Producing one of the freshest sounds on the UK's alternative scene, Berlin Black and the Shades of Grey, mix together elements of post-punk, glam and new-wave to produce a sound and look all their own.
Formed by former Screaming Banshee Aircrew and Luxury Stranger Guitarist/bassist, Chris Tuke, their debut EP in 2010 "Burn it Down" quickly became a favourite of the dance floors of the dark spots across the UK and this success was mirrored by the Dominion Chart-Topping single "The Only Ones".
In 2012 Berlin Black performed along side act such as The Psychedelic Furs, O Children, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Chameleons Vox (ex Chameleons) and secured a main stage slot at the popular festival Galtres Festival.
Described as “An elegant mix of post-punk, glam, goth and new-wave.”
Signed to Trash Vogue Records in 2010
01. It's Only Natural
02. The Fire Still Burns
03. It's Over
04. We Get Tired
05. The Only Ones E.P. Mix
Guards release their debut album ‘In Guards We Trust’ on the 29th April 2013 through Partisan Records.
New York City’s Guards don’t mess around. ‘In Guards We Trust’ erupts from the speakers, a whirlwind of Phil Spector atmospherics, stomping drums, hazy spiralling guitar lines, and harmony-drenched psychedelic pop vocals. The songs harness big hooks and choruses with enough fuzz-pedal to keep things suitably lo-fi, but with more melodies in each song than many bands manage over the course of an album.
You might be aware of Guards’ protagonist already. Richie Follin is the guitarist in indie-pop band Cults. While on tour, Follin and Cults drummer Loren Humphrey (who Follin worked with in garage-rock band The Willowz) spent much of their downtime writing songs and getting ideas down onto tape. The resulting demos, with Follin on lead vocals, sounded fresh and exciting, and thus Guards were born. The band became a very real prospect when LA friend, Kaylie Church joined on keyboards and dual-vocals.
‘In Guards We Trust’ shares an affinity with sixties psychedelia, and evokes all the colour and imagery of that era, yet such is the sheer force of the band’s playing, there’s no sign of the languidness that those artists became synonymous with. From the opening dreamscape and phased-sound intro of ‘Nightmare’ which makes way for Follin-Church’s shouted vocal presence, it’s a debut album that, not unlike Tame Impala, shares a breadth of ideas without over-complicating the song-writing.
‘Giving Out’ is Guards at their most muscular. Follin and Church hammer out a chorus of ‘I feel it giving out/your clock is running out’ as the drums hammer cavernously behind them. It soars and screams; an indie-rock song with the temperature gauge stuck at melting point.
New single ‘Ready To Go’ and free download ‘Silver Lining’ raise the record’s pace, the latter of which is a gloriously leftfield and unashamedly bold pop song. It’s a strong tone that remains throughout ‘In Guards We Trust’. ‘Your Man’ finds Guards at their most simmering and lethargic, a beautifully hallucinatory tune that gives prominence to Church’s vocals. The album concludes on ‘1 & 1’, a story of romance that spins and rotates to its natural conclusion aided by Follins’ effects-laden vocal.
The innate understanding that Follin and Humphrey have built through years of practice and global touring together is unmistakable, but it’s Kaylie Church’s restrained vocal presence that acts as a huge weapon in Guards’ arsenal throughout the record.
Exceeding expectations is why Guards exist as a band in the first place. ‘In Guards We Trust’ – expect the unexpected.
With the album version of the song from the upcoming album The Unraveller of Angels,and 2 remixes from Angst Pop (featuring Technomancer) and Vi Rez Attrition announces in 2013 a tour.
The Unraveller of Angels tour starts in April and will take in 4 continents..
Attrition are excited to announce these dates so far..
April 20th : Death Disco, Ogigou 16, Psirri, Athens, Greece
May 4th : Reproduktion 13 festival. Roundhouse, Camden, London, England.
with Naked Lunch, John Costello, CWNN, MIld Peril
May 16th - 21st : Canada...Peterborough/Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal
with Scene Noir
June 19th - 26th...New Zealand...2 shows tbc
September...West coast USA - LA/SF/Portland/Seattle and more tbc
September 28th : Dresden, Germany details tba
October 12th : Santiago, Chile...details tba
November : Szczecin, Poland tbc
A record where every track finds its home in a different place, an endless list of favourable reviews, and two songs (‘The Time To Sleep’, ‘Good Occasions’) which together have already been seen over four million times on YouTube. In all its bittersweet beauty and melancholic simplicity, Marble Sounds announce the eagerly awaited arrival of ’Dear Me, Look Up’, the follow-up to the debut album ‘Nice Is Good’.
