklife’- ‘Get on your pork life mate!’” You’ve always been associated with great British music, who would be in your dream band? “Well I’d have Steve Diggle from the Buzzcocks, I’d have Keith Moon on drums, THE-FLY.CO.UK

John Entwistle on bass - that’s two Who members I’ve got now!” Fond ‘Quadrophenia’ memories, then? “Yeah. I’d have Coxon on guitar as well, and there you go. Rick Wakeman on keyboards as well!” Well, every super group needs a 45-minute keyboard solo. Ever been mistaken for anybody else? “Yeah, a few times. Have you ever seen ‘Only Fools & Horses’? There was that character, I forget his name [long pause] Trigger! I’ve been mistaken for him a few times by people.” Must have caused some confusion when you played Grandad? “Yeah, I was Grandad on (prequel series ‘Rock & Chips’). I enjoyed doing that.” At least you didn’t have to fall through any bars. You’ve been around a bit, whose the most famous person you’ve ever met? “Most famous person I ever was… well, I had a joint once with Jack Nicholson. How about that?” That’ll do! How did that come about? “We did a play at the Royal Court years ago, when he was making The Shining, and he came to see it. He came backstage afterwards and said hello.” Was he as cool as everyone says he is? “It was far out man [laughs]. Yeah, he was nice.” As you’ve had a celebrity smoking buddy, has anybody famous ever told you that they’re a fan? “Err… I wouldn’t know that.” They’re probably too shy to say. Is there anything you’re afraid of? “Heights. I don’t like heights. I don’t like going near the edge of cliffs and things like that.” Probably a wise choice. Thanks Phil.

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DAVID RODIGAN’S RAM JAM MARK RONSON’S TRUE LOVES HARVEY’S DISCOTHEQUE THE PINNACLE OF INTERNATIONAL DJ & PRODUCER TALENT

ANNIE MAC JAMIE JONES DISCLOSURE SBTRKT JULIO BASHMORE SOLOMUN HEIDI FRANKIE KNUCKLES DERRICK CARTER DUKE DUMONT PITCH PERFECT, CRYSTAL CLEAR OUTDOOR SOUND SYSTEMS

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“The nearest thing you can get to watching a gig on the moon” The Evening Standard

30 June

plus special guests

Main Stage

Daughter Willy Mason Mwahaha Dawn Chorus Ignites

Med Biome Luke Sital-Singh Thomas J Speight Saturday Sun West Barbary

www.edensessions.com

June / July 2013

The Eden Project, Bodelva, St Austell, Cornwall, PL24 2SG Tel. 01726 811972 Registered Charity No. 1093070

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F I L M

Set In Stone Shane Meadows’ ‘Stone Roses: Made Of Stone’ documents the band’s comeback... Music documentaries are a tough prospect. Every classic we get is often adrift in a sea of crap, promotional guff designed to make you buy a ticket to the forthcoming stadium tour. So why should we care about this new documentary, following the THE-FLY.CO.UK

Stone Roses last year as they embarked on the oncethought impossible reunion gigs? Because behind the camera is Shane Meadows, director of ‘This Is England’, ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’, Britain’s answer to Spike Lee according to, well, us.

Meadows gleefully follows the band from press conference to the big homecoming gig in Heaton Park, and along the way each member of the band reflects on what drove them to split combined with some revealing archival footage. This is where the problem comes for those looking for an ‘inside scoop’, as the Roses are not exactly forthcoming. We learn that (a) making the second record was a difficult experience; and (b) this period meant they weren’t comfortable carrying on. Meadows is clearly not given

TA K E F I V E : G R E AT M U S I C D O C S

‘The Last Waltz’

(Martin Scorsese, 1976)

Martin Scorsese records a 1976 concert by The Band, featuring a host of names including Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

‘The Decline Of Western Civilisation Pts I & II’

(Penelope Spheeris, 1981 & 1988)

Seminal docs lifting the lid on punk and, latterly, hair metal. The LAPD tried to ban part I, so you know it’s good.

‘The Filth And The Fury’ (Julien Temple, 2000)

A fittingly anarchic account of the Sex Pistols’ rise and fall, the highlight being Johnny Rotten’s tearful lament over Sid Vicious.

much by the band themselves (particularly the joyless John Squire, seemingly riddled with resentment). So, Meadows goes in a different direction, and this is where the film gets interesting. A self-confessed super fan, he makes a film about what the band meant, and continue to mean - to ageing Mancunians with dubious dental hygiene, to the new generation brought up on their legend, to their contemporaries, and to Meadows himself, almost skipping with glee at the notion of filming their surprise

gig at Warrington’s Parr Hall. The enthusiasm is infectious, and as a love letter Meadows is allowed to fill the character void left by his clearly reluctant subjects- the fans waiting for tickets to the Parr Hall gig, and the beautifully filmed footage of the band in their natural stage habitat. Likely to please Stone Roses fans more than Shane Meadows fans, it’s not the tell-all movie many wanted, but we defy you not to be nodding along with a sense of implanted nostalgia by the end.

‘Some Kind Of Monster’

(Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, 2004)

Metallica’s James Hetfield gets sober and turns the recording of ‘St Anger’ into a remake of Spinal Tap.

‘Searching For Sugar Man’ (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)

Winner of the Best Documentary Oscar this year, the hunt for US musician Sixto Rodriguez became everyone’s must-see movie of 2012.

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O N E S T O WAT CH

DESTRUCTION UNIT Heavy, incontinence-inducing psychedelia... Words B en H omewood Photo K aleb M arshall

“I throw up all the time. Not much onstage, except that weird thing where you swallow it,” Destruction Unit’s Jesse Pukes splutters down a muffled line from Massachusetts. “You can be too loud if your brain begins to haemorrhage and you vomit and shit yourself...” ponders the Arizona band’s mastermind Ryan Rousseau via an eccentrically punctuated email delivered from Phoenix. Quizzing these druggy psych heads is unlike most interviews. For starters, they’re not even sure who’s in their own band (see below). Now, thanks to February’s ‘Void’ LP on Jolly Dream, they’re doing more press than usual, but you get the impression that their every interview will be as addled as this. Ryan conceived Destruction Unit in 2000, whilst playing in Jay Reatard’s band. It has since evolved raggedly from the nucleus of underground noise bands Avon Ladies, Marshstepper, Pigeon Religion, Naive and Digital Leather. THE-FLY.CO.UK

Guitarist JS Aurelius tries to clarify personnel in another email. “The line-up [pictured, right] is me, Ryan, Nick Nappa, Andrew Flores and Rustin Rousseau. Live, it fluctuates. Nick, Ryan and I are usually there, but Rustin, Andrew, Danny and Jesse rotate. It’s hard for us to even keep track of.” Regardless, their cortexmulching craft is more monstrous than ever. Next up are a new single, a split 12” with Milk Music and Merchandise and their first album for Sacred Bones. “It’s a cool and definitely weird sounding band - a point of entry into something strange. Ryan’s a martian, man. When I think about the band I wonder like, man, what even is this?” Jesse continues. Destruction Unit’s hypnotic thrash strengthens their friendships too - music replaces discussion when problems arise. “Spacing out and getting psychedelic is a lot easier than the complicated nuances of friendship. If Nick and I need to talk I’ll play didgeridoo and

he’ll play guitar.” Before the final drag of whatever it is he’s smoking, Jesse explains that he was perplexed by the band’s first studio experience (organised by Sacred Bones). “There were rooms specifically for smoking tobacco or weed; I didn’t know which one to go into man,” he finishes. Scanning Ryan’s email afterwards yields the following: “Soon America will sink into the deepest darkest depths of the earth. The MOLE people will eventually learn to love and enjoy these heavy sounds and spare our lives and use us to dig canal tunnels (sewer systems) for their waste. D.UNIT is not fun...it’s an endless battle with one’s will to exist in this world. Compromise is not an option. Our live show is only a spectacle to those who have never stared DEATH straight in the eye and said “SMOKE ME OUT MOTHERFUCKER!!” We can’t wait to meet Destruction Unit in person. ‘Void’ is out now on Jolly Dream.

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O N E S T O WAT CH

VÅR Danish punks explore nudity, foam cannons and Swedish children’s literature... Words B en H omewood Photo K ristian M dal

“There were a lot of naked boys...” Loke Rahbek is describing recording sessions for Vår’s debut album. He’s also laughing. Talking animatedly into his mobile from Denmark, the handsome blonde who cofronts the Copenhagen cold wave project with Iceage’s Elias Bender Rønnefelt is THE-FLY.CO.UK

brimming with positivity. Hopeful and romantic, ‘No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers’ is like a shard of bright sunlight slicing through the controversy associated with the city’s punk-spirited musical youth. “I think it’s a great record,” Loke continues, “It’s very appreciative, grateful and

happy. It has a lot to do with youth and the emotional aspect of being young; that’s very fragile and doesn’t take long to pass.” And the nakedness? “Oh yes. We recorded in summer in New York. In a tiny studio with no air conditioning that was like a sauna. We partied every night, we weren’t wearing shirts...I think it added something.” Loke remembers recording in Sean Ragon’s (Cult Of Youth) studio-tacked-onto-arecord-shop fondly, but Vår arrived in Brooklyn with zero preparation. After a name change from War (Vår’s translation is the more positive ‘spring’), Loke and Elias decided to recruit

two extra members and record an album from scratch. In two weeks. “It was an experiment. It’s a nuts idea to go to the other side of the ocean and see what you come up with. Only idiots would try that.” But Elias, Loke and bandmates Kristian Emdal and Lukas Højland aren’t idiots. Referencing Swedish children’s novel The Brother’s Lionheart, the album is poignant and beautiful, the bombed-out electronics of their early work treated with progressive TLC. The cover is a mirror, “So it’s everyone’s record” (their original sleeve idea of their faces on either side was abandoned). Built on friendship (“It’s our get-toknow-you project”) Vår has allowed Loke and Elias to grow both as musicians and men. “It’s ever-changing, it doesn’t feel like our project. It’s very special. We’ll never do the same thing twice.” Vår also lets them do whatever they like. “We met after people told us we were two versions of the same person. Things just happen to us, there’s never a simple explanation,” Loke says. But the best illustration of the innocence at the heart of Vår lies with foam cannons. “Do you know what a foam party is? Well, we of course said yes to DJing one and we played ‘The World Fell.” How did the (possibly shirtless) crowd react? “They danced.”

