ISSUE 2 - PBJ Zine

Reviews
Live Listings
Columns
New Music
London
Featuring...
FREE
Dolls
F rya r s
GHOST CAR
GLASS
S A I N T AG N E S
S E W E R R AT S
V E N U S LU X
WET
Please pick me up
+ MORE
THE PEANUT BUTTER JELLY
London’s FREE Music Zine
JULY 2015
Contents
Who are we...?
LIVE REVIEWS................................. 1
PBJ’S PICKS.................................... 2
Live listings.................................3
SPOTLIGHT RELEASES....................3
GUEST COLUMN................................ 3
STUFF WE DIG.................................. 4
Ever wondered if the ‘next big thing’ is sat on your doorstep? PBJ is an
independent, honest and bi-monthly music zine with the aim to connect
London with artists and bands that we feel are making a big sound on the
little scene, regardless of genre or ‘Facebook likes’. All opinions expressed
herein belong to the writers and if they make you a little bit cross, well then
we are probably doing our job right! Thank you for supporting new music in
your town, being curious, and loving a freebie [you star] we’ll be back for
more in September. Have a nice day, as the rabbits all say.
Live Reviews...
WET
GLASS
The Victoria - 17.06.2015
J
ust as I thought The Victoria in Dalston
could get no sharper, enter Brooklynbased trio ‘Wet’. Sparse R&B, distinctive
beats and contrasting soft vocals jamming
it all together is, apparently, pretty popular.
The nonchalant Victorian walls which are
no stranger to London’s cool kids were
packed with hip, lively Dalstonians all
ready to step through the hinged bookcase
(obviously how all great gigs start, right?)
and give their eyes and ears some indiestroke-R&B lovin’. Encompassed in a
vibey blue light, the room sees (ish) Kelly
Zutrau and her two effortlessly slick sidekicks take to the stage. Their set, short
but oh so sweet, involves the up-state
collective dropping new track ‘Deadwater’
which offers clipped beats and Zutrau’s
oxymoronically soft but strong voice
sending the crowd into a swaying, head
bobbing trance - that’s always a sign of
a good gig. (Synchronised crowd head
bobbing.) [Elle Penrose]
Issue No. 2
The Social - 06.06.2015
T
earing the roof off The Social on
Saturday night were pop-duo ‘Glass’.
Jess Winter and Scott Rimington have
produced a polished and roaring body of
work laden with meticulous syncopated
synth lines, choreographed body poppin’
and, crucially, those earworm hooks. This
is electro-pop perfection. Rimington’s
guitar break-outs deliver tones from
another planet that are simply a sound to
behold and songs such as ‘I Let A Good One
Go’ (my particular favourite)demonstrate
total harmonic unity. In performance,
‘Glass’ exhibit a marriage of personalities
that delight their audiences across the
capital, and as a duo they are an 8-bit
wonder sonically recalling Kraftwerk,
and as versatile as any pop group that I’ve
seen. The ‘Be Careful’ songsmiths gelled
even better as the five-piece I saw at Oslo,
Hackney about a month previously with
members of indie-funk troubadours La
Shark as their backing band. When queried
1
on their upcoming schedule Winter
could only quip “World Domination”.
You’d be foolish to argue, frankly...
[Cole Salewicz - The Savage Nomads]
THE PBJ RATING SYSTEM
PEANUT
PEANUT BUTTER
PEANUT BUTTER JELLY
PTO
PBJ’S TOP DOG...
CATCH THEM LIVE
11TH JULY @ THE LEXINGTON
DOLLS
Can’t make it? More dates listed over the page...
The duo smashing up London’s live
scene like there’s no tomorrow.
M
GHOST CAR
y sister and I loved Halloween.
Our tiny fingers pulled apart
cotton batting, making faux spider
webs, which we’d spread across our
house, rendering it impossible for
anyone over 4'2" to navigate from door
to kitchen. There were jack o’lanterns
and plenty of witchcraft, but the sounds
were our favourite: collections of eerie
PBJ SAYS...
