Tag Archives: DRINKS

Top 50 of 2K18… So Far – #10 – 1: From Oh Sees to Crack Cloud

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It seems like only yesterday we were having a monumental headache trying to whittle down our favourite 100 songs of last year. A painstaking task made worse by doing it at the last minute and (potentially) missing out on some of the year’s biggest bangers.

This time around we’ve been on the clock all year long, making a note of each new release and chucking those not worthy in the trash where they belong. We’ve done the maths and been able to produce our ‘Top 50 of 2K18 (so far…)’ and we’re proud to show off the list here. But because life’s too short, the list isn’t in any particular order… 

Full list here and a handy Spotify Playlist can be found here!

Oh Sees – ‘Overthrown’
(Smote Reverser, Castle Face Records)

It’s a bit of a headscratcher that Oh Sees seemingly only have one record in the pipeline for 2018 (given their multiple releases last year). Luckily, the one record they have scheduled sounds like it’s gonna be a scorcher! ‘Overthrown’ is a furious sprint from the best band knocking about today.

Field Music – ‘No King No Princess’ 
(Open Here, Memphis Industries)

Another Field Music entry and another delightful backstory – One of the Brewis siblings saying to his bairn that it’s ok to think outside the box and not conform to gender stereotypes. The song itself is just divine, with the bursts of brass enough to bring about butterflies in the stomach!

Parquet Courts – ‘Almost Had To Start A Fight / In And Out Of Patience’ 
(Wide Awake!, Rough Trade)

Another one to receive the 100% Dick Straightener treatment on these very pages, ‘Almost Had To Start A Fight / In And Out Of Patience’ was the first serve from Parquet Courts when putting out their wunderbar new record ’Wide Awake!’ Two songs for the price of one, it’s raging stuff from the band who can do no wrong.

Ty Segall – ‘Every 1’s A Winner’ 
(Freedom’s Goblin, Drag City)

Who’d a thunk it – Ty Segall covering a Hot Chocolate classic and it being one of the best songs of the year?! Taken from 2018’s ‘Freedom’s Goblin’ album, the glam-disco staple sounds just perfect when set upon by Segall and his Freedom Band. Insanely catchy.

DRINKS – ‘Corner Shops’ 
(Hippo Lite, Drag City)

More kookiness from Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon, the latter sounding lovely on this whimsical new DRINKS tune. Hypnotic repetition wins out on this quirky number.

Father John Misty – ‘Mr Tillman’ 
(God’s Favorite Customer, Sub Pop)

Now up there with Otis Redding for showing off his whistling chops, Father John Misty punctuates this brilliant little odyssey from his latest record with a piss-taking, hands-in-pockets whistling solo that is just tickety boo.
“I’m feeling good, damn I’m feeling so fine”.

Omni – ‘Delicacy‘

Not officially released as such, ‘Delicacy’ is a track Atlanta trio Omni have recently added to their live repertoire and it featured prominently on their recent Audiotree Live session. Sporting a ripper of a riff from guitarist Frankie Broyles, it’s an absolute joy from start to finish.

Arctic Monkeys – ‘Four Out Of Five’ 
(Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino, Domino)

Fair fucks, five seconds into ‘Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino’ and I thought Turner had fucked it for the Arctic Monkeys. A month on from its release and it could be one of the finest records of the year. Going full on Howard Hughes in appearance and putting on a daft Northern accent (even though he is Northern) has done the trick and ‘Four Out Of Five’ is a fucking stunner. The build towards its crescendo is magnificent.

Protomartyr – ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ 
(Consolation E.P., Domino)

Featuring very special guest Kelley Deal, Protomartyr continue on their hot streak (following last year’s striking ‘Relatives In Descent’ album) with the brutal surge of ‘Wheel Of Fortune‘. Its occasional subdued moments are perfectly balanced against the unrelenting vocal attack of frontman Joe Casey.

Crack Cloud – ‘UNCANNY VALLEY!‘

Easily up there as one of this year’s most listened to songs, this incredible head-fuck of a record from Canada collective Crack Cloud gets better on every listen. Near enough split into two parts, it’s the second half in particular that is just unfathomable. Stupidly catchy and completely engrossing. Long live Crack Cloud!

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Top 50 of 2K18… So Far – #40 – 31: From Axes to Kagoule

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It seems like only yesterday we were having a monumental headache trying to whittle down our favourite 100 songs of last year. A painstaking task made worse by doing it at the last minute and (potentially) missing out on some of the year’s biggest bangers.

This time around we’ve been on the clock all year long, making a note of each new release and chucking those not worthy in the trash where they belong. We’ve done the maths and been able to produce our ‘Top 50 of 2K18 (so far…)’ and we’re proud to show off the list here. But because life’s too short, the list isn’t in any particular order…

Full list here and a handy Spotify Playlist can be found here!

