EP: Sit Down – ‘Cheap Luxe’

Describing themselves as “halfway between Jack Black and Jack White,” Brighton duo Sit Down are a DIY force to be reckoned with. Formed in 2016 after temporarily living in New York City, guitarist & vocalist Greg Burns and drummer & vocalist Katie Oldham honed their punk ethos and admiration for strong rebellious women and created their knockout debut EP, Cheap Luxe.

Labelled by the band as “the lovechild of sin and substance,” the EP was self-produced between two bedrooms and released online at the end of March. Listeners will be cracking their knuckles in preparation for opening track ‘Mothership’, which provides a defiant, alien-invasion-inspired introduction to an onslaught of seething, seductive sound. Getting revenge sounds brutal and beautiful on second track ‘Bloodlust’, on which Katie leads the vocals and Greg welds more of his manic, menacing riffs.

The devious ‘Honeysucker’ rips through shortly after, demanding listeners attention with its primal drumming, filthy riffs and Greg & Katie’s dual vocals colliding in blood-lusting fashion. Closing track ‘Cheap Luxe’ is a searing, sassy attack on materialism with visceral reverb and pounding percussion that’ll have listeners reveling in the idea that the real high life is “living cheap as fuck!”

There’s no force on earth that will make you sit still – or indeed Sit Down – to this Goliath-sounding debut EP. Get up, get moving and get sweaty to Cheap Luxe. Fans of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills & Deap Vally will definitely approve.

You can listen to/download Cheap Luxe on bandcamp here. Follow Sit Down on Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Jessie Morgan

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Nányë – ‘Hummingbird Part I’

A collaboration between artists Oli Rushen, Roman Banwell, Elliot Hingston and Ella Joy, Nányë create captivating electronic and analogue soundscapes. Based in London, the band are connected by their desire to explore modern progressive living, self exploration and creative expression through sound. On their single ‘Hummingbird Part I’, they achieve this through gentle percussion, beautiful vocals and waves of delicate electronica.

Nányë recently released their first concept EP, exploring the relationship between music, art and mindful conscious living. It makes for a thoughtful, liberating, harmonious listening experience and beautifully showcases the band’s talent.

Watch the mesmerising video for ‘Hummingbird Part I’ below and follow Nányë on Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Stay South – ‘If You Leave LA’

A gentle, lo-fi delight, independent artist Stay South has shared her latest single If You Leave LA’. Born in Vancouver, Canada, her simple ambition is to write music that she wants to listen to, hoping her efforts will have a similar affect on her listeners.

Stay South is pretty elusive, but she’s on GIHE radar we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears on her in the near future. Listen to ‘If You Leave LA’ below and follow Stay South on Facebook for more updates.

‘If You Leave LA’ is available to download from all digital platforms now.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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LIVE: Fever Ray – The Troxy, London 20.03.18

There are plenty of reasons to admire Fever Ray (aka Karin Dreijer) after her sold out show at London’s Troxy last night, but not all of them are based around her electrifying music.

In Fever Ray’s space, she takes care to make sure no-one is an outsider: everyone is welcome in her warped and wonderful world.

Before the gig, signs around the venue explicitly stated she wanted fans not to use their phones to document the evening and immerse themselves in her performance. The same signs requested that women come to the front and taller people stand back if obscuring a shorter person’s view. Outside of the toilets, another sign indicated that for the duration of the night, toilet facilities were trans-friendly spaces and trans fans were free to use the bathroom they felt aligned with their gender identity.

Emerging from the lights in her trademark “I heart Swedish girls” t-shirt and bare scalp, she plunged in to ‘An Itch’ as her crystal clear vocals swept across her excited crowd. From start to finish, the sound was flawless: each lyric, synth sequence, and drum beat distinct and easily discernible from the next. She delivered only a simple “Hello” or “Thank You” between songs – scarcely interrupting the torrent of sound.

She tore through ‘A Part Of Us’ and ‘When I Grow Up’, before performing ‘Mustn’t Hurry’ and ‘This Country’ with full fervor. The politically charged lyrics on the latter: “Free abortions and clean water / destroy nuclear / destroy boring” were echoed back by the crowd, and erotically charged line “this country makes it hard to fuck” was passionately reciprocated too.

Plunge‘s lead single ‘Wanna Sip’ sounded every inch as intense live, followed by ‘I’m Not Done’, the superb ‘Red Trails’ and the ominous ‘Concrete Walls’. The luscious “To The Moon & Back” came next, with it’s upbeat electronics buoyant lyrics, bleeding into the infectious ‘IDK About You’. The eerie ‘Keep The Streets Empty For Me’ was a fitting penultimate track and prepared fans for a powerful encore of ‘If I Had A Heart’ and ‘Mamma’s Hand’.

Fever Ray’s fierce, focused, full-on performance at the Troxy proved she’s an inimitable talent with a vision, generosity and energy unlike any other. Simply put: if you weren’t there, you missed out.

Support came from the the fluorescent and fabulous Bunny.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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