Fortuna POP!
-
Visit product page →London five-piece Evans the Death return with Vanilla, their most ambitious and experimental album to date, eschewing the more traditional pop structures and hooks of their first two albums, 2012's self-titled debut and 2015's critically acclaimed Expect Delays. While Expect Delays was a step towards something more interesting, more collaborative, experimental and abrasive - a bleak, introspective kind of album that still retained a pop sensibility - Vanilla sees the band veer in an ever more adventurous direction: more aggressive, extroverted and raw.
Named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas'radio play, Under Milk Wood, the band was formed by brothers Dan and Olly Moss after meeting singer Katherine Whitaker at a Let's Wrestle show. After numerous line-ups, the band is now completed by James Burkitt on drums and Daniel Raphael on bass. The new album was recorded at Lightship95 in London with producer Rory Attwell, who worked on both of their previous records. Highly variegated in style and mood, brimming with extreme contrasts, from noisy to funky to melodic, energetic to dejected, full of chaos and restlessness, the album was the result of a carefully planned recording strategy, as Dan Moss explains:
'We deliberately booked very little time in the studio, and we pretty much did everything live, together in the room - there was no trying to fix any mistakes. What you hear is very close to what we did in that moment - so technically, while it isn't overly polished or slick, it's a very high fidelity recording - an accurate reproduction of the original source. I think that gives it more of an urgency and honesty than the first two. We decided to limit ourselves to 8 tracks and this meant we were restricted in how much we could alter things after recording, and the amount of overdubs we could do - which is what we wanted.'
With no specific musical reference point, the songs on Vanilla veer wildly in style, lending a real energy and vitality to the flow of the album. There's the psychedelic snarl of 'Haunted Wheelchair' built around dissonant, ominous, jazz-like chords, which build a sense of dread and paranoia but also a strange excitement. Dan explains: 'I wasn't getting enough sleep. Then before recording the song, while on my way to a party I got assaulted out of the blue, and I had to have surgery for a broken jaw. I used that incident to hang the lyrics on, but really it's about that strange feeling I was already having anyway.'
There's also the no-wave party vibe of 'Suitcase Jimmy', a semi-improvised portrait of a fictional down-at-heel actor built around a Wilko Johnson-ish guitar part. 'Hey! Buddy' is an 'unintentionally mean-spirited' askew pop tune from the point of view of a cloying and over-zealous fan of the band. While the wartime dancehall of 'Cable St. Blues' is an odd duet between two parts of the psyche, representing 'an argument you have with yourself, about depression and extreme self-criticism and self-doubt, struggling to function', and named after the site of the 1936 riots where the band wrote the album. 'I wanted the end to sound like a New Orleans jazz funeral', says Dan.
Newest member Daniel Raphael's present to the band, 'Hot Sauce' is led by a groovy, capacious bassline, while Olly's 'Armchair Theatre', the quietest, prettiest song on the record, starts out like a soft rock classic and turns in to a gorgeously mournful song with the lyric 'I took you to the park / kickin'through used Johnnies and dry leaves'. And 'Welcome to Usk' drews on Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western soundtracks and parts of Vivian Kubrick's score for Full Metal Jacket, with a banging disco section thrown in for good measure. 'When we first got this song right I got so excited I threw up my dinner', says Dan. 'It has three different time signatures!'
A dark, howling, ragged storm of an album, impossible to categorise, Vanilla is anything but - a far cry from the bland, unimaginative music that pervades the airwaves. It is a brittle, brilliant new chapter in the story of a band who never fail to surprise.
Tracklisting:
1. Haunted Wheelchair
2. Suitcase Jimmy
3. No Imitations
4. Hey! Buddy
5. Cable St. Blues
6. Disowner
7. Hot Sauce
8. Armchair Theatre
9. Welcome to Usk
10. European Bison -
Evans the Death return with their second album Expect Delays in March via Fortuna POP! (Europe) and Slumberland (USA). Recorded again with producer Rory Atwell (Test Icicles, Warm Brains), the album bristles with an underlying tension and veers from rip-roaring noise to quiet contemplation, underpinned by Katherine Whitaker's extraordinary voice.Visit product page →
Still barely out of their teens, there's a tremendous sense across Expect Delays of a band coming in to their own, honing a plethora of influences to make a sound that is uniquely them. Each song on the album has a different feel to it: some of them are melodic and pretty; some of them heavy and dissonant; and some of them are, to quote guitarist Dan Moss, 'a bit strange'. While retaining the post-punk and 90s alt-rock inspired elements that peppered their debut, the music is more expressive, heavier and more experimental, and the lyrics more nuanced, the sense of despair leavened by sharp wordplay and humour.
