Live Music Scene
May 2009
www.live-music-scene.co.uk/cd-reviews-content.asp?id=68

In his press release I am warned that Cowman’s music is not for the faint hearted. Well, seeing as the maid’s I’ve won over the years largely fall into the unfair category I was inclined to believe that I wouldn’t enjoy what I was about to hear. A few of the song titles reinforced this preconception – ‘Jerking off to bad internet porn’, ‘Kiddie Rape’ and ‘School Shootings Tour 2007’ are the kind of offensive for the sake of it titles that weren’t even funny or clever when infamous cult band A.C. were churning them out in the nineties. Thirdly, at twenty tracks in length I was thinking I was in for an almighty slog. Well it turns out that ‘Palpating the Rumen’ is more than worthy of a listen. With programmed beats keeping things tight and driving, distorted basslines battling with industrial bleeps and vocals that can only really be described as a growling mumble Cowman has created a sound that is most diverting.
Anyone who likes The Fall for the music as much as the lyrics will likely find a lot to enjoy here. If I had to describe the sound in a nutshell I’d veer towards the territory of a post-apocalyptic Velvet Underground jamming with Death From Above 1979, although perhaps over the course of the entire album it’s not quite as thrilling as that sounds. Indeed most of the tracks here tend to bleed into one and perhaps it wouldn’t have been a terrible idea to drop five or six of them. ‘Tension’ is a minute or so of terrifying industrial noise. ‘Painful Monotony’ is an epic, clocking in at a monstrous eight minutes, but really didn’t need to be – see what he’s done there? ‘Ill’ is as close as this album gets to a haunting melody, and for the closing ‘Ghostcow’ we’re firmly back in the realms of noise terrorism. What sounds like a lawnmower that won’t quite rev up is the foundation and shards of pure racket scrape over the top along with the occasional appearance of a fractured beat and a visceral casio keyboard melody. A splendid way to end an album that is certainly relentless and is far from commercial yet is created by a man who is not afraid of melody, simply chooses to be most liberal with it.
I hear that there was recently a launch party for this album with a live performance from Cowman, among others. Well after having a listen I’m beginning to wish I’d been there. Lurking in the corner with a hood up and sunglasses firmly on admittedly, but there all the same. Cowman may not be an exact DNA match but I would recommend anyone who enjoys The Melvins, 65 Days of Static or Liars could do worse than giving him a listen. If he was to be a support act for any of those bands I’d say it would be likely that he’d win over at least some of their crowd. Having said all this, I now feel like I do when I’ve watched a most disturbing film and need to watch a bit of comedy just to take me out of that place. Maybe it’s time for a bit of Rolf Harris.
By Dave Urwin




Subba-cultcha
August 2009
www.subba-cultcha.com/article_album.php?id=9821

One man band makes quite a racket...
Cowman certainly isn’t making background music for the casual listener. ‘Palpating the rumen’ is twenty tracks in length and it really is quite intense stuff throughout.
The album starts as it means to go on, with pounding pre-programmed drums and a bassy distorted guitar racket played over the top. It’s mostly music (or rather noise) focused but there are some pretty dark sounding vocals which accompany tracks and although they are often quite low in the mix amongst the onslaught they do add a darker edge to it all.
This is experimental stuff that although described on the sleeve as ‘hardcore industrial grind music’ is clearly the product of many influences of varying genres. It’s a shambolic and at times monotonous mess, but a well produced consistent album was clearly not the aim here, it’s chaotic and deliberately so. There’s a punk attitude to it all which means it’s almost impossible to categorise. Don’t let this put you off though.
If, like your reviewer, the promise of fast paced and at times (intentionally) utterly bizarre music with songs titles such as ‘Massive Vagina’ and ‘Painful Monotony’ gets you interested enough to take a listen - then might you might just like this. But undoubtedly to many of you this album will sound as appealing as a weekend away with Josef Fritzl.
3.5/5
By: Luke Jovetic



Organ
Sept 2009
www.organart.net/neworgan308.htm

Some kind of frantic insect-like relentlessly scuttling scratchy bass punky locked-on drone that’s all wired up and frantic and pecking and pecking some more and on it goes pecking at the wire, sounds like more than one bass, sounds all obtuse and angular and frenetic and menacing and like things are never going to end and on and on scratching and pecking and drilling and sometimes kind of singing in a frantically shouty way underneath the constant drive that never ends, never stops pecking at the wire and the awkward timings and and arrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Like being eaten by thousands of little scratchy metal insects



Venue
November 2009

You’re gonna love this. Assuming, that is, that you love abrasive industrial grind. Imagine your delight as fractured guitars and demented drum machine yank you insistently through opener ‘Jerking Off to Bad Internet Porn’, two-ish minutes of suitably repetitive, unfulfilling self-abuse. Later you’ll thrill to mournful instrumental ‘Massive Vagina; squeal with glee as Cowman rasps over more sandblasted guitar and ADHD push-button beats on airplay-friendly ‘(It’s so fun) Kiddie Rape’; and gurgle with delight as this unsettling one-man band croaks demonically on ‘Bum Spud’, then squawks like a sick chicken on the not inaccurately titled ‘Painful Monotony’. Yup, if you loved that, the satanic roar of ‘Hellaween’ and the through-your-head panning of atmospheric static’n’noise finale ‘Ghostcow’ will be a real treat. If not, these 20 alienating ear-assaults might leave you longing for the rattle of the abattoir truck.
2/5
Mike White.

