Twisted By Design

Music:

Member Since: 18/09/2006
Band Website: http://www.twistedbydesign.co.uk
Band Members:

Sat 14th March - Upstairs at Dempseys

Twisted by Design and Freakshow present…

Live sets from Allo, Darlin’ + Freeze Puppy

Plus full Twisted by Design Indie disco til 2am

Allo, Darlin’

Allo, Darlin' is the music of Elizabeth Darling, with a little help from her friends. The first EP, The Photos EP, was released on WeePop Records under the name The Darlings in November 2007, and sold out not long after that. After a spooky email from another band called The Darlings, Elizabeth changed the name to Allo, Darlin'. In 2008 Elizabeth played lots of places, including a very memorable set at the Indietracks festival, and much to her delight joined Darren Hanlon during his set at the End of the Road festival. In December 2008, Allo, Darlin' released another limited edition lo-fi EP but with a Christmas theme, to accompany her first tour around the UK. In early 2009 Allo, Darlin' will be releasing the follow-up to the Photo EP, Henry Rollins Don't Dance, on 7 inch vinyl with WeePop again. In the meantime, Elizabeth regularly posts (very!) rough free bedroom demos of new songs on her website. She also can be seen around the traps playing with the reformed Tender Trap. Here are some reviews of the first EP:

Retro Low Fi said:

"First up, you’ve got “Emily”, which is really the type f pop song that would be number one in seventy-eight countries for forty-three weeks in a perfect world. An indisputable girl-pop masterpiece that lands somewhere between the perfectly self-deprecating writings of Kirsty Macoll and the effortless proto-twee melodies of the best Twa Toots songs. This unbelievable oughta-be hit is followed up by what stands as the best AC/DC cover I’ve ever heard in my life. Yessir, The Darlings turn in a finely downtrodden reworking of “You Shook Me All Night Long” that seemingly places the lyrical emphasis on the morning after a conquest and not the bravado of just getting laid that permeated the original barroom standard. Not that there’s anything wrong with the original, but… wow. The whole damned EP sounds effortless and literally asks you politely to play it over and over again. If I don’t get to hear a whole album by The Darlings soon, I might just explode".

Foggy Ruins of Time said:

"I’m in love with The Darlings. I’ll get that out now. When I first heard the songs off their myspace, the mail couldn’t come fast enough. “Emily” is pure, addictive and hilarious. I haven’t laughed as much listening to song in awhile. Sort-of a revenge at the girl next in line, it’s too funny to be offended by yet wittingly perfect. Probably my favorite release from Wee Pop! Records so far, The Darlings Photo EP will soothe you, make you laugh, smile and shake you until you’re thoroughly hooked."

www.myspace.com/allodarlin

Freeze Puppy

Freeze Puppy is the latest project from eclectic Bristol musician Tom Wilson. It combines his love of classic songwriting (The Beatles, The Kinks, Burt Bacharach e.t.c) with a more experimental spirit, creating music that is both accessible and challenging. Defining the Freeze Puppy sound is difficult but here are some of the stabs people have had at it: "Electro-creole pop", "Endearingly twisted", "Jungle music", "Zappaish", "African Guitar meets Blur", "Like playing Subutteo on a chess board", "I want some of whatever he had".

"Even if ideas-wise your average Freeze Puppy composition features everything including the kitchen sink (often with most of the plumbing dementedly ripped out and chucked in for good measure), there's always a big fat hummable snake of melody slithering irresistibly through its core"- John Stevens, Venue Magazine. ''...jawdropping inventiveness....sounded like the core humanity that might be inside anyone if they could only shake off all the caked on crap. That is, this is one of the best acts, from every angle, that I have seen in a long time''- Jenny Darwin, Decode Magazine. DISCOGRAPHY: MISTAKEN IDENTITY (SELF-RELEASED, 2002). HEADS OR TAILS (SELF-RELEASED, 2003). JOYOUS YELPS (CLEAN CUT RECORDS, 2005).

www.myspace.com/freezepuppy

Full Twisted by Design Indie disco afterwards til 2am

Sat 28th March - Upstairs at Dempseys

Twisted by Design and Freakshow present…

Live sets from Schwervon! and Hail! The Planes plus tba

Plus full Twisted by Design Indie disco til 2am

Schwervon!