WAMPIRE Don’t fear this Portland duo’s bite... Words L isa W right Photo R obbie A ugspurger “A lot of the songs have a darker theme. It just naturally happened,” muses one half of Wampire’s core duo, Rocky Tinder. “‘The Hearse’ is pretty much about killing someone, ‘Spirit Forest’ is about going into a graveyard and then ‘Giants’ is about giant monsters and stuff...” But the idea that the band (completed by songwriting partner Eric Phipps and newer additions Cole Browning, Kevin Rafn and Andrew Meininger) are solely living life on the dark side couldn’t be more wrong. “People started labelling us as a horror-themed band, but I just think it’s really funny that that happened,” Tinder continues. “It’s definitely been a surprise. There seems to be no question about it from most people who haven’t even heard the record, so I can’t wait for those people to hear all the love songs or just these retrosounding jammers...” See, Portland’s Wampire might be fond of the ghoulish occult, but one listen to ‘Curiosity’ shows they’re far more free-spirited than the horror stories might suggest. Packed with weird’n’wonky “psych-pop” gems (“It’s psychedelic, but the songs start and stop. They have a pop song structure”), ‘Curiosity’ perhaps finds its nearest peers in the oddities of Ariel Pink or the first Unknown Mortal Orchestra album – no surprise really, since it was produced by UMO bassist Jacob Portrait. Spanning the band’s five years together, it makes for a concise document of Wampire’s journey so far, but you get the feeling that now is when things really start. “We took it a little too seriously for a while, but then we realised we just wanted to write cool songs and play rock’n’roll,” Rocky summarises. Put like that, it doesn’t sound so scary at all. ‘Curiosity’ is released on Polyvinyl on 13th May

‘No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers’ is released on Sacred Bones on 27th May.

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O N E S T O WAT CH

RAINY MILO Teenage realist and reluctant pop star is out to heal your hearts... Words R hian D aly Photo T om O ldham THE-FLY.CO.UK

“I’m not original,” states Rainy Milo’s Tumblr. “Just a physical collection of my influences.” It’s a bold statement for a new artist to make, but don’t take it to mean the 17-yearold Londoner is all out of ideas.

“I think you can be an original mix of things,” she ponders. “Like N.E.R.D, the choice of sounds that they mixed [was original]. They were mixing rock with psychedelic-sounding stuff and R&B. I thought it was really cool that they could take lots of different sounds and put them together.” Inspired by Pharrell and co. to move on from writing songs on the keyboard (“It was literally just key-bashing - it wasn’t an Alicia Keys thing going on...”), Rainy began bringing her lovelorn atmospherics to life. “I had to make myself be like, ‘Come on Rainy, it’s just YouTube. It’s not a big deal.’ So I uploaded something and people really liked it.” Rainy’s lying. “People” lost their shit. When she uploaded the ‘Limey’ mixtape last year, the pocket of the internet where new music is more important than current affairs nearly melted. Not that the object of our affections was bothered. “Having fans that care about you is way more important than having people writing about you online saying how good you are. I have some people that message me on Facebook and Twitter and it’s just really sweet.” Not about to let her head get turned by stardom, Rainy’s aims are simple and grounded. “If people are going through something and they listen to my music and feel understood? I think that’d be quite a nice achievement.” ‘Black And Blonde’ EP is out now on Limey.

FIRST ON 1.

1. Johnny Ill Band 2.Pharmakon 3.Pagan Rituals 4. Heavy Times 5. Lust For Youth

As Pharmakon, Margaret Chardiet makes music that sounds like the inside of a murderer’s head. Experience the New Yorker’s freaky noise on ‘Abandon’, due this month on Sacred Bones. Protomartyr and Johnny Ill Band are from Detroit. Their smudged and speedy garage rock will make you feel as dirty and greasy as anything in Motor City. Check out both bands (and the awesome X! Records) on Facebook. New York freaks endorsed by DIIV - Pagan Rituals promise much. Thankfully, their

bruising punk is as gnarly as you’d like. First demo ‘Hallowed Ground’ is on Soundcloud now. For his third full-length as Lust For Youth, Hannes Norrvide (friend to OTW stars Vår) has wrought a warm, beatheavy ambience that’s his most accessible yet. Get ‘Perfect View’ in June on Sacred Bones. Heavy Times look great and play loud. These Chicago blokes meld melody to big unfriendly guitars, creating something fun and slightly intimidating. Like a pub sesh with Gazza. Facebook.com/HeavyTimes.

California X drummer Cole has a side project. Longings make loads of noise and they don’t sound like they’ll ever turn it down or say sorry. Test your cochleas’ resolve at longings.bandcamp. com.

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Imper vious to stress, fed up with weed, inspired by mayonnaise meet Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mane man...

Vile Words JJ D unning Portraits T om O ldham

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KURT VILE

“MY PRODUCER THINKS I’M OBSESSIVE AND PARANOID...” It’s a long while after the advertised stage time, and a packed room in Camden is getting pretty excited. After an interminable wait, a door to the side of the stage opens and a cheer goes up. Kurt Vile, the man everyone is waiting for, fresh off the Eurostar from Paris, squeezes through the crowd. Finally, he’s here. This is it. Except, er, this isn’t actually it. For ages, nothing happens. As the minutes drag on, the hot room begins to nurture a simmering sort of murmur. People are getting a bit fidgety. At this point, things are in the balance. There’s a chance the atmosphere could curdle. Not that the tetchiness registers with the crouched figure on stage. Languidly, with all the haste of a man who is being paid a million dollars a second, Kurt Vile begins to fondle a few plugs. He checks a connection and idly wiggles a wire or two, while a couple of jacks THE-FLY.CO.UK

and sockets are set aside for more forensic examination later on. Infrequently, he sips from a glass of red wine. After twenty sweltering minutes, he speaks. “Uh, does anyone have a power adaptor?” If we couldn’t tell from the amiable, ambling albums, then right now it’s being acted out for us as a one-man play: Kurt Vile moves at Kurt Vile’s pace. In person a day later, our chat drifts easily between topics. Predictably, his train of thought is more of a stopping service than an express, but Kurt Samuel Vile – that’s his full and real name, according to his passport – is as unhurried and unflustered as you could wish him to be. Is he always this relaxed? He shrugs an easy shrug. “My wife says I’m a laid-back person – which I am – but if you ask [producer] John Agnello you’ll get a different answer. John does not think of me as being laid-back. He doesn’t see that side of me, because music is my world. He thinks I’m obsessive and paranoid.” Which brings us to his fifth album, the Agnello-produced ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze’. In the wider context of Kurt to date, it’s a meld of his ‘Childish Prodigy’ record – bigged-up to Neil Young by Kim Gordon, so he tells us – and the wispy acoustica of 2011’s ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’. Through a veil of frizz, Kurt says it’s a record that encompasses the essences of Philadelphia, fatherhood and – more exotically – full-fat condiments. “It’s like smearing on mayo!” Kurt grins, explaining why, on his new album, some single-syllable words last a whole line. “My wife always jokes that back in the day, when I moved out from my family home, I was like, ‘I’m not gonna get fat-free mayonnaise anymore, that’s bullshit!’ I just got full-fat and was liberal with it. I’d paint it onto the bread. So that’s the inspiration for my singing. It’s very lovingly spread.” At an Alex Ferguson-appeasing 96 minutes, this is one record that needs a lot of lyrical Hellman’s. The nine-and-a-half-minute opener, ‘Wakin On A Pretty Day’ contains a hazily-accurate couplet that seems to sum

ONE MAN BECAME A ROCK STAR, WITHOUT PLAYING A SINGLE NOTE. While Jack Daniel loved music, he had no musical talent of his own. So it’s a bit ironic that his whiskey became a mainstay at stadiums, clubs, garages, back alleys and rehearsal spaces around the world. If there was music being played, a bottle of Jack wasn’t far away. Then again, with Mr. Jack’s independent spirit and rebellious ways, it shouldn’t have come as a shock to any of us. See how we mix Jack and music at jackdaniels.com/music.

TENNESSEE WHISKEY

J A C K D A N I E L’ S

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KURT VILE up Vile’s vibe best: when he sings “Livin’ in a straight line, nothin’ always comes to mind”, it sounds like a self-assessment so exact you could call it a tax return. Meanwhile, the album’s even-more-sprawling 10-and-a-halfminute closer ‘Goldtone’ finds Kurt crooning “sometimes when I get in my zone, you’d think I was stoned, but I never, as they say, touch the stuff”; a claim that seems eminently disputable. C’mon Kurt. Surely you’re a bit of a stoner? “The music isn’t made from a drug,” he says. “I’ve smoked plenty of pot in my life, but these days I can’t really handle it. They say that it’s the most laid-back of the drugs, but it’s hard work. When I do have it, I tend to

“WEED IS VERY HEADY, MORE THAN ANY OTHER HALLUCINOGENIC...” regret it. This person you’re talking to – I’m completely different. I’d be like [narrows his eyes] ‘Who is this guy?’ I get paranoia, I get down on myself. I make out that I’m seeing things ‘as they really are’. There’s so many ways of looking at things, the reality of a situation is pretty dense. You get stuck; super introspective, dark and shit.” Is this every time? “Not always, no. I’ve had good experiences, but I’ve had enough. Sometimes I get totally stupid – I make jokes, whether

The Vile File Kur t’s philosphies, handily condensed... ON HECKLING:

“Sometimes girls are like ‘Let’s see your face!’ Everybody wants to see my face. I don’t necessarily like looking like Cousin It, but it is a defence mechanism when I’m playing.”