The unsettling undercurrent of melancholy and hopelessness that pervades the record has its roots in the last three years, spent eking out an existence on the poverty line in Cameron's Britain. On the cusp of finishing school when their debut was released, the band rejected the opportunity of higher education in favour of focusing on music, a decision that backfired when the album failed to take off in the way they'd expected, leaving them with a succession of minimum wage jobs and unemployment benefits interviews. As guitarist Dan Moss relates, the album is about 'being in London and feeling hopeless and a bit lost. Not having any money, relationships falling apart, things just not connecting or going anywhere and getting absolutely wasted all the time.'
Named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, the band's 2012 eponymous debut saw critical acclaim from the likes of Q, Uncut and Artrocker as well as radio play on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music and XFM. Following the departure of bassist Alanna McArdle to Joanna Gruesome and drummer Rob Mitson the band regrouped around the core of brothers Dan and Olly Moss and singer Katherine Whitaker for the recording of Expect Delays. Previously songwriting duties had been the preserve of the elder Moss brother, Dan, but with Olly now bringing his own songs to the table, the brothers resolved to switch between guitar and bass on a song-by-song basis. Drummer James Burkitt was recruited from Leeds'band The ABC Club to complete a new lean and taut four-piece.
Exploding into life with live favourite Intrinsic Grey, its incessant rhythms and squalling guitars a feral cry from the heart, Expect Delays contains more than its fair share of heart-stopping moments. The ebullient Sledgehammer is following by Idiot Button (named after the buttons at street crossings that don't actually do anything) and what is perhaps the key lyric on the album of 'I can't explain these gaps in my employment record / I'm an idiot for trying'. As if they were demonstrating their virtuosity and versatility the Stereolab-esque title track Expect Delays is followed by the grunge-heavy Enabler, which in turn is followed by the achingly beautiful ballad Waste Of Sunshine, while elsewhere the (late) Beatles-y Don't Laugh At My Angry Face deals with alcoholism and a relationship at its absolute bitter end. The album ends with a 'secret' track Don't Beat Yourself Up ('we would have listed it but I didn't want to have 13 tracks' - Dan), written on the night Lou Reed died.
More ambitious and focused than their previous record, whilst sacrificing none of their spontaneity and vitality, Expect Delays is a supremely inventive and intelligently crafted album from a band who have suffered for their art, and used that experience to inform and nourish their work. Expect no more delays, Evans The Death have arrived.
1. Intrinsic Grey
2. Terrified
3. Sledgehammer
4. Idiot Button
5. Bad Year
6. Just 60,000 More Days 'Til I Die
7. Expect Delays
8. Enabler
9. Waste Of Sunshine
10. Shanty
11. Clean Up
12. Don't Laugh At My Angry Face -
Sold outVisit product page →Evans the Death self-titled debut album. Filled with twelve blistering tracks they weave a distinctive magic, coupling main songwriter Dan Moss' gift for melody with Katherine Whitaker's unique vocal mannerisms.
The songs both document and channel the exuberance of youth via the prism of five pop music obsessives and were recorded late Summer 2011 with producer Ex-Test Icicle and current Warm Brains man Rory Atwell (Veronica Falls, Male Bonding, The Vaccines). Dan describes what the band were aiming for:
"We wanted to make the best sounding record that we possibly could as we're bored of bands just settling for a half-arsed sound. There were no real fixed reference points when we made it; we just borrowed stuff from any of the pop music that we've grown up with. I think it's also a very economical album. There's no dilly-dallying around when there should instead be a hook there. We're very proud of it and glad we paid little or no attention to what is currently fashionable in music."
1. Bo Diddley
2. Catch Your Cold
3. Sleeping Song / So Long
4. Letter Of Complaint
5. Telling Lies
6. Morning Voice
7. Threads
8. A Small Child
9. I'm So Unclean
10. What's In Your Pocket?
11. Wet Blanket
12. You're Joking -
Visit product page →Limited Edition 7" (Reverend Black Grape coloured vinyl)
Enabler is the first single to be taken from Evans the Death's new album Expect Delays, out 2nd March.
Recorded again with producer Rory Atwell (Test Icicles, Warm Brains), the new long-player bristles with underlying tension and veers from rip-roaring noise to quiet contemplation, underpinned by Katherine Whitaker's extraordinary voice. Enabler opens with a sonic onslaught of fuzz and feedback before the rhythm section explodes into life and the song kicks in, Whitaker's distinctive vocals doubled up like sinister twins prowling around a gorgeously discordant melody.
Still barely out of their teens, there's a tremendous sense across Expect Delays of a band coming into their own, honing a plethora of influences to make a sound that is uniquely them. Each song on the album has a different feel to it: some of them are melodic and pretty; some of them heavy and dissonant; and some of them are, to quote guitarist Dan Moss, 'a bit strange'. While retaining the post-punk and 90s alt-rock inspired elements that peppered their debut, the music is more expressive, heavier and more experimental, and the lyrics more nuanced, the sense of despair leavened by sharp wordplay and humour.
