The garish seedlings of 'Chop, Chop: Bear Touch?' were planted in a chance meeting on a train station platform and soon blossomed into a hothouse combination of spectacles, games of pool, the growl of Pantera and the gladioli waving of The Smiths.
They quickly translated and incorporated this bizarre mix into sharp, witty and observant songs about the drama of everyday man, set against a relentless barrage of crunching riffs. The reviews concluded it was a combination that worked, with highly respected journalist John Earls proclaiming their first ever demo track ‘The Dancefloor is a Scary Place ’ as having “one of the best solos you’ll ever hear on a demo†and ranking it with a fantastic four-out-of-five blocks rating.
Additionally, NME gave Chop Chop the title of ‘demo of the week’, affectionately labeling them as "grotty snotty rockers" and the band subsequently went on to play an unsigned stage at GuilFest 2006 - as well as the staple venues of the London scene (Purple Turtle, Half Moon, Bull and Gate, Barfly, Dublin Castle, Water Rats and a headline show at Borderline ).
Things for Chop Chop have since moved on considerably, as this year the band played Guilfest 2007 in the Rocksound Cave with established acts such as Reuben, Hell is for Heroes, Your Code Name: Is Milo, My Vitriol and Pull Tiger Tail.
The band has now added dynamism and clarity to their at-times schizophrenic sound and people have found them very hard to pigeonhole indeed. A unique aspect to the band is their ability to understand, respect and absorb each other’s influences making every band member an essential component of each and every song and performance. More than anything, they have a strong determination to produce great music for the ears and feet of the freaks and the flirts, which is witty, charming, brutal and honest.
At the rate things have been going for the Choppers, the future looks very yellow and red. With the introduction of a new drummer and bassist only happening in November 2007, Chop Chop are determined to get back to battering London as well as contributing to raising the profile of their burgeoning local scene, by putting on their own one day festivals at the Black Sheep Bar in Croydon. So far in 2008, Chop Chop have been nominated for an Indy Award and are lining up some high profile gigs, including one with Yeti, which features ex - Libertine John Hassell.
At the very young age of two years old, Chop Chop have created a 14-song demo - with many more to come. If you’d like a FREE copy of the demo, or to receive details of upcoming events then please contact us via email at [email protected] or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2439831382
WWW.BANDWAGON.CO.UK - "Sadly not the Japanese screamcore group we know you were all expecting, rather a chirpy London rock quartet. They sing about the usual stuff: loneliness, cows and boy racers. Its all very laid-back and gently eccentric,with loads of
character and tunes that get your head nodding rather than you nodding off."
SOME GEEZER FROM A WATERCOOLER COMPANY - "pls no one ever to go and see the band chop chop bear touch, they are awful. they sound like a thick-necked art brut and look like lynyrd skynyrd with patrick bateman on drums and colin hunt on vox. i seem to find myself loving art brut more and more but they have a lot to answer for and i fear this is just the beginning"
TASTY FANZINE LIVE REVIEW - "An altogether different proposition, Chop Chop Bear Touch look like the result of some bizarre band-splicing incident but happily turn out to be as bizarrely entertaining as their name. An unwieldy five-piece comprised of two metal-heads content to get lost in their own hair and two other randoms, the glue holding the whole car-crash together comes in the form of one Dave Salisbury, who not only resembles a bear but who's random forays into the crowd remind me of an autistic child let loose in a supermarket. Or something like that.
Indeed, their brand of hoary old 80s rock-metal fusion could quite easily be awful was it not for the distinctly haphazard nature of their performance. Sailisbury chooses to bellow the choruses rather than attempt any kind of singing, and his genial rapport with the audience means you can't help but like him. Imagine Faith No More without some lunatic drinking piss out a shoe and that's a good starting point."
ROCK RIOT PROMOTIONS - "The Outdoor Shindig!'s first full band performance and what a fucking show! These guys are truely great and put on a terrific show. Despite the problems with the sound and the onset of rain. Davros and the band played a quality set. Main highlights for us being 'The Dancefloor is a Scary Place' and 'Boy Racer'.I implore you to see this band live!"