Axes – ‘Christmas Number One’

What a joyous first 20 seconds! The LDN quartet (via Essex, Scotland, Iran and Denmark) have been favourites of ours ever since we began Birthday Cake For Breakfast and with ‘Christmas Number One’ they prove why. Intricacy off the charts with grin-inducing little flourishes throughout, it’s math-rock at it’s most fun!

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘American Guilt’
(Sex & Food, Jagjaguwar)

A belter of a riff welcomed ‘American Guilt’ into the world – marking the first original material from Unknown Mortal Orchestra in two years on release! Wicked guitar parts permeate this big bad boy from Ruban Nielson and co.

The Orielles – ‘Blue Suitcase (Disco Wrist)’
(Silver Dollar Moment, Heavenly Records)

‘Silver Dollar Moment’ – debut album from Halifax trio The Orielles – was one of the most hotly tipped records coming into 2018 and sure enough, it delivered the goods on release. ‘Blue Suitcase (Disco Wrist)’ is the final single from the record, a groove-tastic heavy dose of indie nostalgia. One of their more infectious numbers.

DRINKS – ‘Real Outside’
(Hippo Lite, Drag City)

Anything to do with Cate Le Bon usually manages to worm its way into our mid-year/end-of-year lists. The Welsh dynamo can do no wrong in our eyes. This year saw Le Bon team up with Tim Presley (White Fence) again to release the second record as part of their collaborative project DRINKS. ‘Real Outside’ is typical DRINKS, in that it’s completely off the wall and out there on its own. Quirky, offbeat, typical DRINKS…

Peaks – ‘Heart Swell Intentions’
(Happy Medium)

Absolute lump-in-the-throat stuff from Manchester’s solo-bod Peaks, with a vocal warmth in amongst (at times) delicate guitar work and a killer riff. Loop driven emo pop for life!

Gulfer – ‘Fading’
(Dog Bless, Big Scary Monsters)

Gotta love that heart-string tugging Gulfer vocal! A lovely, sun-soaked new one from Canada’s math-rock heroes, this hits so many spots and sounds super-duper in the process. Hard not to get a bit excited during that impassioned shout of “Whatever it takes to be alive”!

SLUG – ‘Lackadaisical Love’ 
(HiggledyPiggledy, Memphis Industries)

In similar company to Springsteen (‘Dancer in The Dark’) and Messrs Hall and Oates (‘Private Eyes’), the repeated drum track throughout this wunderbar new SLUG track lends a great backing to one of ‘HiggledyPiggledy’’s poppier moments. SLUG (Ian Black) has entered ear-worm territory here!

MOURN – ‘Fun At The Geysers’
(Sorpresa Familia, Captured Tracks)

Bit of a new discovery for us – Spanish quartet MOURN bring out the catchy post-punk-esque ‘Fun At The Geysers’ in just under two minutes, with a stirring vocal that at times sounds a bit like B-52’s! Stonker!

Jo Passed – ‘MDM’
(Their Prime, Sub Pop)

A rad guitar part paves the way for this super-cool slice of gnarliness from Canada’s own Jo Passed. It sounds like something you’ve heard before but completely unique all at the same time. A bit like their debut album ‘Their Prime’, which is all over the shop – in a good way.

Kagoule – ‘Bad Saliva’
(Strange Entertainment, Alcopop!)

We’ve been Kagoule fans for years now, so were stoked to hear of their recent signing to Alcopop Records! First single verdict? Brillo-pads – All the quirkiness that they’ve gifted us with on previous releases, with an infectious sprint through its verses. Their debut record ‘Urth’ remains a favourite in our household, so we’re excited about its follow up ‘Strange Entertainment’!

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Real Outside: Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon serve up more DRINKS

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“A month spent in an old mill, river swimming, scorpion fear. No wifi. Night sounds, used frogs. Broken music, a crumble, a mysterious place. An album made for each other by one another with no piercing the bubble, the opposite of a typical recording experience. Tim and Cate serve Drinks again!”

Relocating from the sunny hustle and bustle of LA to a sleepy small town in southern France, experimental super-duo DRINKS (Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon) recently got to work on the follow up to 2015’s ‘Hermits On Holiday’.

‘Real Outside’ is the first single taken from their forthcoming record ‘Hippo Lite’, out April 20th through Drag City Records. The quirks are still at the forefront of DRINKS output, with Real Outside a tripped out exploration into the wilderness from the pair, Le Bon’s vocals floating above the jerking rhythm.

It’s one of the 12 songs that make up the album, the pair neatly capturing all their experiences during the month of production (the record was even named after the small French town they were based – Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort).