“Eerie synths and
fuzzy guitar tunes ”
synth noises, waiting to be dubbed
onto cassettes until we had crafted a
soundtrack. Nothing brings back these
memories like the unguarded innocence
of ‘Ghost Car’s’ 60s pop melodies
paired with their eerie B-horror
keyboard. More spooky than scary,
they bestow a unique character onto
fuzzy guitar tunes that could otherwise
take an overtly garage turn. Lyrically,
they use a minimal and simplistic,
but potent, approach to topics such as
women fighting for a voice. They also
delve into relationships, with a narrator
trying to convince themself that they
are ready to let go of someone from
their past who has been haunting them.
Take a ride with ‘Ghost Car’ on the
all-girl Hits With Tits II compilation,
or at Shacklewell Arms on 2nd July.
TAKE A LOOK ONLINE
facebook.com/thisisdolls
The PBJ Picks...
A
DOLLS
band that seemingly gig eight nights
a week and somehow never lose
the irresistible raw energy of their live
set or the somewhat trademark volume
in their hair-styles are, in our books, a
band to take note of. Jade Ellins and
Belinda Conde will charm and disarm
you with their straight up rough-andready rock that forces audiences in
to a synchronised squint and nod
movement with even the occasional fist
pump action occurring down the front.
For a peaceful post-post-post-postpost-war Britain, it’s anarchy. Since
the release of their punchy debut single
‘Killing Time’, the duo have built up
one of the most succinct and tight-asa-something-hole live shows around,
with a recent performance at Bush Hall
PBJ SAYS...
“Live shows that
blow the roof off ”
supporting ‘The Family Rain’ and a
headline show at the prestigious Cherry
Cola Club Nights down The Purple Turtle
[RIP] to their ever-present name. Our
recommendation? Visit thisisdolls.com,
download their single ‘Shot’ for sweet
nothing and listen to it whilst stuck on a tube
at rush hour. Nothing soothes angst like
lots more angst and that dirty, dirty guitar.
T
FRYARS
hrust in to the almost-limelight
as tour support for Rae Morris
back in February, Benjamin Garrett
or ‘Fryars’ as he prefers to be known
[for now obvious reasons], has
built up quite a reputation in our
office. Something about Garrett’s
pain-stained vocals on debut
album ‘Power’ just cut through
your poor quality headphones and
PBJ SAYS...
“Pain-stained
vocals but missing
an edge live ”
suddenly you’ve missed your stop on
the tube, swaying away like a hippy
with your eyes shut on your way to
deepest Morden. It’s one of those.
When it comes to singles, regular
blog favourite ‘On Your Own’ delivers
lyrics that cry about your ex’s so you
don’t have to anymore and a keys-lead
arrangement that finally does what The
Fray never could. Nice. However, there
is one gripe. I have always struggled to
fully appreciate a frontman who goes
and plonks a hefty stage Nord between
themselves and their connectionhungry audience. Know what I mean?
It’s always live before iv[ory] for us
and unfortunately, no amount of tasty
back-catalogue Swim Deep and Lilly
Allen remixes can fill that hole. Soz.
Spotted the PBJ? Win a £10 Rough Trade voucher.
if you’ve spotted us please drop us a line, say hi and let us know what you think.
You’ll be entered into a free prize draw to win £10 to spend in rough trade.
Here at PBJ we care about what YOU think and we want YOUR FEEDBACK.
PBJTEAM@HOTMAIL.COM
2
London Live Listings...
Dolls
2nd
2nd
3rd
4th
Ghost Car
16th
18th
23rd26th
Aces & Eights Saloon Bar
Lost in The Manor feat. Love L.U.V.