Organ
May 09
www.organart.demon.co.uk/neworgan302.htm

Bobby’s Beard (Ingue) – Dreamy lo-fi dreamy drifting dreamy pop. Whispered and dreamy and breezy and all home-made silky sunshine and glowing drifting beauty and lo-fi home-made slowly drifting dreamy dreamy poppy breezy dreaminess from the sunny fields of Somerset. Dreamy lo-fi simplicity...



Live Music Scene
June 2009
www.live-music-scene.co.uk/cd-reviews-content.asp?id=69

Seeing as this album was, and I quote, ‘Created in the depths of Somerset’, I find myself wondering if I am about to be treated to the previously undiscovered magic of Exmoor acid-folk or Quantock-hop? What’s more, I know a man who goes by the name of Bobby on occasion and has a beard that possesses more creative flair than most ordinary mortals have in their entire bodies. It turns out that Bobby’s Beard is a name I’m most delighted I came across and one that I expect to be hearing more often in the future. There’s definitely something about the Beach Boys here – music that manages to sound other worldly and accessible at the same time, and those harmonies appear in all the right places. The overall feeling I gain from this album is someone who has taken elements of a number of bands I enjoy and created an overall sound that can’t fail to drown out the day’s concerns.
I know not the name of the tracks, and by all accounts it was a conscious decision to leave off the tracklisting, but this doesn’t matter. Sometimes it’s best just to enjoy music for what it is, without having to put a name to the songs. At times there is a hint of the experimentation of Animal Collective or Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd, but in terms of the atmosphere I was thinking more of the shoegaze era. I have to say that quite a number of these songs mention the summer sun, or something similar, and as lovely as it is I couldn’t help wondering if this was due to a lack of lyrical inspiration. Another reason I was able to restrain myself from gushing praise overload when writing this review was that on first listen there aren’t any hugely memorable tunes. Of course in itself this is not a bad thing if it’s still an enjoyable listen, which ‘Bobby’s Beard’ most definitely is, with hundreds and thousands on top.
One of my favourite tracks is an instrumental that brings to mind Air’s massively underrated second album in flavour but a futuristic dub bassline bubbles underneath the surface and adds a degree of tension that changes the whole mood. The final track continues in the peculiar vain and is comprised of heavily treated beats, a weather forecast sample and a lethargic keyboard melody. That word ‘sunshine’ is mentioned once again but I think it can be forgiven. Everything I’ve heard here makes me believe that there’s a whole lot of interesting music lurking away in deepest, darkest Somerset just waiting to be discovered. It’s no coincidence that most artists who emerge from Iceland appear to have a wonderfully quirky approach to making music. All places have their own atmosphere but I’ve always felt that there is something about the depths of Somerset that is conducive to creativity. Bobby’s Beard is a good place to start if you wish to find out for yourself.
By Dave Urwin



Wonderful wooden reasons
July 2009
www.wonderfulwoodenreasons.co.uk

With the exception of the fact that they’re from Somerset (or at least that’s where they recorded the album) the truly appallingly named Bobbys Beard (the punctuation error is theirs) are an enigma to me. It’s on Ingue Records though which means it’s well worth a listen so here goes.
The music is a chilled and whimsical slice of psychedelia. I can spot a variety of influences hiding amongst BB’s songs.  The whole thing has a pronounced Beach Boys-esque feel to it, the vocal style has been liberated from the Stone Roses or the Inspiral Carpets and there’s a real Angelo Badalamenti vibe to some of the tracks.
The production is pretty lo-fi which works to their advantage and the songs are pretty good.  It’s pop music though and good pop always lives or dies on the quality of it’s hooks and they’re, for the most part, missing here.  I love that they’re more than willing to throw a shot of anarchy into the proceedings and it’s a good listen but it desperately needs those hooks that will raise it up to the next level.



Venue
October 2009

Bobbys Beard / Ingue Records didn’t send any imagery or artwork with this CD, instead inviting the reviewer to request it via email; a little stingy and a somewhat cavalier approach to courting a music hack for a sympathetic appraisal. They also sent no track listing. Fortunately, this self-titled album recorded in the depths of Somerset is a fine debut, and largely speaks for itself. Beautiful vocal harmonies awash in a sylvan, psychedelic haze of reverb; guitars phasing in and out, promising, retreating, re-emerging and gently delivering. The drums are buried so far back in the mix they sound like they were recorded in a neighbouring field. Lovely stuff but, with little variation in the songs, it could comfortable be trimmed down to an EP. In a land where the sun always shines and the seasons never turn, the harvest will never come.
3/5
Kirsty Arsenal.