Listen to Real Outside below and maybe read our highlights of their show in Manchester this time last year whilst you await the new record!

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Live Review: DRINKS at The Deaf Institute in Manchester 2 April 2017

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There’s nothing quite like a tour support picked specifically to compliment the headline band. In the case of Sunday evening’s DRINKS show at The Deaf Institute in Manchester, the support was particularly perfect in name alone – Snacks. A collaborative project including members of Sweet Baboo and Islet, it was also a matter of convenience as they ended up being the accompanying band to DRINKS, putting on their own show to kick off proceedings.

We were greeted with near darkness as we walked into the venue, save for low lights on an empty stage as a pulsating beat permeated throughout the room. People intermittently climbed on stage, pressed a few things here and tweaked things there. I really enjoyed the surrealness of this, with the various members of the seemingly improvised group leaving stage and returning to tinker with something throughout the hour before DRINKS arrived, leaving people unaware that a band was actually on (even though the noise was a good indicator…)
It was a Mighty Boosh-esque/Nathan Barley-ish vision, with electronics, odd drones, clinks, clanks and clockwork noises throughout.

It was around the 25 minute mark before they were all actually on stage together, leaving the question in the heads of those in attendance of when did they actually begin? This was certainly the impression I had, given the many conversations being had up in the bleachers at the back of the room. I don’t think people really realised what was happening, but the wall of noise was enough to see to them!

With stomachs suitably lined thanks to Snacks, its members returned to the stage along with Tim Presley and Cate Le Bon a.k.a. DRINKS, who received a genuinely warm reception on their arrival. With Manchester being not only the first night of tour but also only one of two shows in the UK before undertaking a small run of shows across Europe, the tag line of it being ‘An Evening With…’ really did fit this almost intimate affair.

‘Laying Down Rock’, the opener from their debut album ‘Hermits On Holiday’ made an appearance early into their set and with it a whiff of the 60’s. The bass of Stephen Black a.k.a. Sweet Baboo was LOUD, complimenting the jerking, off-centre guitar sound.
The frantic ‘Focus On The Street’ was enough to get a gang of people down the front getting stuck in with the groove, whilst the jarring beat and dual heart-racing vocals between Cate and Tim stabbed away. It’s around this time that the lad from Sweet Baboo stepped out of the shadows and took position at the front for some delicate ivory tinkling on an angelic number. It’s here he stayed for the next song too, but with much choppier keys as Tim picks up the bass on a brooding number and Cate howled “What’s on your mind?”

Spontaneity and collaboration runs deep throughout the evening, partially biting them on the arse at one point in very humorous fashion as the drummer prematurely kicked in ‘Hermits On Holiday’. Tim was in the middle of speaking at this point and everyone on stage turned around to look at the unaware drummer, much to the amusement of both audience and band. Everything else is bob on, mind and the collective on stage fit so well together – Previously noted  by Cate and Tim coming together in DRINKS as two people but acting as “one mouth, one set of lungs, one mind and four legs”.

The last song of the evening is greeted by lots of negative murmuring, but Cate smoothed everything over by announcing that she will phone in sick for everyone for Monday morning. This is followed by a brain washed five minutes or so with a continuous, heart-pounding groove.

Thankfully, it wasn’t their last and the band were coaxed out from backstage for the unveiling of a new song. The new material from the evening is from a soon to be announced album, which is news to dance to for sure following their 2015 debut. A nice little nightcap for our evening with DRINKS.

It was nice to see Cate, Tim and the rest of the gang return to The Deaf Institute so soon following Cate’s double-shot headline last Christmas. Hopefully it won’t be too long before they’re back in Manchester under the same roof again, thrashing out their wicked blend of quirkiness.

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Do Not Miss – DRINKS at The Deaf Institute 2 April 2017

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“A night with Drinks. Old songs and new. Promoting nothing other than the joy of music and the coming together of souls.”

This Sunday, Manchester (and specifically – The Deaf Institute) welcome back Cate Le Bon with open arms, following two back to back sold out shows last December. Once again she’s joined by Tim Presley, but this time around they’re joining forces as part of their wonderful collaboration DRINKS!

Self-described as “one mouth, one set of lungs, one mind, and four legs“, the Welsh songstress goes head to head with your man of White Fence, combining all their quirks for something quite extraordinary!

Tour support is DRINKS themed too – Snacks, a cosmic collaboration between Sweet Baboo and JT (Islet), artist Casey Raymond and drummer Kliph Scurlock.

Tickets and event information can be found here – To get you in the mood, here’s the delightful Hermits On Holiday!

The Deaf Institute is DRINKS first stop on a run of shows in the UK and the EU – Further dates can be found here!

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