NEW #81 - Disgusting Sisters

 

When this blog was in its prime it was a reasonably common occurrence to feature artists that had yet to release any ‘official’ recorded music, instead relying on shaky live You Tube clips or dodgy Soundcloud demos.

The last band that featured here in that way was The Dinner Party, who a few months on had changed their name (for the better) to The Last Dinner Party and became a so-called overnight success with Nothing Matters. When a band seemingly appears from nowhere and already has full label and management support behind them, the cynics will always criticize. “Industry plant!” you’ll no doubt remember was pointlessly shouted on line at The Last Dinner Party by those who seem to get a weird kick out of doing down others in public.

Which brings us to Disgusting Sisters. Now, there aren’t any detractors (yet) with Disgusting Sisters, although it would be easy to write the headlines now: "Disgusting Sisters are Revolting!" "Foul tunes from Disgusting Sisters!" etc. All there is is a very small thread on Reddit where someone questions how Disgusting Sisters managed to get a slot on the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading / Leeds Festivals this year with no recorded music out and only a handful of live shows which included supporting Two Door Cinema Club.

The answer probably has something to do with the fact that they have already been signed to Prolifica Management (who manage the above mentioned Two Door Cinema Club), have a live booking agent and they are not entirely new to the world of music; Julianna Hopkins of the band is also the drummer in Pynch. Her sister meanwhile has been off working as a director and screenwriter. It also probably has quite a lot to do with the fact that someone thinks they could be onto something and that’s worth supporting.

But let’s not get too into the how come they get the opportunities when others don’t debate - your weary distrust and jaded cynicism can be left at the door when you enter Breaking More Waves. It’s time to start dancing with Disgusting Sisters. Just make sure the dancing is a bit silly and quirky. And yes, just like Haim, The Staves and The Nolans they are actually siblings.

Disgusting Sisters are the sort of band that you can imagine have practiced with a hairbrush microphone dancing in their bedrooms infront of the mirror. From the bits of live footage you can find on line you’ll see a certain sort of engaging d-i-y amateurishness to what they do. They come across as a hybrid of Shampoo, Panic Shack and Las Bistecs rather than anything too slick - they have described themselves as a ‘cunty pop rock band’. 

They also look like they’re going to be a lot of fun. 

They have moves, but not like Britney or Beyonce; more the sort of dancing you can copy after one watch. I’m predicting mass audience participation of the cat choreography during TGIF (see below). Other tracks that there are live or rehearsal clips of on line include Sorry Mister which the duo say is ‘a song about the arseholes you meet on a night out’ and Not Cool is one they have dedicated to their cringey ex-boyfriends

Now we wait for some recorded music, passing time practicing those dance moves.

Disgusting Sisters - TGIF Live at Reading Festival (BBC Introducing)

Song of the Week - Geordie Greep - Holy, Holy

 

Is Steely Dan cool these days? Or is it the case that they’re deeply unfashionable? Either way, every person should make it their mission in life to listen to The Nightfly by Donald Fagen (the lead singer of Steely Dan). If I was writing one of those ‘100 Albums You Must Listened To Before You Die’ lists it would definitely feature.

The reason I mention this record is that there is definitely a Donald Fagen reference to Holy, Holy the debut single from Geordie Greep, who was previously a member of a band (Black Midi) but has now gone solo. A second reference point would be Thomas Dolby and his bonkers album Aliens Ate My Buick. Now there's a title.

It’s a pervily-odd bendy blend of disco-funk-rock that finds its creepy womanising narrator suggesting to whoever he is singing to that they should ‘take it further’ than just dancing – but there’s a twist, as he asks “How much does that cost?” Maybe he’s not quite god’s gift to women that was first made out, but a rather sadder more desperate character.

Sounding totally different to everything else around, Geordie Greep bags this week’s song of the week, which you can find on the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly playlist (here), together with some other strong contenders including Ugly Ozo (posted earlier this week), Floating Points and Good Neighbours.

Geordie Greep - Holy, Holy

NEW #80 - Ugly Ozo

 

Whilst Breaking More Waves has never been a ‘local’ music blog, over the years these pages have introduced a fair-few artists from the south-central region of the UK. Today it’s time to welcome another, a band that, based on their debut single, could possibly be filed under the category ‘Beach-Goth’.

Ugly Ozo hails from the Isle of Wight and is the latest in a line of guitar wielding, freakishly cool-kids from across the Solent that have previously included Wet Leg, Coach Party, The Pill and Lauran Hibberd. Lauran Hibberd is of particular note here because Ugly Ozo is fronted by Jess Baker, who also plays in Lauran’s band. But here Jess combines with her younger sister Boo who plays bass. 

Debut single Remains is a dark surf-rock extravaganza that puts the fun back into funerals, coming across like a gothic Dick Dale mixing it up with the Pixies or Breeders. The darker element is taken even further with Jess ticking the occult / goth box in the video: Graveyards! Angel wings! Crystal balls! Tarots cards! Candles! And rather like the debuts from Wet Leg and The Pill some of the video is shot out in a field somewhere. Is this a 'thing' for Isle of Wight bands?

Remains is released through Portsmouth based label Strong Island Recordings who have previously put out tunes by Los Bitchos, Ugly and Melt Dunes. Ugly Ozo makes a fine addition to that roster and let’s hope we hear more from Jess and co soon.

Ugly Ozo - Remains

Song of the Week - Picture Parlour - Face in the Picture

 

Picture Parlour have already ‘faced the music’ from a number of critics for allegedly being the dreaded ‘industry plant’; a meaningless and absolute b*llocks term, that becomes even more meaningless and b*llocks when the people calling them industry plants don’t seem to be explain exactly what they mean or give any evidence of them being such except vague statements like “I know they are.”

I've written about this term in the past, but to summarise, my view of this criticism is the same as the criticism when Lana Del Rey first had success with Video Games and certain loudmouths seemed more interested in talking about her lips (and debating if she had had work done) rather than the music: I couldn’t care a bit. And I don't think the majority of the music listening public do either.

Yes, there is a discussion to be had around privilege in the music industry (assuming that’s what using the criticisms of Industry Plant are actually about) but I’m not sure that simply slagging off artists on Twitter is really the way encourage productive dialogue and change. It just gets people’s backs up. Especially if your criticisms are not backed up by cold hard facts; you just end up looking like an angry child.

However, ultimately, I couldn’t care if Picture Parlour is a fictional band created by some very clever AI if the songs are good. After all I quite liked Boney M. 

Which brings us to Face In The Picture. Their new song. (That’s Picture Parlour’s new one – not Boney M's ). It’s one I shared a live clip of a few weeks ago on my Instagram Story (I’m at breakingmorewavespics for music stuff and robin_seamer for personal stuff if you want to follow). 

To cut to the chase. It’s very good. At less than 3 minutes long Face In The Picture bursts in with a searing hook and big riffs that would sound equally at home in a small underground club or a huge stadium. It’s a fists pumping the air track that aims to remind us that emotional wounds can fade as time passes, but they never truly heal. 

It’s taken from the band’s forthcoming EP. The video (below) is shot in black and white and has an old fashioned cinematic quality.

You’ll find this song on the latest update of the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly playlist, which is released tomorrow.

Picture Parlour - Face In The Picture

Picture Parlour · Face In The Picture