Drunken werewolf
May 2009
www.myspace.com/drunkenwerewolf

Theo (a.k.a Sam Knight) is a one-man extravaganza of drums, pedals, guitars, and one hell of a spaghetti heap of ideas. You can box him into post-rock one moment and experimental the next, but you’re still left with all the thrash rock, melodic indie and ambient quirks.
The key tricks Theo has honed into with Encouragement are variety and pace, with songs ticking over nicely before tipping wholeheartedly into directions of angular raw guitar explosions. So a song like ‘Invested in Defence’ starts to thrum gently with glowing guitar harmonics against pleasingly crisp drum crunches in an Explosions in the Sky manner, before becoming a biting rock beast like latter-day Mogwai, and bursting into naggingly melodic spirals of rich guitar textures. ‘Fortress’ uses voice vocoder and strolls along rather pleasantly. But it’s ‘Gallant’ that’s the star track here. Its entrance is dramatically grand with lush curls of undulating guitars and steady sure layers bursting deliciously before ebbing sweetly away into the ether.
The single-handed workmanship of Theo is laudable; there are plenty of ingenious transitions and touches, keeping the listener on their toes, though some editing wouldn’t go amiss. Theo’s songs are largely instrumental, and the want of some vocals to warm things up and add humanity to the excellent music sometimes nags. But, in general, this is fine stuff indeed.
By Miss Fliss



Wonderful wooden reasons
Feb 2009
www.wonderfulwoodenreasons.co.uk

Theo - Encouragement
(Ingue Records)
CDR
Fabulous little post-rock ep of guitar & drums (along with a battery of effects) all played live and simultaneous by one lonely (but very clever) chap from Worcester in the UK called Sam Knight.  Musically it's very reminiscent of the woefully under-rated Ganger with it's math sensibilities and looped melodies.  It's melodic and hypnotic and utterly deceitful in it's apparent structural simplicity but that is purely down to Knight's skill in his craft.
Regardless of the fact that it's a one man band what you get here is simply astonishingly good. The only part I have issues with is the ugly synth sound on tracks 3 and 4 but I can accept that when the rest of the music is this good.
I am truly gob-smacked by how good this ep is.  Buy it now before it's gone forever.
(www.inguerecords.com)



Organ
Jan 2009
www.organart.demon.co.uk/neworgan290.htm       

THEO – Encouragement (Ingue) – A rather enjoyably impressive EP of soundtrack music from a guitarist called Theo. He’s from Worcester (England) and these four tracks are four bright breezy post-rock flavoured uplifting pieces of creative positiveness. Delicate interlocking looped guitar layers of a Battles, Volta Del Mar, Crime In Choir nature – considered, creative, refined, just really enjoyable post rock creativity. Mostly instrumental, only Fortress has the added colour of vocals. Cautious musical steps, all made for short films that your really don’t need to see to enjoy this recommended release.



Live music scene
Dec 2008
www.live-music-scene.co.uk/cd-reviews-content.asp?id=46

‘Encouragement’ is a soundtrack to two short films, entitled ‘Wedding Video’ and, aptly, ‘Encouragement.’ Its tracks are created by a multi-instrumentalist who apparently recreates them single-handedly in a live setting via the use of every such musician’s trusted friend, the loop pedal. Theo’s music builds in layers, similarly to that of some of ambient music’s finest exponents such as Eluvium and Fennesz. However, there is a little more of the ‘rock’ in his post-rock soup than the aforementioned artists. If I didn’t know better I’d suggest that this man is rather fond of Mogwai and is perhaps even something of a prog aficionado. Opening track ‘Invested in Defence’ at times features some dextrous guitar licks that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Yes album, underpinned by some taut riffing and busy drumming. Each time the music threatens to become too repetitive Theo shifts it in a new direction, although occasionally repetition can be mighty effective if the phrase being repeated is potent enough to keep the attention of its listener. On the cricket field this could be illustrated by the nagging accuracy of great bowlers such as Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock or Andrew Flintoff. In the musical world it has been employed to great effect by Eluvium, Stars of the Lid and Fursaxa among others.
‘Fortess’ spans two tracks, the first of which has the suffix (intro), and will justify my Mogwai comparison. At times I felt that a couple of additional layers might have given these tracks a little more bite, although at other times the minimalism and the ever-present threat of an explosion did their job admirably. ‘Fortress’ features some heavily sequenced vocal repetitions and some chiming harmonics buried under soft layers of distortion and rattling snares. Lovely stuff. The closing ‘Gallant’ sounds like it features about eight different interlocking guitars, and at times a cymbal that sounds like the striking of an anvil. It segues into a more placid passage towards the end, with some high-pitched synth vocals lending things an ethereal edge.
All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable listen and has the potential to be quite stunning in the correct live setting. Ideally, this would be the Reds stage at ATP festival late in the afternoon. I’d be interested to see the films that this music accompanies, although this music definitely stands up on its own. As an aside, I don’t think I’ve ever actually known anyone named Theo in my life. Is it an alias? Is he a figment of our imagination? If so it would be a little strange that this CD had turned up through my letterbox, and so for now I’d say head over to www.myspace.com/inguerecords if you want to give it a listen. There are far, far worse things you could be doing with your time.
By Dave Urwin