ON STRESS:

“Sure, behind closed doors I shout. I can only take so much. When I’m really stressed I do lose my temper.”

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they’re funny or not, at least I enjoy them. I’m sure you can take too much of all those things. Something about weed is very heady, more than any other hallucinogenic,” he gives us a furtive glance and a grin, before adding, “I would imagine.” There follows a sort of guilty pause. It’s as if Kurt’s just remembered he’s a Dad and that this is all going in print; talk of drugs has triggered his parental conscience. It must be a common sensation for him, as it’s a theme that’s addressed on the record. The disparity between home life (he’s a married father of two) and being a touring musician is summed up in the pairing of ‘Too Hard’ and ‘Shame Chamber’. The former is about trying to rein in the excesses of life on the road, while the latter is a skit on being in the doghouse when you’ve accidentally forgotten those promises and saddled yourself with a gigantic hangover. They’re back-toback, too, which Kurt rather gleefully refers to as one of his “little jokes”. “I was thinking about being a father, being on tour and missing my daughters; I promise not to party too hard...” he sighs, “but just imagine trying to endure a whole tour and being completely straight all the time? Like a 9-5 job?” He shakes his head. “Then again, you don’t want to be a complete waster either.” Home life in Philadelphia is something Vile returns to frequently in conversation. And in practice, too: the city and his Dad-hood are combined with the vinyl issue of the album. The wall behind him – covered in murals by Philly street artist ESPO on the standard release – has

ON MEETING HIS HERO:

“I met Neil Young once, for a second. Kim Gordon introduced us and I gave him my CDs. He took one and said ‘Oh, Kurt Vile?’ I was like, ‘Yep. Obviously you’re a big influence on me... I rip you off just a little bit.’”

ON SONGWRITING:

“You know when people say they woke up in the middle of the night and wrote it down? I’ve never done that. I’ve just thought ‘fuck that’. It’s not like I woke up with ‘Yesterday’ on my mind. What a cheesy moment.”

ON LIFE:

“I’m getting good at sort of being laid back about everything. Not letting it all beat me down.”

ON HIS HAIR:

“Everybody always talks about my hair. If I cut it off I might just look like a completely normal dork or something. It would be too weird.”

ON FIGHTING:

“Obviously I don’t look like a very tough person, but I picked one fight with this guy who was way bigger than me. I saw him at the park and he was like ‘You ready? Let’s fight.’ He started pummelling me.”

been made blank, and each individual piece of art has been turned into a sticker, so you can apply it wherever you like. Clearly, it’s the sort of kids-friendly thing that only a parent would think of. “The city informs my music in general,” says Kurt of his home. “If you look at the cover of my first album, ‘Constant Hitmaker’ [basically the ‘Wakin...’ cover, only with a more decrepit backdrop] that’s what I think about when I think of Philly. Walking home from my job through the buildings – seeing urban decay and a wide open sky – because the neighbourhood where I live is not in the centre of the city. I think even if I lived in the centre my music would be different.” As it happens, a filmmaker intrinsically linked with the city was nearly drafted in on the promotional shoot for ‘Wakin...’. Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director behind Philadelphia (as well as Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ music video) and The Silence Of The Lambs was nearly given the job. Sadly, he was too expensive (“too

bad it’s not the MTV generation...” rues Kurt, “things cost a certain amount of money”), and the more economical, but no-less cool, documentary-maker Don Argott directed instead. (As for ESPO’s mural, it’s no longer there, painted over by local authorities who mistook it for vandalism.) As we’re talking about the city, we have to ask. Has he ever met The Boss? “No, I never met him,” says Kurt, though he came close to interacting with him. “I did a cover of ‘Downbound Train’ [on 2011’s ‘So Outta Reach’ EP]; it’s fine to do that, you don’t need permission, but you do need permission to do a video. So, we asked Springsteen’s people if we could.” And what did they say? “They said ‘No.’” Oh. Maybe Kurt Vile has a little further to go before he’s as important as Bruce Springsteen. But that’s OK, we’re prepared to wait. ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze’ is out now on Matador. Kurt Vile performs at Field Day on 25th May. THE-FLY.CO.UK

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THE

Ch il d OF

Lov Last time we saw him he had a pineapple, now he’s preoccupied with other people’s lunch. Cole Williams, aka The Child Of Lov, chats chow... Words M ichael C r agg Portraits T om O ldham

The last time The Fly settled down with Dutch future-funk oddball The Child Of Lov he was proudly clutching a gold pineapple in a Tesco carrier bag and refusing to reveal his real name or face in any press pictures. Today, his lanky frame slumped on a battered brown leather sofa in a painfully cute coffee shop in east London, Cole Williams – for it is he – has arrived empty-handed. There’s not the merest hint of spray-painted fruit. In fact, the only food present is a sorry-looking plate of toast and a jar of peanut butter (Williams looks fairly non-plussed with the latter). In fact, having come straight from a photo shoot and with more interviews lined up, The Child Of Lov seems completely knackered. His voice is a barely audible croak, and the inevitable opening question about why he’s

chosen to reveal his identity now is met with the blank face of someone who realises he’s going to have to answer the question a lot. But seriously, why has he chosen to do it now? “I didn’t have a plan as to when to come out of the closet,” he laughs. “I’m not a person that sort of looks into the future like that.” But it’s the sort of thing that needs to have been pretty well thought-out, so why do it in the first place? “A lot of entertainment today is image first. I thought it might be refreshing to sort of have the first two songs out there and just give that out to the people. I tried to replace my image with the colourful artwork and photos with my face covered by clothing.” The tactic worked, with last November’s futuristic funk melange ‘Heal’ and the soupy THE-FLY.CO.UK

THE CHILD OF LOV blues of January’s ‘Give Me’ earning him a cavalcade of blog coverage and an NME Award. In fact, it was at the ceremony for the latter that Williams finally stepped out from behind the obscured imagery, and in some style - sashaying down the press run in a pillar-box red suit complete with black cape flung decadently over one shoulder and enough gold chains to fill a Cash Converters. It highlights a brilliant contradiction; on the one hand Williams seems shy and a bit of a loner, choosing to keep his music secret even from his friends and family, and yet on the other hand here he is showing up the indie glitterati by choosing not to dress like he’s off to the pub on a Friday night. “I wasn’t comfortable being out in the open about making music,” he mumbles. “I wasn’t one of these people at a party going ‘Oh, I make music too, do you want to hear it?’ I thought my music was weird.”

“I LIKE PICTURES OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN WITH FOOD...” And yet his coming-out ceremony, as it were, was bold and brilliant. “That’s why I did it. I was not going to wear a leather jacket and not comb my hair.” You get the feeling Williams doesn’t really enjoy playing up to people’s expectations of what musicians should be like. He doesn’t seem to like going out and the thought of a DJ set he’s due to do tonight looks like it’s about to bring him out in hives. He only has one album on his phone – D’Angelo’s ‘Voodoo’ – and has only really ever properly listened to about five albums in his life (he’s obsessed with J Dilla, Jai Paul and early Neptunes productions). Everything about Cole and his career so far seems to be one big happy accident, all helped by his spectacular self-titled album, which he mainly wrote, played and produced himself. When his American manager first heard one THE-FLY.CO.UK

of the songs, he was so impressed that he sent a thirty second clip to Domino label boss Laurence Bell, basically saying ‘If you like this snippet get in touch and you can hear more’. “It was quite smart actually,” Williams laughs. “So [Bell] came over to Amsterdam after hearing two songs, which is insane. It was weird and awkward at the same time.” From there he was signed, and through his manager’s connections added rapper DOOM to the drunken slur of ‘Owl’ and got Damon Albarn to add some production to a handful of tracks. Though Albarn was “laid-back” in the studio, Cole’s lack of musical exploration meant he didn’t really know who he was. It’s an ignorance he blames on the insular nature of his hometown, a place he’s not that keen on to be honest. “I wasn’t a big Damon Albarn fan, which is due to being from Amsterdam. We only know ‘Song 2’ in the Netherlands and only the chorus,” he explains. Admittedly, Cole’s solitary habits may also be partly to blame. “My music is made by one guy in his room, doing all the production, doing all the vocals,” he says of a bedroom solitude that has inevitably led him to the darker recesses of the internet. His Tumblr is littered with pictures, some Photoshopped, of the likes of Mariah Carey and Kim Kardashian eating or carrying their lunch. “I like pictures of beautiful women with food,” he says matter-of-factly. “But it’s very hard actually to find pictures of beautiful famous women with food.” Right... “They should eat more,” he offers helpfully, by way of advice. Okay... “I like Christina Aguilera’s new look as well, the weight she’s put on. It’s great.” For the first time this afternoon he looks incredibly happy, blissfully dreaming up new scenarios where Mariah and a sandwich might meet. Sensing the time is right to depart, we leave him to it... ‘The Child Of Lov’ is released on Domino Recording Co. on 6th May.

