Monday 26 March 2012

Trim the Barber on LOUD-STUFF: a new review of old songs

Read here: http://www.loud-stuff.com/trim-the-barber.html

LOUD-STUFF.COM


Trim the Barber | Words: Dave Nicholls

Formed from a sense of despair at the alienation and devolution of modern life, Trim The Barber are set to release their self-titled debut EP in April of this year, and it promises to be something pretty damned epic. Already known for explosively loud audio-visual live performances, the band have been playing all over the UK, forming their sound and crafting their tracks to perfection ready to unleash them on the world. As such, when guitarist Paddy dropped me a line, how could I refuse the chance to check them out?

All We Can Be doesn’t really give a lot away about the style of the band as it opens, sounding like a combination of early punk and dark gothic influences, all pinned together with a strange sense of melody. The mix which opens the track soon begins to fade into a deeper track, the sound seeming to grow as it progresses and making you question exactly what you’re hearing. What’s most striking here is that the band aren’t following a convention, they’re not basing their music on any one genre, instead allowing it to build into its own unique sound and packing a punch as it goes. Deep, powerful and strangely addictive, there’s an almost hypnotic quality about things here, somehow managing to draw you into the dark melee of elements and making you want to know what’s coming next.

Now The Joke Is On You marks a significant change on the EP, this time launching into a sludgy riff fuelled track, once again harking to the origins of punk yet firmly stamping their own sound on it. Catchy whilst somehow still unconventional, this track is one which seems to be crafted for the live scene, packing enough punch to get the crowd involved yet enough catchiness to get everyone singing along after a couple of listens. For me, the most striking moment on this track was the mid-section featuring the guitar solo, not for the solo but for the mix which formed, the music changed into an atmospheric mix, grabbing your attention once again and renewing that question in your mind about how they’re going to follow it! The answer to the question is presented in Free Falling, another track which airs on the stranger side of things yet still somehow manages to work to continue the EP forwards. Basing the track around the vocals, there’s once again a sense of darkness flowing through this one, adopting a sound which nods towards their influences, yet still presents us with moments of questionable progression. Elements like a wood block are thrown in, bongos, dual vocal lines and string synth sound, they’re all here and somehow make this track work, yet quite honestly, it shouldn’t. Despite the strange combination, this is actually a seriously high point on the EP, and a track which I would highly advise you to check out.

Always Delayed closes the EP and once again, raises a question in my mind – where did this come from. Launching head first into a distorted yet melodic mix of guitars and rumbling bass, there’s once again different elements thrown in all over the place to craft a track which harks back to the likes of The Cure. If you’ve ever wondered what post-punk sounds like then this is about as close as you’re going to get, it’s a sound which oozes with the smog of London yet somehow still manages to sound fresh and new, updated almost.

What you’ve got here is an EP which isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but to those that it does it’s going to mark a moment of sheer genius. The tracks aren’t the sort of thing you can whack into a genre, and this is what makes the EP so special. There’s influences everywhere, sounds which you think you recognise, moments which confuse you and catchy lines which you want to sing along to, all combined with music which is at times dark and foreboding whilst at others, light and sunny. I don’t know that I fully understand this EP, nor am I sure that it’s the sort of thing I’d listen to a lot, but I know that I’ll come back to it at some point, just to make sure I still appreciate how incredible music can sound when the musicians making it want to work on something unique.

To find out more about Trim The Barber, check out their Facebook page HERE.

Trim the Barber in XYZ Magazine

Read here: http://www.xyzmagazine.co.uk/brighton/news/latest-news/trim-the-barber-ep-out-april-9th-2012

XYZMAGAZINE.COM

TRIM THE BARBER - EP out April 9th 2012 & London show dates

22nd March 2012 | By WebGuy | Category: INFOMusic Tours & ShowsINFOUpcoming ReleasesLatestNews 

This psychedelic-post-punk-shoegazing quatet from East London combine the melancholic style of The Cure, the snarl of Wire and the considered sonic appoach of A Place to Bury Strangers. Formed as it’s said ” … from a sense of despair at the alienation and devolution of modern life”,  Trim the Barber’s songs reference conscious lyrical themes of despondency and frustration with an existence in post-Millennial Britain.

Gaining notoriety for their explosively loud audio-visual live performances, the group have played acorss the UK over the past year, melting the ears off of audience members with their unique brand of noisy yet melodic compositions.

With positive press from the world of music blogs, including Battery In Your Leg, Music Liberation, Can’t Hear My Eyes and Killing Moon Limited, they’ve also enjoyed national radio play on Amazing Radio, XFM, Future Radio and BBC 6music, all whilst producing their self-titled debut EP, out on 9th  April 2012.

The EP will be available FREE to download for one week only, on the week of release from the band’s bandcamp profile! trimthebarber.bandcamp.com

 For more infomation and live dates please check
trimthebarber.blogspot.com
facebook.com/trimthebarber

100 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION EP CDs

...will be available until they are no longer available. Get yours here: http://bit.ly/zN4yUD

Thursday 22 March 2012

Trim the Barber on ALTSOUNDS

Read here: http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/145405-review-trim-barber-occupation-single.html#post181013

HANGOUTATALTSOUNDS.COM

Review: Trim The Barber - Occupation [Single]
SELF TITLED | "DISTINCT VOCALS AND WALLS OF GUITAR FUZZ..."