Fuse
Dec 2008
subscribe to  fuse_mag@btinternet.com

Theo is a one man sounds cape, casting shadows and bringing piercing light to Worcester, his home town, on the wonderfully diverse experimental ingue records label.
The four leftfield epics contained on @encouragement’ are deftly crafted astral and aural journeys through lush, complex parallel lands. The tracks from the soundtracks to two short films by cautious horses productions called ‘wedding video’ and ‘encouragement’.
Incredibly, Theo’s layered near orchestrated pieces are reproduced live as a maelstrom of programmed loops, locked tight guitar layers and frenetic drum patterns.



The-mag
Mar 2009
www.the-mag.me.uk/Articles/Theo-Encouragement/

Theo is a one man band hailing from Worcester. He describes his sound as 'math looped melodies with inter-locked guitar layers' and this is quite a good definition of his music. There are no vocals but both impressive guitar progressions and drum beats.
Opening track 'Invested in Defence' is a 7 minute long track of frenetic tapping patterns entwined with frantic rhythm and riffs. It really highlights Theo's playing ability and is a very good listen. It is quite remarkable to think that he plays both the drums and guitar live to such a high standard.
The next track 'Fortress' has an intro nearly 4 minutes long, and this is the mind set of Theo's work, nothing can be rushed. It is not as attention grabbing as the previous track but is still a good piece of music.
The album is rounded up by 'Gallant', which finds Theo trying out some heavier riffs and solos. It works very well and the cow bell at the into adds a new dimension to Theo's work.
Although I am not normally a fan of progressive instrumental, Theo impressed me by both his work and his ability on the instruments. A very good record from the soloist.
Written by Dan W
7/10



Uk music review
Feb 2009
www.ukmusicreview.com/reviews/theo-encouragement

Theo is a one man band comprised of Worcester based Sam Phillips and a whole bunch of sound loops and guitars. Bridging the gaps between post rock and math rock here with new EP, ENCOURAGEMENT, Phillips makes quite the mesmerising first impression; successfully distilling some of the best elements of Battles and Mogwai into one enchanting whole.
INVESTED IN DEFENCE is a lengthy but rewarding opener, a musical piece that twists, turns and sidles its way along on taut guitar rhythms and subtle beats, Sam Phillips veering from delicate sound scapes to frantic guitar abuse in the blink of an eye, essentially winning you over from the get go. FORTRESS features whispered robotic vocal chants and that same guitar and beats formula, this every bit as gloriously mesmerising as the opener whilst with GALLANT, while the mood may veer towards the more energised, Phillips still maintains that self same hypnotic enchantment, engrossing and bewitching from start to finish.
A wonderful introduction to the world of Theo, ENCOURAGEMENT curiously leaves you both satisfied and craving more in the same breath, a glorious swirl of moody ambience and optimistic guitar grooves, this is truly extraordinary stuff.
BIOGRAPHY
Theo is a one man band .... guitars + loops + drums = sound
LINKS
Theo>http://www.myspace.com/theo1000
Review author: Mike Bond CD: Soundtrack ep Release date: 2008 Discs: 1 Asin: ING008 Rating: 9.0



Venue
Mar 2009

In a similar manner that records by virtuoso turntablist will never quite replicate the visceral experience of a club set, home listening of one-man Worcester post-rock machine Theo’s output will likely always play second fiddle to his impressive live set up. Nevertheless, ‘Encouragement’, a soundtrack to two short films, bristles with looped magic that has led to Theo’s name being whispered in cult reverence among the instrumental guitar music fraternity. Opener ‘Invested In Defence’ sends tingles up spines, building layer upon layer with the dynamics of Battles, until the results swirl around your head; only the vaguely punch-less drums are less than mesmerising. ‘Fortress’ meanders more, and though ‘Gallant’ never quite delivers on its anticipation construction, as it disappears into the ether, one pressing question remains: with music this emotive, why doesn’t every other film - from shorts to blockbusters - employ a post-rock score?
3/5
(Adam Anonymous

Venue
Mar 2009

Post-punky nut job artpop thrown together in an affectedly scattershot fashion: shouty boy-girl non-sequiturs, surrealist mumblings, pots ‘n’ pans drumming and a meshy mess of guitar, all unravelling in cacophonic freefall. Easy listening it ain’t. From the schizoid howling and clattery stop/start/ping drumming of opener ‘Blue Walter’ onwards, their joint aims appear to be (a) deconstructing all accepted notions of the song and (b) alienating the listener - and mostly they succeed. The self-conscious ‘Look! We’re nuts!’ intellectualism really ought to grate more than it does, but there’s something just so ‘up yours’ about the tinkling glockenspiel and smashing cymbal of ‘Jody Coyote’, the buzz guitar, cow bell and maracas of ‘Brad Gamma’ the utter disregard for melody or time-signature and their lyrics about butterfly bowties, caterpillar wives, mixed metaphors and swivel chairs that invites a reluctant smile, however unmistakable it all is, objectively speaking.
3/5
(Mike White)



