Sŵn for Beginners (and foreigners): Friday

Continuing with the main aim of introducing Sŵn festival 2010 go'ers to Cardiff bands that they might not be so aware of, Friday's guide is here. Such is the strength of Sŵn festival, and indeed Cardiff’s music scene, that Friday also has a fair few local bands worth catching live.

For the first Cardiff band of the night, head to Undertone (apparently this is below Ten Feet Tall, which is just off St Mary’s Street, and might be a good break between Buffalo and Clwb) at 1900 (finishing 1930) where you’ll find Lucky Delucci. If you find yourself hungover, which, on past experience, I suggest is a strong possibility, then this six-piece should be a pleasant and soothing remedy. Expect soft boy-girl vocals, a chilled out folk-y indie pop sound, and some glockenspiel.

Less suited to the hungover, Brandyman (MySpace-less, but free session downloads available here) play upstairs of Clwb Ifor Bach from 1915-1945. Featuring ex-members of the likes of Truckers of Husk and Joy of Sex, Brandyman make heavy and complex rock music with dark, semi-spoken word vocals (which remind me a little of Tom Waits). They aren’t an instrumental band, but they’re musical is technical enough that it could be. I’m not really sure who they sound like, so… yeah, heavy and complex. Time changes and heavy riffs and the like. Fans of these things will enjoy.

Up directly after Brandyman in Clwb are Truckers of Husk (2030-2115), recently boosted by new member Kelson, the recently ex-Future of the Left bassist and not-o-recently ex-Jarcrew frontman. The band have been doing their thing so to say for a while now (they formed in 2006) – their thing being a wide range of things really, mostly of the instrumental kind. Electro beats; guitar lines ranging from the typically ‘math’ tap-and-slide, to the pop-leaning Afro-influenced, to the post-rock and prog riffing; sample and glitchy computer-ness; fast paced and pounding technical drumming – a wide range indeed. I wouldn’t be sure what to expect either.

Also at 2030, only at Chapter Arts Centre, are Wickes, bringing together Steve/Sweet Baboo, Huw/H Hawkline, and Rob of Voluntary Butler Scheme in one musical place. Describing their music as "spaz pop", and taking influence from Weezer and The Beatles, this is some highly enjoyable lo-fi pop, arguably combining all of the individual members best traits.

And up at 2130, directly after Wickes at Chapter are The Victorian English Gentlemens Club, who, last year, kicked off proceedings at Sŵn festival with a performance at Cardiff museum, which was a lovely if slightly odd experience. This year’s performance will be, I’m sure, equally as good. They describe their sound as ‘pop’, but it’s a lot more snarly, antisocial, and frankly more difficult to describe than that. They continue to make some of the most interesting and unusual music in Cardiff; bringing together a wide range of influences (punk, ‘art-rock’, blues, post-punk etc) and refusing to stick to the musical rule book, which is obviously a good thing. You’ll likely even be treated to lots of the band’s new material, what with them apparently writing and recording lots over the past few months.

Not quite such quantity Cardiff talent to marvel at on this day, but you’ll agree the quality will more than make up for that. Plus, there’s plenty, plenty more to look forward to on the Saturday.

Sŵn for Beginners (and foreigners): Thursday

Last year, Dempseys, a small Irish pub in the centre of Cardiff not far from Clwb Ifor Bach, was the venue for The Drums Swn Festival experience. This year, Dempseys has the pleasure of hosting Cardiff independent record label Barely Regal’s Sŵn festival ‘stage’, and is the place to go on the opening night (Thursday) for a preview of some of the best music Cardiff has to offer.

Kutosis, featured here, open proceedings at Dempseys 1930 (finishing at 2015) and deserve the attention of fans of mclusky, heavy guitar riffs, well-thought lyrics and, well, good music. They also appear on the Barely Regal compilation disc ‘Zero Years of Barely Regal’, which is worth a purchase for anybody wanting to know more about the Cardiff music scene.

Though I think it is Goodtime Boys just before them who grab the title of first Cardiff band to play Swn Festival 2010 – playing upstairs at The Model Inn, down the road from Dempseys. This band’s live shows should really have some sort of warning attached - expect one hell of a lot of screaming, jumping, stomping, shouting, riffing, and heavy head-nodding.

Nip around the corner and down the road to Clwb Ifor Bach (… and in through the door and up the stairs), and you’ll find Sweet Baboo, the Cardiff folk musician who recently put his second album out through Cardiff’s Shape Records. For fans of Daniel Johnstone or The Moldy Peaches, you’ll get acoustic guitars, pleasant lyrics and a ruddy good performance.

Straight up after Kutosis (2045-2130) at Barely Regal’s Dempseys are the mighty Right Hand Left Hand - an instrument swapping two-piece who have expertise in loop pedals. There are a number of reasons why Right Hand Left Hand, who make heavy, math-y, and pace-y post-rock, are increasingly popular in their hometown, and their awesome live shows are one of them. Oh, and they also, appear on aforementioned compilation.

Down in Buffalo Bar, for those in that area of town (or those willing to embark on a few minutes walk down Cardiff’s Queen Street), Oui Messy (featured here) play outdoors (head through the front door and down to the opposite end of the bar you’ll find a door and some stairs leading downwards) at 2115, finishing 45 minutes later. A fairly young band, they’re making a name for themselves in Cardiff with their post-punk sound and their knack of writing catchy, interesting songs. They put on a good live show, too.