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Their debut pushed the frontiers of dubstep, now Kai Campos and Dom Maker return with ‘Cold Spring Fault Less Youth’... Words A lex D enney Portraits T om A ndrew

MOUNT

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KIMBIE

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MOUNT KIMBIE Three years ago, with the sub-bass frequencies bouncing round the capital starting to make waves in the mainstream, ‘postdubstep’ became the go-to term to describe producers nudging dubstep sounds into more experimental territories. Acts like Joy Orbison, Actress and Ikonika were all saddled with the ubiquitous tag, but alongside former touring partner James Blake, Mount Kimbie embodied the term like no-one else with their debut of that year, ‘Crooks & Lovers’. With its soulful, miniaturist samples and dreamily abstracted air that recalled the likes of Four Tet and Boards Of Canada, the album was a hit with fans and critics alike – but just as ‘post’-anything begs the question of what comes next, the London duo had no intention of rehashing the past when it came to recording a follow-up. “We were really happy with ‘Crooks & Lovers’ at the time,” says Dom Maker. “But now we’re sitting here three years down the line, we’ve changed as people, the whole landscape of that kind of music has totally gone crazy. So it’s been weird for us coming back after so long, and perhaps having people expect us to add to the sound of that record. Subconsciously, we’ve taken a big step away from it.” Dom says that, since the first album was released, the band’s confidence has grown exponentially as a live outfit. Signing to Warp in 2012, the boys sensed that the new record would need to reflect their emerging confidence as performers; a fact evident in first single ‘Made To Stray’, which, as well as being far and away the danciest thing they’ve done to date with its addictive, rolling drum loop, is also the first Mount Kimbie track to feature live-and-unsampled vocals from the band. “The new record definitely has a bit more kick, there are tracks which are a lot more dancey. Like with ‘Made To Stray’, where we’ve taken a drum loop and just been unafraid to go with it for the whole track. Then there’s the surprise element with the vocal coming in later on. It really shows a lot of what’s confident about the album.” Recording took place at Dom and Kai’s THE-FLY.CO.UK

studio in South London, and former Stereolab man Andy Ramsay’s gaff just down the road. In addition to the band’s own vocals, King Krule (Archy Marshall) lends his surly presence to a couple of tracks on the album, most notably on the swaggering ‘You Took Your Time’, which features the least likely opening line for a Mount Kimbie song ever: “Now did you see me / I killed a man / they all stayed down, but he chose to stand.” “It feels quite shocking in a way,” laughs Dom. “Archy’s a real prodigy. You just put him in a room and it’s like throwing paint at a wall, he’s got so many ideas going on. It was a good marriage straight away, which is exactly what we were hoping for. We didn’t wanna be firing things across over email, he needed to be as much a part of the writing process as we were.” Another track written with James Blake was never finished to conflicting schedules, but Dom says the ‘Overgrown’ producer’s evolution has been inspirational on Mount Kimbie’s own progression: “If you look at James, he’s done his own thing but still kept that core element to what makes him special, and it’s just great to see him exploring the power he’s got with his voice; how he harnesses all that. I think with his new album he’s really cracked that now.” Indeed, the band’s new album marks a shift towards more song-based writing analogous to Blake’s own. It’s also a far more ambitious and varied beast than ‘Crooks & Lovers’, a fact reflected by its rather hodge-podge title, ‘Cold Spring Fault Less Youth’ (“It’s kind of like fridge magnets,” says Dom, “in that each word can be moved around to mean what you want”). Whichever way you switch it, though, there’s no going back for Mount Kimbie: “We’ve got more on the line with this record. ‘Crooks & Lovers’ was more light and airy whereas this one is more dense and cloudy, it sounds quite powerful... Without doubt, it’s gonna be a more challenging record for people to get into. But the step feels quite natural at this point.” ‘Cool Spring Fault Less Youth’ is released on Warp on 27th May.

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Just another YouTube fly-by-night? Or a serious artist? It’s a struggle to get answers... Words D aniel R oss Portraits T om B unning

We’re having a bit of a problem with Lewis Watson. The Oxford-raised 20-year-old songwriter is apparently without blemish. Try as we might to get him to open up, it seems that any hint of chemical dependency, closeted wacko delusions or youthful excess is depressingly absent. You might think we’re looking for something that doesn’t necessarily have to be there, but look at the potential for him to go astray: he’s on his third EP (titled ‘The Wild’) and has already topped the iTunes singer-songwriter chart without being signed, he’s subsequently inked with Warners and, most importantly for any quivering pop star nurtured by a gambling major label, there’s a growing queue of teenage girls lined up outside King’s College Student Union as we chat in his dressing room. “Wicked!” he says, when we tell him that the line of about 20 girls seems to be growing. Hysteria is an incredible thing, and Watson seems

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LEWIS WATSON capable of commanding it. But now that it’s arrived, he’s feeling a burden. “It’s really cool that people are queuing early, obviously. It doesn’t annoy me, but they always tweet me and say ‘can you come out now?’ But it’s really early, and it’s really cold. I feel a bit bad.” It’s clear that, despite Watson’s stillimproving songwriting and aspirations for traditional acclaim, his audience at the moment is limited to those teenage girls. “When, if, I hit radio more and get that exposure then the audience will broaden. I love them, but it’s very hard to be taken seriously when your audience is only teenage girls. It’s a double-edged sword.” It’s not quite on the same level as #cutforbieber, but that double-edged sword has been a little too sharp at times. He explains: “I went to Australia in August. There was this girl called Lucinda, and she was very, very

“IT’S VERY HARD TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY WHEN YOUR AUDIENCE IS ONLY TEENAGE GIRLS...” strange. Wide-eyed all the time, she asked for a lock of my hair to put on her mantelpiece, she kept rubbing my back… It puts me in an uncomfortable position.” We turn instead to something that’s supposed to be more important: the songs. Incredibly for someone who cheerfully admits to an early fondness for Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, his songs are sweetly and quietly enigmatic. Not ground-breaking, but there’s enough intrigue to suggest an indefinable magnetism; the aspect of Lewis’ music that people are clearly becoming obsessed with. Nu-metal aside, Watson has clear thoughts on what he’s aiming at: “Guitar music, I like to call it real music, is coming back into fashion. Euro-trance-y pop and rap, it just got stale. People are bored of it. THE-FLY.CO.UK

Real music has a craft. It’s not about popping bottles in a club or pouring champagne on bitches.” Our struggle to break through the armour goes on. Stock interview phrases like “I’ve always been around music,” and “I’ve got a great team around me,” begin to seep in. There must be some malice, some intrigue, some darkness in there, surely? What’s his weakness? “If you punch me in the face I’d lose in a fight,” is the best he can come up with. “I don’t go to the gym or anything like that.” When pressed about how much control he has over how he’s presented and how much his “great team” have, the worst he can think of is a minor tussle over some EP artwork: “It’s got my name on it in the end, I don’t want to do it just so The Independent will like it… I appreciated them doing it because I’m not a professor of marketing music, but I think that your gut is very important.” Someone in Watson’s camp, or maybe Watson himself, is clearly keen to play the social media card, because he mentions it a lot (he says with pride that he had 25,000 followers on Twitter before he was signed – he now has over 50,000), and it’s a brilliant way to present his home-grown, boy-done-good image. In this confusing and breathless time in an artist’s growth, though, it would be a far greater gamble and a more honest one to simply let his songs be the reason he makes it. This whole numbers game, all the talk of social media and followers and audience, it can only lead to one question. Does Lewis Watson want to be liked by everyone, or does he not give a shit about what people think of him? “I’d love to be liked. I think my worst fear is to be a guilty pleasure. I’m having the time of my life, so I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter. Even if they didn’t like me as a person, if they liked the music that would be enough.” When we leave the building, before doors have opened for the show, the queue of girls has stretched around the corner. ‘The Wild EP’ is out now on Warners. Lewis Watson plays this year’s Great Escape Festival.

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T H E G R E AT ESCAPE 2O13 WE’RE HEADING TO BRIGHTON THIS MONTH, WHY NOT COME TOO? AS BRITAIN’S BEST NEW BANDS EVENT THE GREAT ESCAPE ENTERS ITS EIGHTH YEAR, HERE’S OUR ESSENTIAL RUN-DOWN OF THE MUST-SEE ARTISTS ON THE BILL... Lead by shows from the imperious Billy Bragg, Manchester genii Everything Everything, and recent number-one-album-maker Bastille, this year’s Great Escape looks set to be the best yet. There are over 350 bands playing in more than 30 of the city’s venues over three actionpacked days from 16th-18th May. Just a few selected unmissables on the bill include: Allah-Las, Beach Fossils, Cheatahs, Childhood, Chris Cohen, Mac DeMarco, Drenge, Klaxons, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Merchandise, MØ, Tom Odell, Parquet Courts, Pinkunoizu, Popstrangers, Nadine Shah, Swim Deep, Superfood, Tall Ships, Temples, Tribes and Lewis Watson. This year the festival welcomes the Adam Mickiewicz Institute from Poland as its lead international partner. The Institute will be presenting a showcase of the best in Polish talent from the Dome Studio on Saturday 18th May. Over on The Fly’s stage, we’ve headline slots from the enigmatic King Krule and the soulful Unknown Mortal Orchestra, as well as some old-school chaos from Brighton legends The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. THE-FLY.CO.UK

THE FLY STAGE, COALITION, THE ARCHES Thursday 16th May King Krule/Childhood/Wolf Alice/Girls Names Friday 17th May Unknown Mortal Orchestra/Chris Cohen/Hungry Kids Of Hungary/Popstrangers/Stevie Neale Saturday 18th May The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster/ Eagulls/Cheatahs/Deep Sea Arcade At the time of going to press, tickets are still available to buy from www.mamacolive.com/ thegreatescape, starting at £49.50 for all three days. There are also accommodation and ticket bundles available from the site, starting from £90. Single day tickets are sold out. Don’t forget to stay abreast of the latest happenings on Twitter @TheFlyMagazine and @TGE_MAMA during the course of the festival, as well as on Facebook www.facebook. com/wearethefly and The Fly website www. the-fly.co.uk.