Schwervon! Is a two piece rock band. Nan and Matt have been a couple longer than they have been a band. Their relationship influences their art. Their art influences their relationship. They are two birds of a different feather. You might say one flies and one rolls and they meet in the middle with two halves of the worm. They are a collaboration. Is one Sonny and one Cher? Is one a pop lover and one a noise lover? Why do they both love food so much? Why are they obsessed with their cat Gummo?

They started making up songs soon after they met amongst the fertile Indie Rock gutters of New York City, with Nan pounding the drums (learning to play, she figured, would happen as she went along - which it did) and Matt reawakening his high school electric guitar rockability. Their music is a celebration of imperfect love through jagged rock minimalism. Sometimes they write lyrics on the train. Sometimes they steal lines from eavesdropping on other people's conversations. They were DIY long before it was a marketing strategy, mixing and recording the bulk of their music in their cramped little apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They call it Olive Juice Music.

Schwervon! return to twisted after far too long and are touring their new album – Low Blow

Here are some words about this…

"Lower East Side couple-band Matt Roth (guitar) and Nan Turner (drums) make roughhewn, exposed-brick NYC indie rock with a freshly squeezed pop twist, their young life/ young heart songs drawing inspiration from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Pixies, the more twee side of Cibo Matto and beyond. The general rule of rock duos states that for a group to really explode,one member needs to be a brutal enough talent to igniteboth halves (White Stripes,etc.), but Turner and Roth seem to be enjoying themselves enough for three, and that is just fine, too." -AM New York "Of course, Schwervon!’s secret has weapon has always been their proximity. Two songwriters who share a life offstage as well as on, Roth and Turner’s vocals intertwine with an unforced familiarity that comes from years of cohabitation and collaboration. Roth, the Kansas drawl undiminished by years in the city, has always sounded to me like the voice of reason, a narrator, while Turner’s bubbly (but never ditzy) alto serves as more of an atmosphere enhancer: more of a third instrument than what drives the lyric. On Low Blow, though, Schwervon! have really come together, often singing in unison or falling into a singsong-y, call and response. Lead single “Balloon” works so well because Roth and Turner are clearly enjoying each other’s company in the dance party-friendly verses, and in mimicking the between-verse lead guitar. Schwervon!’s music is comprised of two-person inside jokes that cruises on a wave of inclusiveness: sort of like Matt and Kim, Nan and Matt make their audience feel like the songs and the sound belong to everyone who comes across it."-Brook Pridemore, Jezebel Music

"Nice, simple, stripped down pop. Schwervon! is the New York-based duo consisting of Matt Roth and Nan Turner. These peppy, smart pop tunes sound pretty great...particularly when you consider the fact that these folks record their tunes in a small New York apartment. Low Blow is the duo's fourth release on the Olive Juice label. The album features simple rhythms, a loud fuzzy guitar, and both male and female lead vocals. Schwervon! tunes remind us a great deal of many of the odd, obscure underground pop bands that were treading around the United States in the early- to mid-1990s. This might better be labeled as minimalist pop because there is very little of the ultra-layering that usually litters twenty-first century pop. Plenty of groovy cuts here including "Dodger," "What We Talk About When We Don't Talk About Love," "Glasses On," and "Dogs for Hire. 5 out of 5"-LMNOP.com

Major Matt Mason is a legend and has worked with with most of the major anti-folk bands as collaborator, producer, and/or distributor, including Jeffrey Lewis, The Moldy Peaches and Toby Goodshank.

Schwervon! played their first Cardiff gig at twisted over five years ago and it’s very exciting to have them back.

www.myspace.com/schwervon

Hail! The Planes

Hail! The Planes began in October 2007 when four friends got together and made a folky racket in a small room above an estate agents. Since then they have written some songs, played some shows and met some nice people.

They have also recorded a four track EP, two tracks of which you can listen to on their myspace and has since been released.

www.myspace.com/hailtheplanes

Full Twisted by Design Indie disco afterwards til 2am

Record Label: Twisted by Design Ltd
Type of Label: Indie