Over at The Model Inn, a pub a short walk from Clwb Ifor Bach, Shape Records present attack + defend (2130-2215), a band who haven’t played a live show since Sŵn 2009 – and apparently won’t play live again for the rest of this year. Good reason, then, to catch them while you can. Expect the less expected. Three brothers, fair bit (okay, a lot) of psych-y pop synth, a fair bit of noise, probably some shouting, mixed in with some harmonies, and a ruddy good show (apologies for second use of that..). Two of the brothers also play in much hyped (deservedly so) Islet, which might encourage a few more of you to attend.

Starting as Oui Messy finish up, Among Brothers (2200-2245) - who both Matt and Isaac of Barely Regal help to form – play at Dempseys. Featuring glitchy electronics and lush instrumentation, this six (I think) piece make an unsual mix of folk, electro, and emo. Imagine curating a stage at a festival where you book yourselves to play, eh? Actually, it’s not the first time they've done this kind of thing – they also included their own music on their compilation of local bands. Shocking.

The Cardiff band fun ends not too long after with Samoans at Dempseys, starting at 2315 (and ending at midnight). Soon to release a split with Strange News From Another Star through Barely Regal, and also featured on the compilation, Samoans are a lot rock, a little emo, a bit of shouting, and a lot energy. Especially from the sleeveless t-shirt and short-short wearing drummer. If your ears haven’t taken a little bashing yet, they soon will. We advise ear protection, though, of course.

Oh, and if you aren’t convinced yet, Matt from Barely Regal mentioned to me the possibility of free beer. Excited now?

Sŵn for Beginners (and foreigners): An Introduction

Sŵn festival, now in its fourth year, is Cardiff’s answer to South By Southwest. Each year, Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens and Cardiff promoter John Rostron team up to bring some of the best up and coming acts, as well as a few more established ones, to venues all over the Welsh capital – this year from 21st to 23rd October. But you already know that, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, right?

As mentioned, Sŵn puts on some of the best up and coming bands from all over the world in multi-venue festival form. This year sees the likes of Egyptian Hip Hop, Happy Birthday, Spectrals, and Perfume Genius all making a visit. Great, right? But, again, you probably already know a fair amount about those bands, or at least can easily find stuff out through a quick Google.

The great thing about Sŵn is that they also try their damnedest to ensure that the local talent, of which there is plenty to choose from, also get their fair share of coverage. It is these bands that you, the anticipated target audience for this series of blog posts, presumably know the least about, and thus it is with the aim of acquainting you with some great local bands that these blog posts exist. Oh, and the venues. I’ll talk you through them, too.

Wristbands to this wonderful event are a mere £45 for the full 3 days. Think of all the bands you are seeing for this amount of money. A lot.

Keep an eye out for more posts with a day-to-day breakdown of local bands worth checking, plus a bit of info on the venues, shortly...

Oh, and by foreigners I, of course, refer to those folk travelling across the river from England.

Islet: New Track

Increasingly known, increasingly loved and increasingly traveled Islet, the Cardiff band who are famed for their 'shun' of the internet (they love the internet, they told me themselves during an interview in a Portuguese cafe in Cardiff, found here) and their very good live shows, have been working hard since their well received mini album Celebrate This Place, released last year.

The band are still currently on a huge tour of the UK, but have somehow managed to record another mini album, entitled Wimmy, which is due out October 10th (and also available at their live shows). Turnstile announced the free download of track 'Ringerz' in the build up to that ages ago, but I've only just gotten around to writing about it. You can download it from here.

'Ringerz' sees the band exploring deeper Animal Collective-y waters, with more use of echoing effects that we know and love from their debut release, multi-drum action, and unsual vocals switching from male to female.

The band play Swn festival on October 23rd (also keep an eye out for the band member's other music with attack+defend and Them Squirrels), and the rest of their live dates from their still going UK tour can be found on their website. (See. I told you they didn't hate the internet).

Frankie & the Heartstrings / Summer Camp / The Neat - Clwb Ifor Bach

I went to a gig on Monday. It costs ten pounds. I have no money and don't get paid for weeks, but I'm crazy and punk like that. It was well worth it, too.

The Neat opened. They're a young band from Hull. They sound a bit like The Fall, The Horrors, Art Brut, and Xx Teens combined. They were pretty fun, and the bassist/lead singer played the bass impressively quickly. See a video below for them playing live to see a similar performance to the one I experienced (link stolen shamelessly from Auditor Records). You can also hear a track from The Neat on a radio show about In The City here (which also features words from The Pigeon Post, which is a good thing, obviously).

The Neat - In Youth Is Pleasure from Auditor Records on Vimeo.

Summer Camp were incredible. So, so good. You probably already know about them, so I won't go into a lot of detail. They were much more electro and disco than I was expecting which worked very well, and Jeremy Warmsley's and Elizabeth Sankle's vocals work together wonderfully. They really, really impressed me live. I was already a fan of them before catching them live, but this has cemented them in my mind as one of the top bands in Britain right now. The vintage photographs projected onto the wall behind them were cool, too. See a video of them below, also (again stolen, this time from indiescreet.com).

Summer Camp - Ghost Train (viral) from Paddy Power on Vimeo.

Frankie & the Heartstrings were up last. They were really fun, and lead-singer Frankie was as energetic as ever. They were heavier and more in-your-face live than I had expected, but still a definite 'indie pop' Last Fm tag is deserved. My favourtie track of that night, and my overall favourtie track of their's overall probably, is Hunger. See it below. This time I feel a little less bad for stealing it from a big company like Last FM. They don't even need a hyperlink.



Summer Camp definitely stole the show though. They continue to tour with Frankie & the Heartstrings for a few more days. Newcastle folk, catch them at The Cluny tomorrow (Saturday), and those from Nottingham, head to Stealth on Sunday.

Oh, and you can read a wordier review online at Buzz Magazine here, if you want.