Everything Everything

THE-FLY.CO.UK

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Daft Punk ‘Random Access Memories’

HHHHn(Daft Life/Columbia) Occasionally dazzling eighth album from the Cybermen in sequins...

“Let the music of your life lead right back to music,” sing funky manbots Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, on the lead track from Daft Punk’s first studio album in eight years. It’s a lyric that doubles as a manifesto-of-sorts for the rejuvenated French house duo, who, according to ex-Chic man and collaborator Nile Rodgers, “went back to go forward” in making their new record. But is he right? Certainly, some of the fuss surrounding first single ‘Get Lucky’ - a classy-but-basicallyunchallenging bit of disco fluff seemed more like wishful thinking borne of nostalgia than anything else. Even Pharrell Williams, who lends his flyboy falsetto here, got a bit carried away when asked in a recent video interview where he saw Daft Punk heading next. “Up,” he whispered piously, as if their ascension into heaven was somehow imminent,“...it’s where they belong.” THE-FLY.CO.UK

The more prosaic truth is that ‘Random Access Memories’ is an enjoyable, if sometimes screamingly overwrought, return whose pop cuts lean hard on Rodgers’ upscale rhythms, plus the lithe R&B of ‘Off The Wall’era MJ, 70s MOR and laid-back G-funk. ‘Give Life Back To The Music’’s liquid summer-funk makes for a great opener, while Pharrell delivers another standout in ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’’s seductive, West Coast pop. Julian Casablancas’ cut (‘Instant Crush’) succeeds, but the record is derailed somewhat by its moments of cringeing portent – the scenery-chewing, children’s choir-abusing epic ‘Touch’, and in ‘Contact’, the kind of curtain call even Muse would reject as too cheesy. The back-to-roots approach is underlined by the emphasis on live instrumentation – a reaction, perhaps, to Bangalter and de Homem-Christo’s hated EDM. Then again, it might just as easily be a natural progression for two French men in silly helmets staring down the barrel of their forties. Not a great leap forwards, then, but a welcome throwback nonetheless. ALEX DENNEY Download: ‘Instant Crush’, ‘Give Life Back To The Music’, ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’

“Hi! Have we got the right House?” Thomas Bangalter (left) and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo in their shiny helmets.

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Savages: about as far from Tribes as you can get. Left to right: Jehnny Beth, Ayse Hassan, Fay Milton, Gemma Thompson.

Savages ‘Silence Yourself’

HHHH

(Matador)

Banshees-indebted debut blasts its peers... Everything about Jehnny Beth and her cohorts is the total antithesis to 2013’s other hyped bands. Savages have a message. Savages take themselves seriously. Savages couldn’t give two shits if you’re having a nice time. Whilst the ghostly cries and mutters that open ‘Shut Up’ set up an uncompromising tone, it’s ‘I Am Here’ that really lays down Savages’ law. Underpinned by seismic, distorted guitars and Ayse Hassan’s uneasy basslines, it creeps along before descending into crashing crescendos with Beth’s repeated, unhinged, falsetto cries. “I AM HERE,” THE-FLY.CO.UK

she barks, as if her presence is in itself a challenge. Sure, there are certain sonic traits that repeatedly recur: hypnotic, angular basslines. Crashing, Banshees-like and distortion-laden guitars. Strained, dead-eyed vocals. A complete lack of compromise anywhere. Yet, whilst that means that it takes a few listens for the intricacies to fully come through (alongside stormy brooder ‘Strife’, early single ‘Husbands’ is still the most sonically independent offering here), it fundamentally endows the record with a clarity of vision that justifies all the hyperbole. In these times of austerity, Savages’ monochrome angst is 2013’s much-needed reality check. LISA WRIGHT Download: ‘Strife’, ‘Husbands’, ‘She Will’

ALBUM REVIEWS

Bibio

Benga

‘Silver Wilkinson’

‘Chapter II’

Charlie Deerhunter ‘Monomania’ Boyer & The HHH Voyeurs

HHHHn

HHH

(Warp)

(Columbia)

Easing off on the souland-funk-fired sounds of his last two records, ‘Silver Wilkinson’ is a partial return to the folky ambience of Midlands producer Stephen Wilkinson’s early career. Tim Buckley and Terry Callier’s meandering, jazz-flecked styles both stand out as influences, along with the by-now millstone comparison with Boards Of Canada. As ever, Wilkinson’s ability to sculpt his reveries into evocative, detail-rich compositions – with Bibio, ‘hazy’ and ‘introverted’ are never euphemisms for thinly-produced - lifts this a notch above his peers, but it’s effervescent cuts ‘You’ and ‘À Tout À L’Heure’ which mark the LP’s best and boldest departures. ALEX DENNEY

He started out making beats on a Playstation, but nowadays Beni ‘Benga’ Adejumo drops bangers that would suitably soundtrack shoot-em-ups. Alongside his Croydon counterpart Skream, Benga blueprinted dubstep, before redesigning it for the masses via crossover super-group Magnetic Man. On ‘Chapter II’, his major-label follow-up to ‘Diary Of An Afro Warrior’, his inner-city sound gets poppier still, though diversification keeps things interesting: ‘Warzone’ is angsty R‘n’B with shades of Blake, while ‘Forefather’ is all smoke-and-lasers grime-lite. Pleasingly, Benga never loses sight of his roots: ‘To Hell And Back’ deploys good ol’ teeth-gnashing bass wobble. JAMIE SKEY

For most bands, putting out an album just after forming would be a mistake, a sub-standard waste of a debut. For Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs, it’s the opposite. Bringing together their first 15 months in existence, ‘Clarietta’ bristles with notions of NYC art-punk (vocally, Boyer’s a deadringer for Tom Verlaine) and the trappings you’d associate with British eccentricity. It’s a sensory experience throughout: ‘I’ve Got A River’ draws you in and wraps you up before ‘A Lion’s Way’ dizzies and sways into the ferocious, spitting-back-out pummel of ‘I Watch You’. How good will they be when they grow up? RHIAN DALY

Bradford Cox has described ‘Monomania’ as a “very avant garde rock ‘n’ roll record”, which might be overegging it a bit. What we might say is that the Atlanta group’s new LP puts the harsh in predecessor ‘Halcyon Digest’’s mellow - but the raspy sonics can’t mask some of their most shrug-worthy songs to date. Guitarist Lockett Pundt contributes a chiming highlight in ‘The Missing’, while Cox plays the glassy, borderline disco of ‘T.H.M’ refreshingly straight - but treading water’s still treading water, no matter how much noise you make in the process. ALEX DENNEY

Download: ‘À Tout À L’Heure’

Download: ‘Warzone’

Download: ‘I’ve Got A River’

Download: ‘The Missing’

‘Clarietta’

HHHH (Heavenly Recordings)

(4AD)

THE-FLY.CO.UK

ALBUM REVIEWS

Ghostpoet

Little Boots

‘Some Say I So I Say Light’

‘Nocturnes’

HHHH (Play It Again Sam)

HHHHn (On Repeat Records)

Mount Kimbie ‘Cold Spring Fault Less Youth’

HHHHn

MS MR ‘Secondhand Rapture’

HH (Columbia)

Macho rappers, you’ve been warned. Ghostpoet is back, brooding and brilliant as ever, to argue that doom and gloom really are the new bitches and bling. ‘Some Say I So I Say Light’ follows on neatly from his 2011 debut, with its bleak beats, icy ambience, and quietly charismatic guest vocals from Lucy Rose and Gwylim Gold adding sparkles of sensitivity. But it’s Ghostpoet’s dense, enigmatic prose that really shines, with its mumbled mix of harsh realism, mysterious metaphor and painful honesty. He might not be that gangster, but it takes a special rapper to succeed at sounding this vulnerable. ROBERT COOKE

Since her debut LP ‘Hands’ faded from memory, Little Boots has been thought of with fond nostalgia tempered by mild cringing. Returning four years later with ‘Nocturnes’ though, she’s ready to prove us all wrong. Where ‘Hands’ felt too concerned with having edge, ‘Nocturnes’ is freer, darker and finer. Comeback single ‘Motorway’ opens with elegance and serenity whilst ‘Beat Beat’ is a Metronomyskewed ode to all-night dancing. The album’s finest point comes at its close though, the galactic womp of ‘Satellites’ skittering into club banger territory – suggesting Little Boots is more at home as a creature of the night. RHIAN DALY

Mount Kimbie’s second album knows exactly what it’s doing. It’s annoying, complex and unexpected. The warm whoosh of ‘Crooks And Lovers’ has dried up, in its place labyrinthine loops and vocals. Lots of vocals (King Krule is on two tracks). Untangling these songs yields plenty: ‘Lie Near’ offers repetitive immersion and (handily) ‘Slow’’s dribbling, stupefied shuffle is best described as a slow-gurner. But, sitting proudly in the middle, it is ‘Made To Stray’ - Mount Kimbie’s most accessible track ever - that crams this record’s contrary, hardto-get appeal into a nutshell. BEN HOMEWOOD

Four of the first five songs on New York artpop duo MS MR’s debut album appeared on last year’s ‘Candy Bar Creep Show’ EP. They’re by far and away the best songs here, with the creaking electro stomp of opener ‘Hurricane’ the perfect amalgam of their influences (think a slightly perkier Lana borrowing Florence’s ‘Machine’), while the more upbeat ‘Ash Tree Lane’ shows a sunnier side. The rest has good moments – the sky-scraping chorus in ‘Fantasy’, for example – but ‘Secondhand Rapture’ feels overlong, hampered by a lyrical palette that seems to mirror the relationship struggles of a Twilight film. MICHAEL CRAGG

Download: ‘Them Water’

Download: ‘Satellites’

Download: ‘Slow’

Download: ‘Hurricane’

THE-FLY.CO.UK

(Warp)

Vampire Weekend: roof and young manhood. Left to right, Rostam Batmanglij, Ezra Keonig, Chris Tomson, Chris Baio.

