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THE B OF THE BANG B of the Bang’s lead singer, Wit, describes his band as a lo-fi, electronica tinged anti-folk cake with a gothic grunge icing. Topped with cherries. The last bit particularly makes it sound more interesting than it actually is unfortunately, a bit more of a quiet “pfffft” than an attention-grabbing explosion and certainly no analogy to the impressive stance of the Mancunian sculpture after which they might be named. Although that started to fall apart before it was even unveiled so not sure of the reference there really.
Although when they are not adding their names to the list of bands that think that a clever sense of drama can only be achieved by sticking a few minutes of waltz in the middle of a song, BOTB are actually quite good. Away from the theatrical drunken-ness of the EP’s title track, which showcases their troubadour attitude but not so much their strength of songwriting, live acoustic track, ‘Lung’, demonstrates that they perform as well in the altogether as on record, the sometimes dreary lead vocal, which puts me in mind of Franz Ferdinand in slow motion, contrasted by the friendly ghost backing singing and cute glockenspiel sounds and adding a bit of hope to proceedings. A remix of their track ‘Alaska’, (of which I wonder if anyone has heard the original version), also provides a good example of a decent rhythm and a good remix actually enhancing a band’s overall sound. Overall, a weird debut but something to go on and I wonder what the album release will sound like, due out in May 2009. Well, at least I’m wondering. Anna C http://www.myspace.com/thebofthebang
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