October 18, 2005 | Posted by Blair at 7:30 AM

Leave it to Bristol

more pop
The Playwrights - Dislocated (London Version)

Not to be outdone by the North for producing sharp, modern post-punk tunes, here's a taste of a southern interpretation, via Bristol's the Playwrights. The band was formed in 2001 by Aaron Dewy (vocals) and Benjamin Shillabeer (guitar) as a platform to record and release experimental indie pop songs. Since then, the band has grown and finally settled with the lineup of Hector Peebles (bass), Tom Mills (drums), and Nathan Edmunds (guitar), and have recorded and released a handful of singles released as 7"s (one of my favorite collectible-vinyl-formats) and CDs, as well as a full-length Good Beneath The Radar, put out in 2003 on Sink & Stove Records (so don't go calling these guys bandwagon-jumpers).

They've been working hard, touring and recording new material, the result of which is a new mini-album, called English Self Storage (I'd love to know if the title is some kind of joke, ie: that English self storage is somehow superior/inferior to other country's self storage). "Dislocated" is a shorter song than a some of their other tracks, but I hope it is a fair representation of the band's sound - they do fall into a similar camp as the other new-post-(insert term) bands (Bloc Party, Futureheads, Maximo Park, etc.), but at the same time they've definitely got something unique going on... I was hesitant to post a pop-song-length track here, because a lot of their other songs take on the challenge of breaking the five-minute-plus mark: dividing the song into movements, extra parts, lengthy instrumental bridges. Anyway, I think this song is super catchy, hits a number of really great high points throughout, but also points to their talents as musicians and songwriters, not just their abilitity to write a good pop rock song.

The band has a show next week on the 25th of October - with Seachange, at The Luminaire, in Kilburn, London (see their shows page for more upcoming dates) - have a look around their site for more information on these guys, more of their history, and some videos.

Also check their Myspace page for streams of more of the newer songs.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PS: I wanted to be sure to mention that I'll be rocking the decks at Enormous Room up in Boston this Saturday night (the 22nd) - swing by for some tunes and have a drunken dance or two - I promise I'll rock it!

Comments

Fantastic album by these guys, they've done well with the record company too, being able to do/ release the tracks they want. I think the title is a joke because English Self Storage is either pretty rare or massivly expensive!

Mike, UK

Posted by: Mike at October 18, 2005 8:05 AM

I feel a bit bad for these guys. When their earlier releases started to surface it was an exciting sound, and I really thought they'd go somewhere. But then someone fed Maximo Park to the public, and even though The Playwrights are a far better band - and certainly superior musicians - you gotta wonder if there is any room for them in the mainstream.

Posted by: Greg at October 19, 2005 12:46 PM

Well I like this quite a bit. Very nice B.

Wish I still lived in Boston or else I'd come see you. When you gonna spin in Minneapolis?

Posted by: Robot David at October 19, 2005 6:05 PM
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