Vampire Weekend ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’ HHHH n(XL Recordings) Preppy New Yorkers, gently reconfigured... According to Ezra Koenig, ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’ is the final part of a trilogy that started with 2008’s perky, self-titled debut, and continued with ‘Contra’ two years later. While it’s not exactly a mould-breaker – overall the guitar riffs are still snappy, the drum beats bouncy, Koenig’s lyrics still, er, flouncy – new producer Ariel Reichstadt (Charli XCX, Usher) has tugged the band in fresh directions. Weirdly pitched vocals add texture to the harpsichord plonks of ‘Step’, while a marching band beat and a sweeping, horror-style choir underpin the mournful

fog of the delicate ‘Hudson’. It’s only when Vampire Weekend play it safe, as on the chugging ‘Unbelievers’ and the Paul Simonesque ‘Everlasting Arms’, that the album feels a little out of puff. Much better are the charging ‘Finger Back’, complete with spoken word mid-section, the slow-burn ‘Hannah Hunt’ (featuring a Koenig vocal that feels impassioned rather than coolly unemotional) and ‘Ya Hey’, which seems to merge about five different songs. Though ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’ is flawed - there’s no stand-out single and the low-key ‘Obvious Bicycle’ is far too sombre to justify its billing as the opening track – repeat listens to this third act are rewarded. MICHAEL CRAGG Download: ‘Finger Back’, ‘Hannah Hunt’, ‘Ya Hey’

THE-FLY.CO.UK

In check: Laura Marling

Laura Marling ‘Once I Was An Eagle’

HHHHHn(Virgin)

An edifying hour from Hampshire lass... ‘Once I Was An Eagle’ is ambitious, but thankfully it’s not a concept album about the early career of Don Henley. Instead, it’s the longest and best Laura Marling record yet: a 63-minute modern folk opus that should earn the Hampshire lass her third Mercury Prize nomination. The first four tracks tumble into each other effortlessly, establishing some recurring themes: power games in relationships, and the ability to be loved. Then comes the thrilling thrash of ‘Master Hunter’, on which Marling snarls: “You want a woman who’ll call your name / It ain’t me, babe.” She turns THE-FLY.CO.UK

in an instant though, and the very next song, ‘Little Love Caster’, is delicate and flamenco-like. Around the halfway mark, things become warmer and more wistful. ‘Once’ and ‘Where Can I Go?’ showcase Marling’s melodic gifts, and ‘Love Be Brave’ sees her finally surrender to love. “Here comes a change over me,” she sings, and it’s heartwarming stuff. There’s an occasional slip into folky hokum (hello ‘Undine’), but even then, Marling will hold your attention. By the end of 63 totally-engrossing minutes, you’re left thinking that if she wanted to write a concept album about Don Henley, she could probably pull it off. NICK LEVINE Download: ‘Once I Was An Eagle’, ‘Master Hunter’, ‘Love Be Brave’

ALBUM REVIEWS

Neon Neon

Noah And The Whale

Primal Scream

‘Heart Of Nowhere’

‘More Light’

HHn

HHHHn

Neon Neon, aka Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip, are back.This ten-track opus is about Italian leftwing activist and book publisher, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. Obviously. Featuring a motley crew of cameos from the likes of ‘Boys (Summertime Love)’ chanteuse Sabrina, who coos over the excellent synth-pop tapestry ‘Shopping (I Like To)’ and actress Asia Argento, as well as regular collaborator Cate Le Bon, it’s all a bit of a mess, but often brilliantly so. Highlights include the pulsing electro funk of ‘The Jaguar’ and ‘Mid Century Modern Nightmare’, which recalls the bouncier end of Rhys’ other job. MICHAEL CRAGG

(Mercury)

(First International)

When our parents’ generation have passed and we’re the grownups of the world, we won’t have Dad-rock any more. What we will have though is Dad-indie, and it will have started with this Noah And The Whale album. ‘Heart Of Nowhere’ has much in common with Status Quo – it is violently un-confrontational, startlingly uninventive and no fun whatsoever. At least ‘All Through The Night’ has the balls to sound a tiny bit like Beach Fossils. The rest makes Mark Knopfler look like Mark E Smith. Only listen to this if you want to embarrass your kids in 20 years’ time. ROBERT COOKE

Download: ‘Mid Century Modern Nightmare’

Download: ‘All Through The Night’

In a recent interview for Topman magazine (who else?), Bobbie Gillespie bemoaned the lack of anti-establishment gusto in today’s modern musician. Since Ben Howard seems unlikely to speak out against the Bedroom Tax, it’s over to Primal Scream to fight the good fight. ‘Culturecide’ and ‘2013’ unleash rapid-fire yowls of political discourse – “Breezeblock prison, somebody’s home!”/ “Every generation buys the lie!” - while ‘Sideman’ has dimension-warping synths. ‘More Light’ is prosaic, but also proof that when you want to rally a new generation, it’s not Marcus Mumford you want holding the megaphone. CHRIS MANDLE

‘Pleasure’, Pure X’s debut, was an exploration of its title. Like a steamy window in an Amsterdam alley, it bathed in sexy, redlit air. ‘Crawling...’ replaces intangible ache and throb with clarity and pain. Written while singer Nate Grace’s leg was seriously injured, it’s tortured and frustrated. ‘Things In My Head’ and ‘Someone Else’ are beautiful, their clear vocals a continuous surprise, such is the contrast to ‘Pleasure’. The stoned stagger of ‘Written In The Slime’ and ‘Rain At Dawn’ offer more familiar gratification but, whilst often brilliant, ‘Crawling...’ makes you wonder why Pure X have swapped pleasure for pain. BEN HOMEWOOD

Download: ‘2013’

Download: ‘Rain At Dawn’

‘Praxis Makes Perfect’

HHHHn (LEX Records)

Pure X ‘Crawling Up The Stairs’

HHHHn (Merok)

THE-FLY.CO.UK

ALBUM REVIEWS

The Child Of Lov ‘The Child Of Lov’

HHHHHn (Domino Recording Co.) The Child Of Lov likes to call his music “intergalactic R&B” or even “pineapple camel funk” on occasion. The Dutch musician’s debut is a richly flavoured, experimental set recalling the eccentric likes of George Clinton, Cee Lo Green and OutKast. And if A-grade collaborators Damon Albarn, DOOM and Thundercat didn’t tip you off to this guy’s talent; well, just listen - ‘Fly’ is the great follow-up single to ‘Crazy’ Gnarls Barkley never quite mustered, ‘Warrior’ sounds like TV On The Radio doing R Kelly, ‘Give Me’ is Funkadelic rewired for the hip-hop age. ALEX DENNEY Download: ‘Fly’

THE-FLY.CO.UK

Tribes

Vår

Wampire

‘Wish To Scream’

‘No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers’

‘Curiosity’

HHH (Island) Tribes’ first album – a shamelessly fan-in-thehair, foot-on-the-amp collection – too timid for your taste? Good news: ‘Wish To Scream’ shows no such restraint. Ballad follows ballad follows ballad; there are saxophones, trumpets, mandolins, gospel moments and – like Razorlight’s second effort – zero attempts to hide how badly they want America to love them. ‘It Never Ends’ sings of “the magic kingdom of the perfect song”, while on ‘One Eye Shut’ it sounds like Johnny Lloyd is clad in pink silk shirt, aggressively serenading a couple as they try to eat their dinner. Still, it’s a dose of decadence in otherwise dreary times. JJ DUNNING Download: ‘How The Other Half Live’

HHHHHn

HHHH (Polyvinyl)

Vår recorded their debut over two sweaty weeks in New York. They were topless most of the time. On a night off they stayed in an Atlantic City hotel room with a hot tub in the middle of it. Imagine Loke Rahbek and Elias from Iceage submerged in bubbles. The grin that might elicit is similar to ‘No One...’’s effect. Nostalgic, positive and romantic, it pumps new warmth into Copenhagen’s cold and concrete punk movement. As drums thud beneath smoky atmospherics and vocal interplay, it’s impossible to be unmoved by these two boys who used Vår to become best friends. BEN HOMEWOOD

Whatever Portland’s smoking, we want some of it. First the city provided a home for the soulful psych-rock of Unknown Mortal Orchestra – now their buddies Wampire have made the year’s most freaked-out pop record. ‘Curiosity’ opens with ‘The Hearse’ - a headrush of sixties synths and trippy basslines - then ‘Giants’ clouds rockabilly riffs in a purple haze. For the comedown there’s ‘Out Of Money’, which sounds like Summer Camp taking a magical balloon ride with Tame Impala, and the lovesick moment of clarity that is ‘Trains’. In fact, ‘Curiosity’ is so addictive and intoxicating that really, it ought to be illegal. ROBERT COOKE

Download: ‘The World Fell’

Download: ‘I Can’t See Why’

(Sacred Bones)

The National gallery. Left to right: Bryan Devendorf, Bryce Dessner, Matt Berninger, Scott Devendorf, Aaron Dessner.

The National ‘Trouble Will Find Me’

HHHH

(4AD)

More magnificence from Berninger and bros... Nine tracks in to ‘Trouble Will Find Me’, Matt Berninger declares, “I will not spill my guts out.” What exactly, then, does he think he’s been doing for the past 14 years? As a lyricist he’s surely one of the finest living articulators of selfdoubt and fear, and the band’s latest effort only solidifies this. How often do you find someone with the ability to sing about the thoughts that steal your breath and stop your heart late at night; people you should have treated better, responsibilities you’re not quite ready for? Nowhere near often enough.

