Music:
Member Since: 6/7/2005
Band Website: guessmen.co.uk
Band Members:
Alan Edge - Vocal and Brassy noises;
Tommy Anderson - Electronic and Percussive noises;
John Ayers - Electronic and Woodwind noises.
Influences: Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, Squarepusher, Sun Ra, Add N to (X), Homelife, The Residents, Prince, Slick Rick, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Charles Mingus, Gwilly Edmondez, John Cage, They Might Be Giants, Scott Walker, The bulBS, The Fall, Tim 'Love' Lee, Old Skool Jungle, Ornette Coleman, MushiMushi, Super_Collider, Fog, Coldcut, Funkadelic, Os Mutantes, B52s, Roland Kirk, Super Furry Animals, Albert Ayler, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Herbert, Mugison, Matmos, Stereolab, Black Dice, Animal Collective, Anti Pop Consortium, Kool Keith, Beck, Miles Davis, Sly & the Family Stone, Boredoms, Cornelius, The Big Bopper, you know the usual stuff...
What we have been listening to this week:
Sounds Like:
"this is a band primarily about texture and swing, and to say that they’re influenced by old-school R&B means they draw energy not from Curtis, Isaac, and Marvin, but from Muddy, Wolf, and Guitar Slim. The monstrous grooves that power tracks like Animal Man Robot, Molder, and Troglodyte, electronic as they may be in nature, are pure booze-soaked, sin-and-grin handclappin’ fare from the days when the blues plugged in and moved north, and it’s to The Guessmen’s great credit that these rhythms’ immersion in hi-tech sampling sonics doesn’t feel forced or gimmicky. Edge, Anderson, and Ayers use electronic processing to sully and crack their sound sources, making something grimy, alien, and new from them in a manner that recalls, again, RZA’s application of out-of-tune pianos and dramatic kung-fu strings to sewer-dwelling, frightening ends on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). This is high praise in an era when slapping together a hook from one song with a hook from another can make anyone on Earth the next MySpace mashup king, when more than ever the trend of recognizable, boring sampling (rather than the sort of inventive mutation practiced by the afore-praised) is easy and en vogue." Twisted Ear.com "If you like your music odd, you will appreciate this record. BFTB is slightly traumatic at times, but that is what makes it great. Music is a psychological experience. It SHOULD be fun, strange, dark and malevolent. Like a homicidal Hot Chip, The Guessmen will fuck you up! On the dancefloor! Aeow!" Subba-Cultcha.com
"absolutely wild!... passionate, energetic, gifted, committed, dangerous and full of life. You cant ask for more than that" Tom Robinson, BBC 6Music
"This Newcastle trio have a kind of old school approach... hauled in to the 21st Century on rollerskates. At times they almost resemble the Residents at their danciest" The Wire Magazine
“Guessmen nail fat pop choruses to rowdy dancefloor organic/digital hybridised belters, cementing them into their weird rag and bone musical world. With an alleyway lyrical eye for demented characters this trio pilot the line between cartoon, narratives and character pieces. Helmed by characters with sharp collars and bloody knuckles, their chip-and-pin medicine show molarises genres till only the vitals remain.
"Guessmen are exuding a joy through this album despite its noir threads. With the continual shitstorm of disposable pop music continuously restarting itself, instead of remonstrating with it or taking shelter, Guessmen are punching their weight in tunes.†brainwashed.com "Delightfully woozy" Gideon Coe, BBC 6Music"there is a whole lot of electro-psychedelic and jazz infused madness that give substance to the pop hooks and riffs that makes this record instantaneously catchy" allgigs.co.uk
"They certainly can’t be compared to any other bands as there is simply nothing to compare. They are unbelievably original and construct each track delicately but with such ease you know that they are professionals at what they do" themusicmagazine.co.uk
"The trio keep things from getting predictable whilst simultaneously deploying the secret pop hooks that may just be the key to their whole sound. Nothing is ever the same twice, but BFTB still manages to hang together with enough identifiable cohesion to keep things from being on the wrong side of random. Neat trick, that." Rock-a-Rolla Magazine
"It’s as if Guessmen have tried to stick as many sounds as possible on every song... why this band aren’t as big as, say Klaxons, is genuinely beyond me" Sunday Sun
"If you haven’t seen or heard Guessmen before, here’s a quick lesson. Distorted beats, fat bass-notes rumbling your guts, blasts of trumpet and bassoon, songs about mermaids and all-day breakfasts and one of the bestest frontmen that you’ll ever see." NARC Mgazine
"Somehow, Guessmen merge Aphex-mangled mechanics, Herbet-like saxophone swells and Beefheart-y word weirdness into a storm that goes bump, blip and bang on the night." PLAN B magazine
"they ably prove that they bang like the highest heeled unshaven Warp signed glam band ever" brainwashed.com
"a worthwhile ramshakle blend of electro blues and fuzzy junk yard funk" DJ magazine
Magic!
Record Label: Co-Lab, Tummy Touch
Type of Label: Indie
