Purr Presents A Medieval Christmas

The sad demise of Fopp earlier this year may have deprived them of a regular home, but Purr are determined to see out 2007 in style with their medieval-themed, seasonal bash at the Cube Cinema. Purr have had a storming 2007, combining some spot-on live band selections with a raucous sense of fun and a very neat visual identity tossed in for good measure. Tonight they invade Bristol's self-proclaimed Cube Cinema for a medieval madrigal masterpiece featuring live sets from London's most famous cult folk/prog/psych band Circulus and the dark zombie girl band surf tunes of the Hot Puppies. And let's not forget all those lovely touches which make Purr nights so ace, like 1960s power pop and garage-influenced DJs, visuals, films and those naughty all-dancing Panthergirls. John Mitchell

The Mentalists, Bucky, The Hot Puppies.
16th June 2006.
Purr @ Inventions, Bath.


"Life tastes better with The Mentalists" holler the ladies in red and frankly I totally agree. Jagged edge pop in leggings rolling from this no-wave with more impact than electric shock therapy on Lou Reed! The Mentalists nucleus is made up of four ladies whose riot is melodic; less 'er, er, er' and 'oh, oh, oh' (although this was in the mix) more musical chants of the expressive kind. Melodies winding through stark highs and lows coming down like a preying eagle. The lead singer possess a voice erring on a soul sound (just listen to 'You Want it All' on myspace) and when paralelled next to Malice (listen to 'The Game Never Stops' while you're there) who screamed out melodies like the punk heart she is was exhilerating and magnetic. How totally refreshing it is to hear a band like this with vocals as strong as this - real singers!

Soundbites of lyrics flying about were; "Computer taking over, inviting danger", "they call me the Snow Queen but it don't mean a thing", ear catching and intriguing. The last tune began with a drum solo! The excitement of witnessing an excellent catchy punky fuzzed up melodic wonderment which then ended with a guitar solo was like witnessing a computer overload, watching it malfunction as it couldn't take the cross over, seeing it bursting into flames at the very insistence! Amazing, The Mentalists have made these 'solo' things into something
that is smouldering with glamour!

Tearing attitudes down, reshaping the law, going into the dodgy territory and coming up smelling of of the best female band, hang on less of the female, these girls compete in the best band catagory! Life really "does taste better with The Mentalists!"

www.myspace.com/thementalists


The more i see Bucky the harder they are to review so i will keep this breif: The curse is upon us SEE BUCKY OR DIE BORING!

www.buckytheband.com


Enter the theramin wowing, keyboard buzzing, pop crooning Hot Puppies. Fronted by a girl who sounds like Bryan Ferry, The Hot Puppies make chartable 80's sounding pop ballads with a pulse. Lyrics like "have you ever heard a broken heart" and "spend our lives together" and "How come you don't love me, no more" means the content is all about love situations, just like Berlin, Tina Turner or Beyonce but also PJ Harvey, The Ronettes and Ella Fitzgerald. A ridiculous bunch of reference points it may seem but The Hot Puppies illustrate that even geek bands have love
lives and someone needs to sing about it.

www.thehotpuppies.com


www.purr.org.uk


Miss Gardiner

Purr
Bath

With everything we've been hearing about the live music revival and a continuing slump in music sales, Purr's takeover of a record shop certainly seems timely. The club moved to Fopp last month to continue a trick which has made it one of Bath's hottest nights out. This involves booking a bunch of hip young bucks on the cusp and wrapping them lovingly round cutting-edge indie, 1960s and TV themes, in this instance supplied by Purr DJs Gareth, Johnny Yen, Tim Purr and Dave Purr. Purr's Saturday residency continues tonight with Welsh speed-garage indie five-piece Innercity Pirates. Double-edged support comes from heavy-edged electro popsters Modernaire and Kerterver Cartzo whose name apparently means "knob rot" in postwar gay slang, Polari. And watch out for killer dancefloor shapes thrown by Purr's glam dancers The Panthergirls.
John Mitchell

· Fopp, 5-10 Westgate Buildings, Sat 5

Purr presents Munch Munch, Safetyword, Untitled Musical Project.

30th June 2006.