Artrocker
Jan 2009

Blood Smash, as to be predicted, rip your face off with a virtual mess of harsh, guerrilla recorded sonic mayhem. Coarse and brash, experimental and technically noisy, each two-minute track on this tidy EP gives the listener a cardiac arrest and an earache at the same time. With tracks of just single drumbeats and out of key riffs ringing through for ten seconds at a time, the clean, polished virtuosos need not apply. This is just noise that flirts with the gaps in between chords, drawing out the silence and then eradicating it.
(Joe Gamp)



Noize makes enemies
Feb 2009
www.noizemakesenemies.co.uk/2009/02/jelas-blood-smash.html

I loved series one of Skins. And series two. But series three? No way. Sometimes things are just never as good as you hope. Now the tenuous link here is not just Bristol (that's where The Jelas are from, and where Skins is set for those not in the know) but it is a serious amount of disappointment.
An obscure release on an independent label (Ingue Records) sends shiver down my spine just to touch it, in all its minimalist glory; I hope it will be unique, exciting, life changing...well with that much build up it was always going to be a let down.
Blood Smash is apparently one long track split into seven shorter tracks...either way I don't like any of them. With hints of ska, hints of punk and hints of general madness this record flies off in its own bizarre direction...and no matter how many times you listen to it, or how hard you try to like it that direction is one that is impossible to follow. With no discernible structure the chaos of this record is a little too much to handle. If you like your music so odd that you can't dance to it, sing to it, tap your foot to it or even remember any vague section of it after you've listened then you're in luck.
On a more positive note, congrats on standing out a mile from everything else hitting the shelves at the moment- but rein in your chaotic sound guys or there really isn't much potential here.
If you want something a bit whacky that'll make you sound a bit cool if you tell your mates you like them then the Jelas are for you. But, if you don't like things that aren't as good as you hoped, that are trying too hard to be alternative and really make no sense whatsoever then you won't like Blood Smash. Or series three of Skins. Disappointment all round really. But my sympathy really rests with whoever has to live next door to the garage that this lot rehearse in. That must really suck.

By Abi Brydon

Rating: 1/10
Format: EP / Mini-Album
Release Date: Out Now
Label: Ingue
www.myspace.com/thejelas



THE JELAS MADE IT INTO ORGANS TOP 20 END OF THE YEAR ALBUM LIST 2008



Wonderful wooden reasons
Feb 2009
www.wonderfulwoodenreasons.co.uk

The Jelas - Blood Smash
(Ingue Records)
CDR
Dada-ish turmoil in a vaguely Gong meets The Fall style that has been recorded with no gaps between the tracks and with the notion that the album can be reassembled into any shape and still work as a single song.  Does it work? Yeah kind of but the problem is that it's not the best of songs to start with. It's alright, but the playing is rudimentary, the singing is slightly tuneless and it generally feels quite self-indulgent.  None of these things bother me greatly. Indeed they are often things I see as positives in a recording but I must admit I struggled to find the will to re-listen to these recordings to try out the various connotations.  Maybe you'll have better luck - I hope so.
(www.inguerecords.com)



Diskant
Jan 09
www.diskant.net/blog/2009/01/26/the-jelas-%e2%80%93-blood-smash-ingue-records/

THE JELAS – Blood Smash (Ingue Records)
Posted: January 26th, 2009, by Pascal Ansell
The Jelas are a puzzle. Blood Smash is the trio’s new EP conundrum to be unravelled by the hardy listener - the EP literally is a puzzle. Each song has multiple ‘shapes’ according to the inner sleeve that matches whatever combination the listener feels fit.
In fact the songs themselves sound jumbled, with each player carving out their own line regardless of what ever noise that attempts to overwhelm them. The male/female singing is blended and pushed further out, triggering a nicely jarring tune. Different keys clash, drums slow to super snail-pace - it’s a compliment that The Jelas sound like they’d be great to see live.
Blood Smash isn’t terribly well produced and has a flat demo feel. It’s hardly a criminal offence and I like a good old messy and rough record, but the drums deserve better mic work, or whatever it is that producers do. With terrific cartoon designs and a tidy aesthetic, Blood Smash is worth buying just for the great cover art, and £5 isn’t an unreasonable price. A decent release from Bristol’s fledgling independent label, Ingue Records.



