In-your-face industrial funkers
Who they?
Valentine Caulfield (vocals), Scott Fair (guitar) and Liam Stewart (percussion) have just released their third single, ‘Nike Of Samothrace’, although they already had a serious rep on Manchester’s DIY scene thanks to some hair-raising live shows and self-released singles, ‘Berlin’ and ‘Pashto’. “I think I’d become exhausted with doing stuff that was accessible and in some way made for an audience,” declares Fair. “I wanted to do the opposite of that. I wanted to do something challenging, that as many people would hate as would like.”
Why Gary, Indiana?
Because they’re all about the shock and the not easily digested. Caulfield’s French language vocals appealed to Fair because they aren’t easily pigeonholed and create a layer of mystery, as well as being full-on and cathartic. “I take it as an opportunity to say pretty much whatever I want,” she says, “because no one understands anyway. Some people actually translate the lyrics and message me saying, ‘This is insane,’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, yes it is!’.” Their influences are diverse to say the least. The new single is named after an ancient Greek statue, but its distorted bass brutalism is inspired by Thomas Bangalter’s scoring of a particularly violent scene in the Gaspar Noé film ‘Irréversible’. They also namecheck Hans Zimmer’s ‘Blade Runner 2049’ score, French director Leos Carax, old videos on MTV2, VH1 and Kerrang! and the rhythmic breakdowns of Liquid Liquid.
Tell us more…
We’ve had a sneak preview of single number four, ‘Alien’, and it’s a riot of thunderous drums, radioactive electronic pulsing and wildly phasing effects, with eerie, whispered vocals the cherry on top. “Sonically, we’re going for something like an anxiety attack,” reckons Fair. “It very much aims to portray mental states and physical states as sound.”
‘Nike Of Samothrace’ is out now on Fire Talk