Invention Arts, Bath.

www.purr.org.uk



Another fine line up from the Purr boys this week. Kicking things off were Bristol's Munch Munch. A hybrid of awkward instruments - twin keyboards, melodicas, ukulele, guitars, xylophone (in a case), two drum kit's. The drum kit's were merged together so that drummers could face each other, smash each others cymbals and hit each other's sticks. Thus creating a kind of indie timpany section complete with wood blocks and shakers.

It all came together after Richard and Thomas wrestled with how to translate programmed beats to stage and keeping it interesting. With all the chopping and changing made for an exciting set much like watching 'A Mid Summer Night's Dream' with no props in a barn sat on a hay bale - makeshift yet professional.

The songs are an experimental ball of seriously interesting electronic dance similar to what the likes of Hot Chip are doing right now. 'Celebrity Engine' is a syth stabbing journey of moodyness and Klaxons-esque vocals. The Kurt Cobain piss take lyric 'don't take some time - hurry up' is just bristling with emotion and bursts into a synth beats and speaker ripping pulses! "Touch my freaky body, you'll be sorry" over cathedral keyboard settings, inspired wig-outs, rim shots, percussion means Munch Munch are flawlessly shambollic! Excellent!

www.myspace.com/munchmunchband



Safetyword were a machine of jazz drumming, falcetto harmonies and guitars that played more notes than the dawn chorus. This busy four piece make disco jazzy while playing Tetris and/or Sonic the Hedgehog. The drummer was fantastically good; lightly touched drums expertly explored to associate the drums as an instrument rather than a metronome. He was the monkey drummer with arms every where! Also playing synth which was attached to the side of the kit!

There is something unearthingly odd about the sound of this band. Imagine being the fly on the wall in a monestry circa 400AD watching St Mesrop Mashtots doing the repentance chant from Armenian sacred music (go to listen:http://www.vem.am/?go=projects/recording/choir/order ). Safetyword sounded like a modern day equivilent, perhaps cross pollentating genre's not usually touched by the indie rock.

Not only did they restore the faith in technical ability mattering in these circles but also clocking up the milage on where they grasped their influences. Think Captain Beefheart in Armenia in the 5th c. as a monk adding some jazz mastery in the rhythm section and Safetyword are here!

www.myspace.com/safetyword

www.myspace.com/mesropmashtots


They didn't know what to call themselves so Untitled Music Project it is! Since Snow White broke up on the 16th of December last year my ears have never been the same. Craving that utopia of distortion and scream that make your eyes faded screens with escapism, confirming that rock and roll IS the drug the gap in my musical heart has not yet been filled untill tonight.

This three piece have aswered prayers and annihilated the Purr crowd with their loaded guitar screech and full speed tunes beyond amplitude. Raucous rifferey, wallowing bass, pumping drums and screaming makes up this potent narcotic cocktail of rock 'n' roll. Songs like 'Why isn't Paul McCartney? Dead Already?' which shouts "There's no point being my idol if you 're just gonna die".

Response? Fist punching air! Eternal youth by comminting suicide or od-ing - fuck off. Idolising people becasue they have done things - fuck off. Idolising iconic musical figures that are themselves caught up in celebrity make up and dye their hair because they think its what people would rather see - fuck off. Where does it start, where does it end nobody will ever know or care.

I LOVE this band for saying this, no idols, just respect. Another songs, 'I amy not be Jimi Hendrix but at least I'm still alive', sensing a theme here. The fallability of celebrity and icon is a very worthy thing to scream about and Untitled Musical Project will splatter the opinion across your face faster than a pregnant Jade Goody on the cover of Heat magazine. The furore of McClusky? the punctuated rhythm of Shellac and some unrelenting strong opinions make Untitled Musical Project seriously good. Oh Yes.