Uk music review
Jan 2009
www.ukmusicreview.com/reviews/the-jelas-blood-smash

Bristol based Ingue Records seem to be a label really embracing the whole indie spirit, releasing diverse records and hosting all manner of showcases and gigs. Latest release from them, BLOOD SMASH is an intriguing effort from The Jelas that deftly straddles the pretentious, inspired, brilliant and bit mad.
Basically an albums worth of songs cut and spliced up in such a way is to sound like one long, deranged single; the idea to find your own favourite moments and make your own inspired combinations. Mixing up art rocking dissonance, jazz freakouts, lo-fi noise nikking and rambling indie cacophony, The Jelas are certainly a challenging listen at times, but as with most of the best bands, perseverance and patience offers the real rewards. Elements of Huggy Bear, Drive Like Jehu and The Raincoats can be heard scattered throughout BLOOD SMASH, but really The Jelas are playing by their own rules here, you'll be hard pressed to name a band as freeform and off the musical rails in recent years.
A bit deranged and off kilter sure, but for old skool noise rock thrills and spills, The Jelas are bringing back a little spontaneity and risk to the indie rock scene; and for this we should be eternally grateful and appreciative. Astonishing sounding stuff.
BIOGRAPHY
The Jelas have been a three since summer 2007.
We try to write twisted, crushed fun songs.
LINKS
The Jelas>http://www.myspace.com/thejelas
Review author: Mike Bond
CD: Single
Release date: 2008
Discs: 1
Asin: ING005
Rating: 8.0



subba-cultcha
Jan 2009
www.subba-cultcha.com/singles.php?id=27

A SUBBA-CULTCHA.COM SINGLE OF THE MONTH
THE JELAS – BLOOD SMASH – INGUE RECORDS
Spiky, disjointed mess of sludge, post hardcore and noise influences-so many ideas, so little time, frenetically explosive and like a car crash, impossible to take your eyes off of...



Organ
Dec 2008
www.organart.demon.co.uk/neworgan287.htm

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
THE JELAS – Blood Smash (Ingue) – Now let’s see if we have this right? Seven short(ish) pieces of music that all run as one long piece no matter which order, combination or upside down sideways way you choose to play them in - interchangeable creativity from the ever good Bristol band. Interchangeable male/female vocals, interchangeable instruments, interchangeable everything – tentacles, flippers, wings, arms, neck, stampeding hooves, caterpillar tracks... High wire DIY goodness, challenging angular math rock, intricate structures, momentary melodies, randomly deliberate cut-ups that aren’t really cut-ups and are in fact very clever bits of bendy pointy spiky tightly played other rock. This is brilliant actually, you better get used to getting butterfly flutters in the pit of your heart, boys and girls won’t be able to help not listening. Fully grown and flightless and without being anywhere near as obvious as any of this review makes them sound. 
     Wonderful other-prog-pop and bits of jazz and angular warmth and bits that sound like woodwind and triangles and clarinets and... Oh, we love this! They have bits of very English Deerhoof and calm Cardiacs and pointy West Country Sonic Youth and Sleater-Kinney and those much loved Buntychunks and Gong and Erase Errata and Slits and Monsoon Bassoon and those Coloured Beads going off and things and all that without really sounding like anyone or anything save fort their own unique creative rewarding selves. Are/aren’t people the best/worst things in the world? Peace of mind from time to time and the runt of the litter is always the best, ask Daisy. Each spectacular chapter of the epic story something that an utterly normal person can cling to the side of. Be the type of person who can evolve in to this, go on, we dare you. There’s only three of them, nothing is getting out of this hand, they sound like twelve. And like we’ve said before, awkward and hardboiled and all over the place but please don’t think this is hard to listen to, this is fluid pop pleasure as simple as riding a bike with triangular wheels – easy! Oh we love this band! This is pure Organ fuel, this is why we do it – DIY creativity and musical reward of the highest order.



The-mag
Mar 2009
www.the-mag.me.uk/Articles/The-Jelas-Blood-Smash/

Late at The Pier, Foals and Klaxons. I was a fan of them all, being caught up in the media's fascination with nu-rave. Then I actually started to listen to the records being made, Klaxons, although never the best technical band in the world make good pop songs. Songs you can dance too, have fun too. The same can be said to Late at The Pier and Foals. Sadly this does not relate to The Jelas.
Having recently been signed to Ingue Records, The Jelas came up with an idea to make a really long song, split it into 7 parts, and then make them interchangeable. On paper it sounds like a very interesting idea. To the ear it just sounds like a complete mess of noise.
With hints of ska, hints of punk and hints of general madness this record flies off in its own bizarre direction, never taking a rest to form an actual song. No matter how many times your re-arrange the so called 'songs' nothing seems to fit the way it should. I am normally a fan of DIY music, music that forms it's own identity and stands out from the rest. Sadly this is just too bizarre to write about and I found it near enough impossible to listen to the record more then once.
If you like your music to sound like a complete mess with a DIY ethos, then Blood Smash is for you, if not then I advise you to stay well away from this complete and utter shambles.
2/10

Organ
Feb 2008
www.organart.demon.co.uk/neworgan244.htm

BIRDBATH – And Then (Ingue) – Slightly itchy rather twitchy lo-fi indie post-rock. Seems the Bristol band have been around (albeit rather stutteringly) since their teenage days of 1994. Rather original sounding mathy adventure of a Cove, Charlottefield, Truman’s Water, Rob Crow, Slint nature, maybe an easier far more fragile (and English) Cheer Accident, and maybe a little psychedelic in a black and white technicolour kind of way here and there when they have a mind to be. Birdbath have a little edge of their own and just when you think you have them worked out, they go and throw in a nice little alternative rewarding curveball or two – well worth your time - www.myspace.com/birdbath or www.myspace.com/inguerecords