Opening with the gentle strums of ‘I Should Live In Salt’, ‘Trouble…’ is a light rain shower rather than a heavy storm. But there are still thunderclaps and lightning bolts to be found in the pounding ‘Sea Of Love’ and strikingly euphoric ‘Graceless’, both arguably amongst the most arresting tracks they’ve ever produced. More than all this, though, ‘Trouble...’ should continue to gather The National a new audience (detractors have always levelled accusations that the band are “boring” - an absurd and myopic accusation that this record should dispel with finality). In short, album number six is another confessional masterpiece. SOPHIE THOMSETT Download: ‘Sea Of Love’, ‘Graceless’, ‘I Should Live In Salt’

THE-FLY.CO.UK

1. Peace, 2. Superfood By Danny Payne

LIVE REVIEWS

Peace / Superfood Club Academy, Manchester 12/04/2013

As one band breaks another emerges: Birmingham’s heroes tr y their best to outdo one another... Sometimes you see a band for the first time and you’re struck by who they remind you of. Other times, you see a band and it’s the swagger you take away, the insouciant confidence. And sometimes – sometimes – you see a band that are just themselves, that don’t pose and preen like peacocks because they know how good they are and are calmly waiting for the 2.

rest of us to catch up. Brummie four-piece Superfood (who have been plying their trade variously as Junnk and Baby 100 and may have to shortly change their name again if a New Zealand jazz fusion ensemble have any say in the matter) fall firmly into the latter camp. They walk on to the stage as if they’re crossing the street and play us maybe half a dozen tracks. Each grabs you, tickling that part of your brain that recognises things you’d like to hear again, learn the words to and share with other people. Their songs are rocky at times, pretty when they need to be, consummately played and hooky too. They depart and Peace, clearly enjoying their ongoing ascent, launch on to the stage. Ripping through ‘Delicious’, ‘Follow Baby’ and ‘Lovesick’, the crowd becomes frenzied, before ‘Wraith’ and ‘California Daze’ tip them into a tumult of excitement. Tonight, the overwhelming sense is that we’ve seen the next big thing and the last big thing side by side. PETER WILD THE-FLY.CO.UK

1.Swans by Josh Halliday, 2. Jacco Gardner by Atze de Vrieze, 3.Wu Block by Rachael Wright, 4. King Krule by Gideon Marshall

Swans Stylus, Leeds 05/04/2013 For Swans, even leaving the stage takes ages. Grizzled, beaming frontman Michael Gira is taking his time with his exit at the end of a two-hour set that stretches half a dozen pieces of music to their absolute limits. And why shouldn’t he lap it up? He’s 30 years into his band’s career and it’s hard to imagine they’ve ever sounded better – or louder. It begins as an endurance test. Gira gently thumbs the deafening opening chords to ‘To Be Kind’ before the song’s torrential climax prompts a mass shuffling of hands in pockets as fans fumble around in urgent need of earplugs. The band aren’t fazed: they simply focus on sustaining their overwhelming volume, but for the audience it’s a self-conscious experience. We’re as brightly-lit as the band and the cacophony is making our clothes shake. Repetition is Swans’ religion, whether it’s dark drones, industrial THE-FLY.CO.UK

clangs or towers of feedback. But there’s no release, no resolution, just an insurmountable tension. “We are dedicated to the preservation of your species,” is all the preacher-poet Gira has to say between songs, and it’s cryptically powerful. Because really, what is the point of being human if not to experience this band? ROBERT COOKE

Jacco Gardner Motel Mozaique Festival, Rotterdam 06/04/2013 It’s a none-too-enviable task to have to fill in for an indisposed festival headliner. Harder still when you’re replacing someone due to play with a full orchestra. Nevertheless, with rising star Woodkid forced to cancel due to illness, it falls to Dutch native Jacco Gardner to headline Rotterdam’s premiere new band festival. Luckily for everyone, Jacco is probably the best thing to come out of Holland since Steve McLaren’s accent. Like an enchanting, be-

hatted combination of Syd Barrett and Bill And Ben The Flowerpot Men, the elfin star peddles a line of dreamy psychfolk that exists in a gauzy, 60s wonderland where daisy chains, love and perceptionenhancing drugs are the only currency. Backed by a full band and a host of suitably sepia-soaked video clips, cuts from Gardner’s recent debut ‘Cabinet Of Curiosities’ sound utterly magical. ‘Clear The Air’ is all paisley haze and xylophone twinkles before breaking down into the dark side, whilst the album’s title track dances by on harpsichord flourishes and ‘The Riddle’’s mellotron-effect chirps come on like an idyllic cross between The Zombies and early Pink Floyd. Get well soon Woodkid, but we got by just fine without you. LISA WRIGHT

Wu-Block 100 Club, London 18/04/2013 Tonight is billed as a straight-forward Ghostface Killah show, and with a fantastic new album to hawk (ever the

diligent salesman, he reminds us to ‘cop that’ at the end of the set) the assembled wristbandgrabbers at the 100 Club are undoubtedly expecting to hear said album. However, when D-Block alumnus Sheek Louch joins him on stage and we’re repeatedly told that this is a WuBlock show (referring to the duo’s collaborative album of the same name from last year), it’s clear that we won’t hear a peep of the new record. Which is a shame. But it does afford us a chance to see how these titans work together. Ghostface is half sad bear, half barking hyena as he lumbers around the stage. Each verse is a tense explosion, his once tight-throated yowl delightfully ragged with age and grumpiness. Close-eyed for much of it, he’s still furiously entertaining (and, frankly, a better stage presence than Sheek Louch), highlighted by the concluding twominute whistle-stop tour of his back-catalogue, which is reverently received. The billing isn’t important – we have been schooled. DANIEL ROSS

LIVE REVIEWS

King Krule Fred Perr y Sub-Sonic Live @ The Garage, London 28/03/2013 Archy Marshall is in a dangerous position. Back behind a microphone in London, after lively moodsetters Arlissa and Night Works, he’s staring at the same faces. Expectant,

impatient and restless, the expressions of his fans and the interested pocket of the industry betray a craving for something to happen. Will they stop caring if his debut album and career trajectory remain intangible? Typically, the 18-yearold is both frustrating and electrifying, and slopes off stage leaving little more than another memory to accompany DJ sets from Ghostpoet

and Childhood. But - thick with soul and tempered with spiky aggression - it’s an unforgettable one. Poetic and romantic, Archy’s voice burns as the songs he dreams up in a Surrey Quays two-bed seep forth. Stark guitars and dribbling bass copulate during a set pockmarked with jawslackening moments. Caustic isolation (‘Rock Bottom’) and dopey disdain (‘Bleak

Bake’) bleed into a moment of familiar realisation. A solo performance of ‘Baby Blue’ feels like a one-onone with everyone in the room. Archy’s eyes bore into your skull, his voice fills your ears, his words strangle your heart and you think, dangerous or not, it doesn’t matter what Archy Marshall does, the important thing is that he’s doing it. It won’t be the last such moment of realisation. BEN HOMEWOOD THE-FLY.CO.UK

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THU

FRI

NEWCASTLE O2 ACADEMY MANCHESTER RITZ MANCHESTER RITZ EXTRA DATE ADDED LIVERPOOL O2 ACADEMY BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY PORTSMOUTH PYRAMID CARDIFF UNIVERSITY BIRMINGHAM INSTITUTE NORWICH UEA NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY SHEFFIELD O2 ACADEMY LONDON FORUM LONDON FORUM EXTRA DATE ADDED

WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER

Nottingham Rock City Monday 29 April

Norwich Waterfront Tuesday 30 April

Sheffield Leadmill Bristol O2 Academy Thursday 02 May

TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

BRISTOL O2 ACADEMY

MANCHESTER RITZ GIGSANDTOURS.COM

ALT-TICKETS.CO.UK

SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER

BIRMINGHAM INSTITUTE

deez

Wednesday 01 May

GIGSANDTOURS.COM

GIGSINSCOTLAND.COM

dar win

Manchester Ritz

OXFORD O2 ACADEMY

FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER

‘Arc’ new album out now SJM Concerts by arrangement with Coda & Scruffy Bird Management

Friday 26 April

SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER

GLASGOW O2 ABC

GIGSANDTOURS.COM | 0844 811 0051

Saturday 27 April

MUSE.MU

WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER LONDON O2

SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE

GIGSANDTOURS.COM

JAMESBLAKEMUSIC.COM O2SHEPHERDSBUSHEMPIRE.CO.UK

Plus guests

SAN CISCO

London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire Friday 03 May

Liverpool Sound City Saturday 04 May

Leeds Live at Leeds Sunday 05 May

Edinburgh Liquid Rooms gigsandtours.com | gigsinscotland | alt-tickets.co.uk

April / May

2013

0844 811 0051 darwindeez.com New Album Songs For Imaginative People out now An SJM Concerts, DF & DHP presentation by arrangement with The Agency Group

LIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS & PRIORITY BOOKING

JAMESBLAKEMUSIC.COM •

•

FIND US ON

PSB_FLY_qtr_Layout 1 23/04/2013 11:24 Page 1 AN AEG LIVE & FRIENDS PRESENTATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS IS NOW AGENCY

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING I N F O R M - E D U C AT E - E N T E R TA I N

D E B U T A L B U M R E L E A S E 6 M AY “GENUINELY ORIGINAL, INNOVATING AND AMAZING” ARTROCKER

“THEY BLEND THE VOICES OF THE PAST WITH THE MUSIC OF THE PRESENT TO ASTOUNDING EFFECT”