www.untitledmusicalproject.com

Fabulous visionary promoters of new and unusual pop, Purr moved this spring from invention art centre to the large, clean and well-lit basement of the Fopp cd store in Bath.
Having spent five years at the historic rock club, Moles, where they established a reputation for discerning taste in future-pop, they took a little holiday then relocated in invention art centre; upsetting nearly everyone's prognostications, this turned out to be a bad idea, despite it being the best room for music in all of Bath. So, when the chance came, it was on to the newly licensed Fopp.
So far, so good. Attendance is more than doubled, and it would be even more if not for the unfortunate limit of 100 imposed by the fire marshals.
In the first 4 shows, there have been some notable high points, one being the emergence of promising local bands.
Two in particular stand out: Kerterver Cartzo and The Hysterical Injury. Kertever Cartzo (don't even ask, but I do wish they'd change the name, just because I can't remember it) is really unusual and I'm not sure they are even aware of their strengths and uniqueness. The most-of-the-time lead singer is Tim Daddio (amazingly, real name), a well known dashing figure on the local scene. He looks like he just stepped out of Raging Bull, when in fact, he just stepped out of the audience to be on stage. Smart move; he was always the best looking guy on the floor and now he looks good on the other side. And sounds good with his sort of Nick Cave meets The Cramps musical style. It's hypnotic, it's weirdly ambient, it's down to the bone of words and music and it sounds great. Needing a little polish, like maybe some nice analog echo on the vocals, but the essence is there.
The Hysterical Injury is Annie Gardiner's band, she formerly drummer to Venus Bogardus and music editor to Decode magazine. Now she turns out to be a veritable polymath, playing bass, singing and writing the songs for this band.
Surprise, surprise – why, I don't know; you just don't expect people who write about music to be good at playing it, but I'm being unfair to myself as a musician. Anyway, her songs are eminently pop – not punk, but not squeaky clean either – and sport useful accoutrements like memorable melodies and clever arrangements. And the girl can sing! All this and she's a mom too – see, girls, you can have it all and more, just ask Annie.
Review by Charley.

It's the fifth gig of the newly recharged Purr at their new home, Fopp, and everything is in sync, the planets are in alignment and the fans are in line.
The draw, as well as simply Purr itself, is college band Los Campesinos, along with The Answering Machine, who come riding in on the wings of much Northern praise.
It's a sellout, which in the case of this Fopp, is 100 people. The beautiful room would hold a lot more, probably three times that, but for those annoying fire marshals and safety codes. Apparently, if the entry door were one inch wider, 150 would be allowed in.
Many more would have come, had they been able. This isn't the first time Purr has sold out knowing they could have sold more but for the fire regs. Ah, well, surely things will work out when the upper hierarchies of Fopp, which is an actual business, realise money is being lost.
But let's talk about music. Beginning this June 2 Saturday night, are the resident Panther Girls, a kind of cross between Pan's People, the Radio City Rockettes, and a cheerleading squad entertain us dancing about, cat-ears waving, to cool tunes, including, thanks to Panther girl choreographer and Purrista Delia, a great dancing track from the previously unknown Frank Popp Ensemble.
The stage, by the way, had the most professional looking gear I think I've ever seen at a Purr gig: top class amps and guitars all clean and neatly laid out over the reasonable-sized stage. Apparently, both bands had not only roadies, but road managers. Professionalism beyond my ken.
The Answering Machine, from Manchester, look very, very young. Also very, er, normal. Clean cut and happy (foolishly happy to one who has accrued age and its companion, cynicism).
The play nigh-perfect pop. The kid in the middle plays the guitar, sings, and presumably writes this unending succession of wonderful pop melodies and classy little arrangements carried by lilting bass lines. Outstanding for any age, a popmeister supreme teamed with a smart bass player.
Some punter/critics were put off by a drum program instead of a sloppy human behind the tubs, but having known a lot of drummers, I find this understandable. And the programs were very good, not just some bloke turning on a TR-505.
If I were to conjure up a complaint, it wouldn't be the drummer-in-a-box, it would be the fear that this pop excellence might so easily turn into pop fluff. The Answering Machine showed a bit of 60s influence, but it made me think of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich rather than, say, an archetypally great band like The Kinks or The Hollies.
But that may be their future; meanwhile we are fixed in the present, where all is peachy and the pop is fine.
Los Campesinos, all seven of 'em, ambled on stage and took up their positions at a multitude of instruments, including violin. The sight of a violin often means, if not country (then it would be a fiddle), some kind of mellowed out shoegazy, meaningful music; god forbid. But, opposite of alas, this was not the case. They launched into high energy shouty songs, so shouty as to be initially irritating. But the unfaltering outflow of energy gradually won me over along with the interesting sound palette of this collegiate horde: glockenspiels, odd keyboards, guitars a-plenty, terrific punchy bass playing and a drummer like a runaway train. And , yes, that violin.
The audience was won over too, infected with dance fever by the non-stop Campesino R&B intensity and charmed by the enthusiasm of the shouty singer.
He too was overflowing with enthusiasm about Purr: the best gig they had played, the warmest reception from any promoter, the best food provided, etc. This is not an unusual response, there are many bands that keep coming back to Purr because they operate from a love of the music with years of experience that sets them apart from many other promoters whose love labour is lost to ineptitude.
Purr@Fopp: a natural combination, one thinks, like Fred and Ginger, Fellini and Rota, Ferrante and Teicher, Sid and Nancy… well, maybe not that last one.
Review by Charley.

