Keith
'Back There'
(Lucky006)
Released:15.05.06
With
MySpace indie a plenty, and careers grateful
to ‘Big Brother’ for a leg-up where
do we go with boys & their bands? We certainly
don’t need just another set of ordinary
boys with guitars…which brings us to Keith.
Sure, you’ll be impressed by the passionate
individual croon of vocalist Oli Bayston, but
Keith is a clear democracy where drums (Johnny
Winbolt-Lewis) and bass (John Waddington) stand
just as tall as the singer.
As
you read this, it’s almost a year to the
day that a demo version of the band’s
debut cannon, “Hold That Gun”, won
Zane Lowe’s ‘Fresh Meat’ phone-in.
Then 3 months later their debut EP (recorded
with James Ford – who has now gone on
to albums for Envelopes, Test Icicles &
Mystery Jets) - became NME‘s Radar single
of the week. Remix versions of the same tracks
by Simian Mobile Disco and Herbert later won them ‘Leftfield
Single Of The Month’ in Touch magazine
and saw them play at TDK Cross Central
Festival alongside club stalwarts and
groove merchants such as Jeff Mills, Grace Jones,
Tom Vek & Jamie Lidell. That was before
they performed at France’s breakthrough Les Inrocktibles festival in November
2005. Talking about genre-straddling, here they
return with a double-edged sword showcasing
two sides of their very sharp musical soul.
“Back
There” is co-produced with electronica
experimentalist Nick Phillips,
aka Boxsaga, who in his spare time runs a label
with Gabriel from Spektrum and provides ideas
for Massive Attack’s forthcoming opus,
as well as collaborating on a ‘True Stories’
album with Phoebe Tolmer from much vaunted cover
fanatics, Nouvelle Vague. Here punchiness abounds,
and Mark Nicholls’ guitars echo African
hi-life & the textures of Eno’s avant-garde
Talking Heads era, alongside the sweetest singalong
with brooding lyrics examining the insecurity
of uncertainty where personal ideology battles
commitment. The key affirmation : “Don’t
box me in!”
On
the flip Keith’s nerve to cover a track
selected as one of the best of 2005 by numerous
tastemakers, including NME (number
15), iTunes (number 8), Daily
Telegraph & TuneTribe (number 1!) proves inspired. On their version
of Sebastien Tellier’s masterpiece, ‘La
Ritournelle’, you can tell Keith’s
drummer is informed by the Afrobeat of Tony
Allen and cross-cultural film programs like
“Keeping Time”, featuring DJs Cut
Chemist & Nu Mark alongside classic funky
drummers. It’s no surprise Tellier gave
his seal of approval when the band backed him
in performing the song at his sell-out Bush
Hall date in October, having only met him hours
earlier. What’s more, on this recorded
version the delicious ambience and ethereal
vocal mantras show skills Sigur Ros would be
proud of. Here the band collaborate with secret
weapon, up’n’coming Manchester engineer
George Atkins, who’s recently recorded
with new Manchester hotties, Cherry Ghost &
Liam Frost.
XFM’s
John Kennedy tipped Keith as ones to watch in
2006 in both ‘The Fly’ &
‘Dazed & Confused’ and
the eagerly anticipated debut album, “Red
Thread”, is just around the corner.
After a spin of Keith’s new single we’re
sure you’ll be backing them too. |