Organ/resonance fm play on 24-02-08    www.organart.demon.co.uk/playlist45.htm



New-noise
Mar 2008
www.new-noise.net/new-bands/birdbath/birdbath_3904.html

Here at New-Noise, we love that personal touch. So when an album from plucky noiseniks Birdbath lands in our postbox with an inlay that begins "to new-noise", all lower case, you know we're on to a good thing. Only if it was made from letter cut out of tabloids would we be more impressed.
"bIRdbATh have just released their 2nd album and recently played alongside Trumans Water, though things were not always so rosy…" it reads. Listening to it, things don't even sound that rosy now. Blimey.
Their effort '…and then' follows a decade of hard graft floating around the West Country – well, sporadic hard graft, at least. The records show more hiatuses than gigs. One show at the Bristol Carling Academy urged an EMI A&R man to waft a contract under their noses, as long as they “got an image and a Marilyn Manson type front man”. Admirably, they laughed in his face. This would be the same EMI that Guy Hands is currently running into the ground. So it goes.
This same disjointed nature can be heard in their sound. At once laden with emotion yet as cold and sparse as Arctic tundra. Spiky but strangely comforting, like being attacked by a duvet. It’s a hazy, smoky, stoned mash of everything from Mogwai and Shellac to Sonic Youth but rarely anything but itself. Album opener ‘Silence Is The New Heavy Metal’ says it all by saying very little – the song is about 70 per cent through before the – even then fairly minimal – vocals kick in.
Currently in the throws of a second – or third or fourth, maybe – wind, a slew of material is promised, along with a national tour. A tidy reminder that, for all the right reasons to be in this field, carving out a career isn’t one of them.



Play Louder
Mar 2008
www.playlouder.com/content/16545/birdbath-and-then

Birdbath - ...And then
I don't lose any sleep over this, but from time to time, maybe once every couple of weeks, I feel sorry for most teenagers growing up reading the NME these days. Despite it's obvious and somewhat sickening decline, the worry is that all the stupendously pretentious fun I had going through the teenage motions is being glossed over. It's little wonder that this generations teenagers spend every other night vomiting their intestines over their Fratellis t shirts and organise Pigeon Detective-themed snortalong Skins parties if the idea of these things being hip and tasty aren't pasted infront of their eyes like cartoon depictions of Morrisseys own 'Eraserhead' But I digress, In 1999 a whole generation grew up boring, pretentious, asexual and odiously moralistic. Tonight we're going to party like we're listening to post rock in 1999.
For anyone who spent forty seconds a week trawling through the 'On' section of NME to see which St Albans based three piece who only play instruments made of sand and chutney were going to set the world of etched 7"s on fire this week, birdbath are a bit of a treat. Recorded on what sounds like moving walkway around the museum of forgotten DIY math rock, each track is a little insight into why pretty much every single of one of these bands sank like a shandy barrell, and trust me, it's a lot of fun. Track three, 'Diet Kruger', sounds like a blathered cross between Seafood and Billy Mahonie, and if that doesn't whet your appetite for more, then you haven't heard anything yet.
Birdbath formed in the years between 'Dirty' and 'Messenger in the Camp', and appear to have disbanded, reformed, restarted, resigned, gone on an extended hiatus, and decided to give it another go so many times, you'd be within reasonto  expect them to have progressed beyond sounding like 14 year olds who all sound like they wanted to be drummers but settled for the other parts instead. Nah. Some of the snaking basslines are evidently played by people with meat on their bones, and the knowledge they discovered Shellac before you did, mind. Every track is like this; the token cello wafting out from between the waves of feedback, the stop-start-stop beloved by Prolapse and infinitely forgettable one-rock-ponies like The Oedipus, the vocals that sound like Frank Carter trying to startle a snake, so beautifully, noticeably recorded in a bedroom, basement or garage. It's a wonderful nostalgia trip yes, but obviously unless any of the band referenced in this review mean anything above than jack shit, or 'my ex boyfriend wore one of their t shirts' then this is an impressive collection of unlistenable dirge. For those among us who relish the concept of the Peter Pans of mathrock, who probably still make mixtapes with The God Machine, Hovercraft and The Wisdom of Harry on, and who may or may not have referenced 'Dude, Where's My Car?' on the title of this album, then you could do far worse damage to yourself.