The Finsbury
Dolls
The Lexington
Dolls
Brixton Windmill
Leon Bridges
Rough Trade East
11th
18th
Power Lunches
Shacklewell Arms
Roadkill No. 20: Cold in Berlin / Sewer
Rats / Deathbeams / Raw Meat DJs
10th
14th
JULY
Saint Agnes
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
Ghost Car
The Vinyl Shop (Deptford Bridge)
The Venus Lyx
The Fighting Cocks Bar
Secret Garden Party feat. Cat Empire
/ Temples / FURS / The Magic Gang /
Saint Agnes +more
Abbots Ripton
Lost in The Manor feat. Naives
The Finsbury
Sewer Rats (EP Launch)
The Stag’s Head
31st
Trashmouth Records Party: Taman Shud
/ Meatraffle / Bat-Bike / Primordial Soup
Brixton Windmill
6th
The Sugarhill Gang
9th
The Roadkill All Dayer: Eighteen
Nightmares at the Lux / Dedwardians
/ Saint Agnes / Love Buzzard / Dirty
White Fever / The Venus Lyx / The
Sly Persuaders / Broken Soundtracks /
Cosmo House / Raw Meat DJs
The Lock Tavern
13th
NXI Presents: Laish / Downing Street
Years / My Octopus Mind / Cars On
Rooftops
New Cross Inn
24th
25th
15th
15th
20th
28th
AUGUST
Alternative TV / Rude Mechanics
The Jazz Café
The Dublin Castle
Smash It Out BBQ: Terminal Cheesecake
/ Zolle / Khunt / Britney / Early Mammal Brixton Windmill
/ Silent Front / Casual Nun +more
Sewer Rats
The Fiddler’s Elbow
Fashawn / Red Pill / Saga / Flex /
Siren Dipity
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
Spotlight Releases...
THE VENUS LYX
SEWER RATS
‘The Venus Lyx’
‘Moneymaker’
A
E
Listen now: Search ‘Quatre Femme Records’
on Bandcamp
Listen now: Search ‘Fluffer Records’ on
Bandcamp
Debut EP released on 2nd June.
ll you could ask for in a debut.
Meaty, Massive and More-thanready. Out on Quatre Femme Records
now.
Debut EP released on 27th July.
veryone always says ‘highly
anticipated’ but this one actually is.
Grimsby’s entire youth population are on
tenterhooks and so are we.
3
GUEST COLUMN...
JOSH COOPER
HEAVY LEATHER PROMOTIONS /
TERMINAL GODS GUITARIST
W
ith so many excellent bands
working the London dive-bar
circuit at the moment, it’s hard to pick just
three. However, the following are a few
of the wave-making upstarts who, with
consistently impressive live shows and
outstanding vinyl releases, have caught
my eye of late…
I came across ‘The Venus Lyx’ a few
months ago at a Fluffer Records show and
was immediately hooked. What’s great
about watching these guys is their frankly
intimidating stage persona and chemistry.
Picture three brothers making angry
garage rock with loud-as-hell surf guitars,
Nick Cave-esque snarling vocals and
instrumentation that’ll appeal to anyone
that misses ‘The Amazing Snakeheads’.
You really get the feeling that almost
anything could happen at their shows. facebook.com/thevenuslyx
Furthermore, if it’s chemistry you’re after,
go see my next band of choice: ‘Saint
Agnes’. This four piece arguably put on
one of the best live shows in London.
Unparalleled as musicians and songwriters,
‘Agnes’ have a totally electrifying stage
presence. Cinematic, cowboy rock n’ roll,
glam beats, beautiful vocal harmonies
and Hendrix level guitar solos. Artists
that have to be seen to be believed. facebook.com/wearesaintagnes
Grimsby based stoners ‘Sewer Rats’ are
my final top tip. They’ve a riotous attitude
to their shows that sees them leaping on
drum kits and soaking audience members
in lager whilst somehow keeping together
a tight set of bone-crushingly heavy
guitar riffs, psychedelic breakdowns and
feedback noise-outs. It’s rare to find a
band who totally own their sound, but
it’s well worth the wait when you do.
f a c e b o o k . c o m / s e w e r r a t s I’ve had all these bands to play for me
at my monthly garage night, ‘Roadkill’,
where I am lucky enough to witness firsthand what is currently shaping up to be
a really exciting time in London’s live
music scene. So put down the PBJ, get
your gladrags on and head to your local
gig night. I’ll see you at the bar.
[Josh Cooper]
You Should Check These Guys Out...
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thank you for supporting live music and independent press. next issue out SEPTEMBER 2015.