The unsettling undercurrent of melancholy and hopelessness that pervades the record has its roots in the last three years, spent eking out an existence on the poverty line in Cameron's Britain, leaving them with a succession of minimum-wage jobs and unemployment benefits interviews. As guitarist Dan Moss relates, the album is about 'being in London and feeling hopeless and a bit lost. Not having any money, relationships falling apart, things just not connecting or going anywhere and getting absolutely wasted all the time.'
Named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, the band's 2012 self-titled inaugural album saw critical acclaim from the likes of Q, Uncut and Artrocker, as well as radio play on BBC Radio 1, BBC 6Music and XFM. Following the departure of bassist Alanna McArdle to Joanna Gruesome, the band regrouped around the core of brothers Dan and Olly Moss and singer Katherine Whitaker for the recording of Expect Delays. Drummer James Burkitt was recruited from Leeds'band The ABC Club to complete a lean and taut new four-piece.
'Evans the Death manage to make humdrum everyday existence seem quite magical' Q ****
Tracklisting:
A. Enabler
B. (You Sound Like) An American -
Visit product page →Following the singles 'Threads/I'm So Unclean' and 'Telling Lies', Evans the Death return with their third single from their eponymous debut album.
'Catch Your Cold' sees the band continue where 'Telling Lies' left off; a blistering, hook-laden song swathed in psych-fuzz guitars and lo-fi exuberance.
Revved-up basslines and frenetic drums give the track a garage rock rattle, whilst vocalist Katherine Whitaker is all nonchalant charisma and reckless abandon.
B-side to the single is the anarchic 'Crying Song', which features comedian Stewart Lee in lachrymose mood as he takes lead vocals, so to speak, sobbing uncontrollably for just under 90 seconds.
Tracklisting:
1. Catch Your Cold
2. Crying Song -
Sold outVisit product page →As we await the self-titled debut album from Fortuna POP!'s newest signings with baited breath, Evans the Death release the first single from the album, Telling Lies.
This comes as a necessary wake-up call, heralding an outstanding new band, bursting with ideas and brimming with talent. Combining Katherine Whitaker's unique vocals with a gift for melody, the band weave a distinctive magic. Telling Lies is an infectious and exhilarating slice of indie-punk-pop.
Guitarist Dan Moss describes the song like this: 'Telling Lies' is about having such an inflated sense of self-importance that you relish deceiving others about things that make no difference whatsoever to their lives. I wrote it after a friend told me that he had eaten cereal for breakfast that morning, but later found the remnants of toast and scrambled eggs in his room and brought him up on it which lead to the admission that he was lying all along. I found this bizarre but then realised that I did it all the time too.
The B-side is the original version of 'Morning Voice', which is on our album in a completely different incarnation. We took a long time to arrive at the sound we have now; when we first started out we were a folksy acoustic duo and this I think is the best example of that.
Tracklisting:
1. Telling Lies
2. Morning Voice (Acoustic) -
Sold outVisit product page →White Vinyl 7 (Limited Edition of 500).
Following in the footsteps of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Allo Darlin', Evans The Death will be releasing their debut album via Fortuna POP! this year, preceded by their debut single, the double A-sided 'Threads' / 'I'm So Unclean', produced by Rory Bratwell (Test Icicles / RAT:ATT:AGG / KASMs), on 5th September.
Evans the Death make frenetic and infectious punk pop which exudes the kind of unbridled charisma, intelligence, and runaway energy that promises a singularly exciting future for the band. Comprising Dan Moss (guitar, vocals), Olly Moss (bass), Katherine Whitaker (vocals keys), Rob Mitson (drums), and Matt Gill (guitar), and named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, Evans the Death are poised to fulfill their potential as one of the most refreshing and exhilarating new groups around.
Having evidently spent a good proportion of their young lives attuned as much to the lyrical dexterity of Morrissey, Lawrence Felt, Edwyn Collins, and Jarvis Cocker, as to the scuzzed up melodic exuberance of early My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, The Pixies, and the I Am Kurious Oranj era of The Fall, the band effortlessly blend precocious musical literacy with the kind of unerring self-awareness which makes for a perfectly pitched pop sensibility.
Their imminent first release couples latent-cold-war-paranoia love-song 'Threads', as urgent, unsettling, and hook-laden a calling card as could be wished for, with I'm So Unclean, wherein Katherine's vertiginous, primal, and urgent vocal delivery electrifies lyrics which alternate between the scathingly acerbic and the boldly fragile: "When I'm watching the shopping channel, I will think of you / when I try to get to sleep, I will think of you...'' Elegantly handled self-deprecation, mordant wit, and a willingness to embrace your own awkwardness go a long way when you have the sophisticated grasp on the things that make music exhilarating, nervy, and vital which Evans the Death manifestly do. With their compellingly unhinged and hyper-intelligent pop the band look set to blaze a trail through 2011 and beyond.
Tracklisting:
1. Threads
2. I'm So Unclean