Subba-cultcha
Mar 2008
www.subba-cultcha.com/article_album.php?id=7041

12 years in the making, this record…
If I’d kept my first band I ever formed going, then biRdbAth would be my contemporaries. Back in the day, when I was a proper youngster, my first band played self-penned disjointed, experimental-leaning, post-grunge, inspired by all of the days great US noise merchants and bands like Scarce and Urusai Yatsura. Oh, Yatsura, how I miss them.
These guys are still doing just that, with the addition of a little rudimentary math-rock timing and a lot of ‘widdling’. No, I don’t mean they’re a bunch of kids that have retro, early ‘90s influences on their liner notes and knocked off ‘Corporate Rock Whores’ t-shirts. They’ve not ‘rediscovered’ alternative/post rock from listening to McLusky or worked backwards from Mogwai’s Mr Beast: I mean that they actually formed in 1996, and have been making music together on and off, well under the radar for the past 12 years.
They’ve also enjoyed the kind of media exposure and live concert opportunities that my band did, having mostly played youth clubs and flat-bed trailers around Taunton and Bridgewater, and remaining largely undiscovered for their entire band career. God bless them. I hope they do well.
This record is on the slightly ‘fuzzy’, muffled side – I’m all about lo-fi and analogue production, but here the ‘Bath have just had to settle for poor production, which is a shame because it really does detract from the auditory experience: riffs that may have otherwise blown my socks off, feel like they’ve first been strained through a thick, opaque pair of old lady’s tights before limply flopping out of my woofers and splatting on the carpet beneath. Again, I’m reminded of my first recording. biRdBAth have got 12 years under their belts though, so time is paramount. I’d like to see them practicing twice a week and then getting a record produced by a local talent on the underground circuit. Back in the days of nu-metal, it was Dave Chang that one turned to, but for biRdbAth, I think a little investment in a trip to see Steve Albini (who’s very reasonably priced) might be on the cards if the lads mean business. Keep on… truckin’.
By: J Capeling



Fuse mag
April 2008

bIRdbATH – AND THEN www.myspace.com/birdbath bIRdbATH are from Bristol, well known as an underground creative hotbed, being the home of Portishead, Massive Attack, and more recently Trumans Water and this lot. Fresh from a recent airing on Last FM, bIRdbATH are out and about with a new album ...’and Then’ available from their MySpace and Ingue Records. Right from the opening track ‘Silence is the new Heavy Metal’, their quirky, jerky brand of uncompromising indie-art rock wriggles and slithers into life. Heavy on doomy basslines and glittering off-tune guitars bIRdbATH play to challenge No radio friendly, off-the-peg indie anthems here, and that’s good news. Instead the nine tracks slash and slide through countless meandering twists and turns with Ian Curtis-esque vocals and choruses kept in very short supply. Needs patience this one, but several listens will be rewarded handsomely.



The-mag.me
June 2008
www.the-mag.me.uk/Articles/Birdbath-And-Then-LP/

Birdbath - And Then LP
(Self-Released)

The second album from Bristol 4 piece Birdbath, And Then, is a product having emerged from a turbulent history. Having disbanded and reformed three times, the art-rockers are familiar with the strains of bandom. However, around the time of their third resurfacing in 2006, they played a gig at Bristol Carling Academy that saw EMI expressing an interest: But only if they got an image and a Marilyn Manson type front-man. Like any band with a slither of conscience, they chuckled heartily and declined.
Despite having laughed in the face of EMI, Birdbath have nothing on this release to grin about. Most, if not all the songs are bland and two dimensional. But give them their due, the rickety production quality doesn't offer them any favours.
Here and there, beneath the ice-sheet of monotonous art-rock, there are flickers of melody and inspired craftsmanship. At times there is evidence that Birdbath have found their groove, building throbbing bass lines and angular riffs into something potentially impressive.
'Diet Kruger' is dark and brooding, echoing the menace of Slint. But any hint of colour or evolution is stultified by their penchant for repetitive, mechanical riffs. 'Just rice' is perhaps the prettiest track on the album. A sweetly chiming guitar phrase sings out over a pulsating bass riff, which builds into a rousing finale.
Fans of Lo-Fi and Post-rock bands like Mogwai, Shellac and Sonic Youth will find lots of quirky, DIY sounds on here to appreciate; and to be fair, they appear to be a band who do not take things too seriously- you only need to look at their song titles to see that! But the incessant slow tempos and grinding, slightly slapdash approach to recording makes for a yawn inducing listen.
Written By: Jamie S (50 - ) View The Mag Team
Date: 04/06/2008



Venue
May 2008
 
Despite the hideous sub GCSE cover art '...and then' proves to be a satisfying post-grunge wig-out - basically a prolonged basement thrash-about, divided into nine exploratory song-length segments and given titles like 'nearly fact; almost inevitable' and 'sorry?..hello?..can you hear me?..' Time signatures are unpredictable, fucked about with in a way I'd liken to math-rock were in not frequently so frickin' heavy. The guitar work powers from the swampy stop/start  QOTSA thrash of opener 'silence is the new heavy metal' via the glorious Mogwai-do-Ride swell of 'ich komme' to the insistent Pixiesy chug and whine of final track 'how to make a shitload of money using guns'. Hard to tell if the distant , lo-fi sound is product of cheap recording kit or a deliberate scuzz-chic aesthetic, but no matter- if supertight, slow build guitarscapes are your thing, dip a wing in bIRDdbATH.(Mike White) 3/5