Like a thrilling novel on an audio trip to stir up your emotions, ’Dear Me, Look Up’ creates a deep and intense experience, blending lyrics that you make ponder with soundscapes that turn you upside down, before gently putting everything back into place.
Marble Sounds is the brainchild of Pieter Van Dessel, singer-songwriter and rising talent in Belgian popmusic. With Van Dessel masterminding the contoured strokes of the melodies and arrangements, guitarist Gianni Marzo (Isbells), bassist Frederik Bastiaensen and drummer Johan De Coster add in layers of colour. As recording progressed, pianist Brecht Plasschaert (Winterslag, Manhog) joined them to give an additional twist.“Marble Sounds will always be my baby, but it’s important for the chemistry within the group that every band member finds their own way in the songs before we start recording them”, says Van Dessel.
Keeping faith with their indie pop roots, the new album cleverly teases its way through delicate and sometimes fragile tones, yet also manages to organically fold in guitars and pianos, drizzled with the occasional horn and trumpet. ‘Dear Me, Look Up’ was recorded in ten different places, from the STUK art centre in Leuven to Van Dessel’s own home studio. And once again, producer Peter Crosbie took charge of the mixing. “I have written songs that weren’t ready to be launched three years ago, leaving the whole record sounding more intimate”, continues Van Dessel. You can hear Aino Vehmasto (I Am Oak, Secret Love Parade) in ‘Leave A Light On’, and in‘Evenings’. Chantal Acda (True Bypass, Isbells) sneaks into ‘No One Ever Gave Us The Right’.
Nevertheless, Van Dessel still uses familiar sounds from the debut. Think of the skipping ‘The Summer Of The Sun’ (including the banjo riff Gianni Marzo), or ‘Never Lost, Never Won’, the song that introduced the two-year writing process. “In the beginning I was afraid of repeating ourselves, so I tried another approach. However, at the end, I picked a sound that’s closest to my heart”, he continues.
Marble Sounds used to revert to atypical song structures (‘Sky High’), while here Van Dessel prefers conventional songs. In that way ‘Dance Clarence Dance’ (a wink at ‘Love Happened’ from Evil Superstars) is catchy indie that outwits Death Cab For Cutie, whilst the power of emptiness dominates in both the Sophia cover ‘Ship In The Sand’ and the ambient ‘The Silent Song’.
‘Dear Me, Look Up’ is a grand and captivating continuation of Marble Sounds musical journey. Managing to combine a defining moment like ‘High Violet’ for The National with the eye for detail of Sparklehorse, Marble Sounds have done more than pull off an impressive musical trick. As the well-established BBC DJ Steve Lamacq described Marble Sounds, the new album typifies what we have come to expect from the band: “So clean sounding but then again so sensitive and emotional at the same time."
Anyone who didn’t get their hands on the first Marble Sounds release three years ago will go overboard for ‘Dear Me, Look Up’. It will be available online and in all good record stores on March 25thby Zealrecords.
Dark Entires Records is honored to re-issue the debut EP by FALL OF SAIGON. The band was born in 1981 when Florence Berthon (Vocals), Pascal Comelade (Organ, Synthesizer) and Thierry Den (Guitar, Vocals) met at a concert in Montpellier, France. They chose to the name the project FALL OF SAIGON after a song by UK post-punk act This Heat. They self-released their debut EP in 1983 citing Nico & The Velvet Underground, Suicide and James Joyce as influences.
At the time the band form
ed, Pascal Comelade was an accomplished musician with instrumental sketches composed for the trio. The 6 songs on the EP were recorded in two stages. “She Leaves Me All Alone” and “On The Beach At Fontana” were sung by Thierry and recorded at Pascal’s home on a Revox 2-track in one shot. The four songs sung by Florence – “Visions”, “Blue Eyes”, “So Long” and “The Swimmer” – were recorded and mixed at the Montpellier Languedoc Video Animation Center by Jean Alain Sidi on two ReVox A77 reel to reels and a small mixer. On “Visions,” “Blue Eyes” and “So Long,” the group employed a drum machine that could only play four or five rhythms with a single slider to increase or decrease the tempo. The songs were minimal: verse, chorus, no bridge, no intro. Built on a simple spine, they create a feeling of space with just a voice and an organ or synthesizer melody. Full of class and inventiveness, FALL OF SAIGON are often compared to Young Marble Giants due to the fragile, ephemeral quality of the songs.
All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a full color jacket using the original artwork from the EP and includes an insert with lyrics and photos. Through two years of existence, FALL OF SAIGON only released one EP and 30 years later their subtle sound is an essential guidepost in post-punk history.