“ABSOLUTELY, SENSATIONALLY BRILLIANT” BBC 6MUSIC

THE INDEPENDENT

MULL AN TOBAR 16 MAY SHEFFIELD THE LEADMILL SOLDMAY OUT SKYE SAL MOR OSTAIG 17 NOTTINGHAM BODEGA INVERNESS IRONWORKS 18 MAY BIRMINGHAM HMV INSTITUTE TEMPLE STORNOWAY WOODLANDS CENTRE 20 MAY SOUTHAMPTON ROXX SOLDMAY OUT ULLAPOOL THE ARCH INN 21 BRIGHTON THE HAUNT AVIEMORE OLD BRIDGE INN SOLDMAY OUT 22 LONDON VILLAGE UNDERGROUND EDINBURGH THE CAVES 23 MAY CARDIFF CLWB IFOR BACH GLASGOW ABC2 24 MAY BRISTOL THE FLEECE ABERDEEN THE LEMON TREE 25 MAY NORWICH OPEN NEWCASTLE THE CLUNY EXTRA DATE ADDED DUE TO DEMAND MIDDLESBROUGH 27 MAY LONDON VILLAGE UNDERGROUND WESTGARTH SOCIAL CLUB 28 MAY BELFAST THE STIFF KITTEN 13 MAY LEEDS BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB 30 MAY CORK CYPRUS AVENUE 14 MAY MANCHESTER SOUND CONTROL 31 MAY DUBLIN BUTTON FACTORY 15 MAY LIVERPOOL THE KAZIMIER @PSB_HQ FACEBOOK.COM/PUBLICSERVICEBROADCASTING TICKETS & MORE INFO: PUBLICSERVICEBROADCASTING.NET SEETICKETS.COM / TICKETS-SCOTLAND.COM

30 APR 01 MAY 02 MAY 03 MAY 04 MAY 05 MAY 07 MAY 08 MAY 09 MAY 10 MAY 11 MAY

DEBUT ALBUM ‘INFORM - EDUCATE - ENTERTAIN’ OUT MAY 6TH. PRE ORDER NOW FOR FREE DOWNLOAD OF ‘SIGNAL 30’

Untitled-1 1

22/04/2013 10:21

THE GREAT ESCAPE PRESENTS

PLUS SUPPORT THURSDAY 16TH MAY BRIGHTON DOME TICKETS £16.50 PLUS BOOKING FEE DOORS 7.30 PM TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM BRIGHTON DOME BOX OFFICE, RESIDENT, ESCAPEGREAT.COM AND SEE TICKETS

AN AEG LIVE & FRIENDS PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ITB & BLACK BOOK MANAGEMENT

Plus special guests

APRIL Sat 27 Leeds Met University 14+ Sun 28 Sheffield Queens Social Club 16+ Tue 30 Lincoln Engine Shed 14+ MAY Wed 01 Preston 53 Degrees 16+ Fri 03 York The Duchess 14+ Sat 04 Newcastle Northumbria University 14+ Mon 06 Aberdeen Lemon Tree 14+ Tue 07 Inverness Ironworks 14+ Wed 08 Glasgow Oran Mor 14+ Thu 09 Belfast Oh Yeah Music Centre All Ages

Fri 10 Dublin Button Factory 18+ Sun 12 Liverpool 02 Academy 2 14+

pistonheadlager.co.uk Pistonheadcrudeoil.co.uk

Tue 14 London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire All ages, u 14 with adult

Wed 15 Thu 16 Fri 17 Sun 19 Mon 20 Tue 21 Wed 22 Mon 27

Cambridge The Junction 14+, u 14 with adult Oxford O2 Academy All Ages, u 14 with adult Falmouth Princess Pavilion 14+ Cardiff Glee Club 16+ Exeter Lemon Grove 14+ Southampton The Brook 16+ Norwich The Waterfront 14+ Birmingham Institute Library 14+

/pistonheadlager @pistonheadLager

AEGLIVE.CO.UK

Drink responsibly - www.DrinkAware.co.uk

MUSIC GLUE | SEE TICKETS 0871 230 1097 lucyrosemusic.com @lucyrosemusic facebook.com/lucyrosemusic

September

04 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 16

October

Glasgow Barrowlands 10 Newcastle 02 Academy 11 Leeds 02 Academy 12 Manchester Academy 14 15 Liverpool 02 Academy Lincoln Engine Shed 17 Bristol 02 Academy 18 Oxford 02 Academy 20 London 02 Academy Brixton 21 Cardiff University Norwich UEA TICKETS

Plus Guests

Sheffield Leadmill Hatfield Forum Leamington Spa Assembly Birmingham 02 Academy Leicester 02 Academy Cambridge Junction Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall Exeter Great Hall Bournemouth 02 Academy

ON SALE FRIDAY 03 MAY

GIGSANDTOURS.COM 0844 811 0051 ARTISTTICKET.COM 0844 871 8820 GIGSINSCOTLAND.COM 08444 999 990 TICKETWEB.CO.UK 0844 477 1000 A Metropolis Music & DF Concerts presentation by arrangement with Primary Talent International

PRESENTS

FRIDAY 08 NOVEMBER

london O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON Tickets: 0844 871 8803 / kililive.com / SEETICKETS.COM The album 'Pedestrian Verse' out now WWW.FRIGHTENEDR ABBIT.COM A KILIMANJARO PRESENTATION BY ARRANGMENT WITH X-RAY

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS

FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER

LONDON THE FORUM

TICKETS: KILILIVE.COM | SEETICKETS.COM | 0844 871 8803 THEBOXERREBELLION.COM // THE NEW ALBUM

@BOXERREBELLION

‘PROMISES’ OUT MAY 13 2013

A KILIMANJARO PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH FIRST CONTACT AGENCY

SPARROW AND THE WORKSHOP MONDAY 24 JUNE LONDON THE LEXINGTON

(SOLO)

thuRSDAY 30 may

Tickets: kililive.com | seetickets.com | 0844 871 8803 sparrowandtheworkshop.co.uk

PLUS SPECIAL GUEST

The new album ‘Murderopolis’ out in May 2013

LONDON O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE WWW.KILILIVE.COM / 0844 477 2000 WWW.THEFELICEBROTHERS.COM A KILIMANJARO PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

Lanterns On The Lake PLUS GUESTS

Coastal Cities +Ballet

Wednesday 19 June

School

London Scala

THURSDAY 23 MAY

Friday 21 June

LONDON BIRTHDAYS

THURSDAY 30TH MAY LONDON XOYO TICKETS AVAILABLE AT: KILILIVE.COM / SEETICKETS.COM

TICKETS ONLINE:

KILILIVE.COM | SEETICKETS.COM

Tickets available at: kililive.com | seetickets.com | 0844 871 8803

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SATELLITESTORIES WWW.SATELLITESTORIES.COM

WWW.NIGHTENGINE.NET A KILIMANJARO AND MAMA PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE AGENCY GROUP

Gateshead The Sage

A KILIMANJARO PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH X-RAY

T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E AT K I L I L I V E . C O M

www.lanternsonthelake.com

New Single ‘Another Tale From Another English Town’ available May 13th A Kilimanjaro Presentation

Who: inc. When: 11/04/2013 Where: Concrete, London

S I X S H O T S

Photography by J im E yre

Editor: JJ Dunning Deputy Editor: Ben Homewood Associate Editor (Online): Alex Denney Live Editor: Lisa Wright Art Editor: Russ Moorcroft Staff Photographer: Tom Oldham Staff Writers: Daniel Ross, Michael Cragg, Rob Cooke Photographers: Tom Andrew, Tom Bunning, Shari Denson, Jim Eyre, Louise HaywoodSchiefer, Sakura Henderson, Gideon Marshall, Layla Smethurst.

THE-FLY.CO.UK

Advertising: Laura Akam Marketing and Distribution: Laura Astley Publisher: Debbie Ward/Lucinda Brown Contributors: Rhian Daly, Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Euan L Davidson, Will Fitzpatrick, Matt Glass, John Kerrison, Nick Levine, James Luxford, Emily Mackay, Jazz Monroe, Chris Mandle, James West. Thanks To: Kristella Phillipou, Carrie Mok, Ivor Wilkins, Stuart Davie and Natalie

Printed by Artisan. To subscribe, please visit Ticketweb.co.uk Find us: @theflymagazine facebook.com/wearethefly You can also find us on Google Currents. Email: firstname.lastname@mamaco.com Address: 59-65 Worship Street, London EC2A 2DU Tel: 0207 6889000 Fax: 0207 6888999

Scan QR code for more @the-fly.co.uk ABC Consumer Press Monitored Free Distribution for 1st July - 31st December 2012 Audit Period 98,593

New Bands: Get A Head Start With The Fly! Sign up to Sonic Bids for the chance to perform at one of our live events... If you’re in a new band and looking for a head start, The Fly is here to help. The Fly magazine is Britain’s biggest new music-centric monthly. It’s available in pubs, clubs, venues and record stores, and is consulted by the industry for its on-the-money new bands section, OnesToWatch. This year, the title is offering the chance to give new bands a bigger break. Sign up to Sonic Bids www.sonicbids.com/theflymagazine as a new artist and have your music heard by editorial staff, as well as MAMA & Company’s team of promoters, who book venues nationwide. Each month, one band will be selected to perform first on the bill at one of our OnesToWatch nights at The Garage in London. For full terms and conditions visit www.sonicbids.com/terms-and-conditions-of-use

GIG MAKERS WANTED FOR NATION’S LOCAL MUSIC FESTIVAL Oxjam is one massive month of unforgettable gigs nationwide, all in aid of Oxfam. And right now, we’re looking for outstanding volunteers to make it all happen. Join hundreds of off-stage stars and organise an event in your town.

For your free Gig Maker pack visit: WWW.OXFAM.ORG.UK/GIGMAKERS