March 21st 2012 // by Phatty73 // More

Do you have a 'Bucket List'? I do. Everyone should have one. The main problem of said lists though is actually achieving all the entries before the sands of time slip away for ever. Finishing this list is even harder when you hear Trim The Barber's 'Occupation' because it will have you diving for your ballpoint to scribe 'see these guys live'.

Seriously, only 15 seconds into the track and we have tribal drumming and a post punk - almost New Order bass line. About a minute later and we are hit with distinct vocals and walls of guitar fuzz that any shoe-gazer would be proud of (well not proud because they would be too nervous staring down at their ragged converse of course).

'Occupation' is just one track from Trim The Barber's up-coming, self titled EP. The band are releasing one track a week from this EP and if 'Occupation' is anything to go by it will most definitely be worth grabbing a copy of the full release.

I would love to expand on the wall of sound these guys emit but I'm off to hit Google for tour dates to get em 'crossed off'.

Occupation is out now.

Trim The Barber EP is released 9th April 2012

For more information, check out: TRIM THE BARBER

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Trim the Barber on DRUNKENWEREWOLF

DRUNKENWEREWOLF.COM

TRIM THE BARBER READY TO RELEASE THEIR DEBUT EP

19th March 2012 | By Tiffany Daniels | Category: BLOG

A name like Trim the Barber could insinuate a harmonious group of nu-folk chaps, dressed like the 50s-styled offspring of Mumford & Sons; or it could mean we’re dealing with a pack of rabid Jack the Ripper enthusiasts. Actually what springs forth from the London four-piece’s debut EP is far fresher than your average Communion signee, and there’s not a blood stained, greasy flat cap in sight (thank Goodness).

Or so their first release, available to stream below, would have us believe. Punching a medley of Madchester vocals and shoegaze into the band’s penchant for breaking structural convention, there’s also a smidge of industrial seeping through the cracks of Trim the Barber’s outlay. Influenced by bands as diverse as The Cure, Wire and A Place to Bury Strangers, the songs “feature conscious lyrical themes of despondency and frustration with an existence in post-Millennial Britain”. Ooo err…

If musical integrity alone isn’t enough for you, Trim the Barber have already caught the eye of radio stations galore, accruing time on Amazing Radio, XFM exposure, Future Radio and BBC 6music. Their EP will be released on April 9ththrough The White Label.

Download previous single “Always Delayed” below.
 

Monday 19 March 2012

Trim the Barber on AAA Music

Read here: http://www.aaamusic.co.uk/2012/03/18/trim-the-barber-debut-ep-on-9th-april/

AAAMUSIC.CO.UK

TRIM THE BARBER DEBUT EP ON 9TH APRIL

By aaamusic on Mar 18, 2012 in News

Trim The Barber are releasing their debut EP, ‘Trim The Barber’ on the 9th April.
Combining shoegaze with minimalist post-punk to create a sound that is reminiscent of The Cure and Wire. The band have received plays on BBC 6Music, XFM Exposure and Amazing Radio, amongst others.

The band are releasing one track from the EP each week in the run-up to release, and first up is opener, ‘Occupation’, which can be heard HERE

Thursday 8 March 2012

"Occupation" on Future Radio tonight...

Mark Thorpe from Battery In Your Leg will be playing a song from our new EP on his Future Radio show tonight between 8-10pm. Tune in here: http://www.futureradio.co.uk/shows/ianandrosieandthemixtape

Trim the Barber on RATTLING ABACUS

Read here: http://rattlingabacus.tumblr.com/post/18852458183/trim-the-barber-occupation-ttb-describe

RATTLINGABACUS.TUMBLER.COM

TRIM THE BARBER - 'OCCUPATION'

6th March 2012

TTB describe themselves as “wailing fuzztone psychadelic post-punk shoegaze”, which should be laughable since it’s essentially enlisting a massive chunk of the alternative genre spectrum and smooshing them together in the hope that at least one will make sense. It’s like asking someone’s favourite colour and them saying “the rainbow”. Helpful as fuck. However, in TTB’s case, they just get away with it. They’re music is an ominous wall of sound that does tip its toes into each of those genres, sounding like a cross between Gang Of Four, Oasis, Sonic Youth, Wire and The Brian Jonestown Massacre all rolled into one giant ball of energy. No small feat.

‘Occupation’ is taken from their eponymous debut EP, which will be released April 9th. It follows a string of supportive plays on such alternative milestones as BBC 6, Amazing Radio, and XFM Exposure. If this were Scrabble they’d have just hit the triple word score.

I do like this band, they have the kind of sound that could be mesmerising live, but I have to make a slight dig at the photo. I mean, am I the only one who finds it slightly unnerving? It’s like the mugshots from the aftermath of some apocalyptic, cult-led attack. “Marvin was such a shy boy, but we knew something was wrong when he painted his bedroom black and insisted on sleeping in a cage with seven ravens and a fork.”