The Piney Gir Country Roadshow / The Loves / Sweet Baboo
Bath, Purr Club

Article written by Ged M
Feb 26, 2007.

"The man who's tired of London is tired of life" said Dr Johnson. I bet he never stood among the braying hoo-hahs of Shoreditch trying to enjoy a band while neighbouring dickwads tried to catch up with (public) schooldays or try to impress the opposite sex with fake tales of city bravado ("I've been to Dalston. Yes, really…"). So it's a breath of fresh air, in every sense, to visit Bath where there's a club that people who enjoy music like to go to and bands like to play. The Purr Club may be in what feels like a scout hut but it's a licensed one, the sound is good and they have their own dance troupe, the Panther Girls, who strut around to obscure 70s glam rock. I already want to move!

Sweet Baboo is billed as singing about "girls, drinking, sleeping and killing people" but when the Cardiff singer-songwriter gets onstage he declares that he's given up these inspirations. Thankfully, his inspired and witty story-songs more than make up for losing such dramatic themes and 'Tom Waits Ripoff' is anything but. I'd say he's a bit like Jeffrey Lewis crossed with John Cooper Clarke. Audience participation is the Sweet Baboo way, ending his set by walking between us and out of the hall while his mates in the crowd bellow the chorus. Genius!


The Loves have had yet another change of personnel but this doesn't stop them playing maybe the best gig I've ever seen them perform. The new drummer has two rehearsals under his belt and only met bassist Danielle tonight but their set is tight, upbeat and massively entertaining. Buoyed by praise for 'Technicolour', they trip through the polyester 60s and 70s like a Cardiff version of a gender-balanced Monkees, appropriating garage riffs and girl group harmonies and making them their glorious own (especially 'I My She Loves You'). Compared with earlier marks, this set of Loves feels like a real band and in Jenna, they have someone who can really sing. It's the sort of performance that would give a wispy hard-on to Andy Warhol's ghost.


The Piney Gir Country Roadshow have probably attracted the greatest age range of fans, which for London might seem uncool but in Bath just feels completely democratic. It's part of the attraction of this music, which has lasted as long as dogs have died and wives have left cowboys; it seems the harder you hurt, the more uplifting those songs make you feel (is catharsis a place in Tennessee?). Piney's songs are out of Kansas City via City of London, keeping the keening tones in the fiddle and pedal steel and themes of dogs, gods and broken hearts, but sharpening the edges with an city-bred alertness. Scout hut becomes dancehall as waltzes and two-steps break out, led by the marvellous Panther Girls, which is exactly how a PGCR gig should be. It's so good, I drink too much, declare myself a friend of everyone and go back to the hotel with a hot blonde, but that's another story. This is what gigs are meant to be. Long live Purr!

he Hot Puppies The Modernaire Kerterver Cartro
04 August 2007

The second Purr gig in their return to Moles is another afternoon all-ages show, once again a great show, once again shamefully under-attended.
Opening the show - that is, after the Panther Girls, Purr's own Pan's People - is local band Kerterver Cartzo, who hold great promise. KC is led by Tim Daddio (swear to god, his real name but for a little missing apostrophe between the D and the a), a walking, talking and singing 50's icon (think Jake La Motta in Raging Bull). Equally stylish in his winklepickers and a quiff that could have inspired Morrissey if only time ran in the other direction, Stuart holds forth on bass guitar admirably. And then there's style-free Tom on guitar, sounding fine but, please, someone get him a decent old suit.. Only slightly more stylish than Tom is the drum machine, an improvement on most drummers.

Kerterver Cartzo sound like: The Cramps, Nick Cave, Chris Isaac, Suicide and a host of other, but hopefully you get the idea. They also, most of all, sound like themselves, and that's a good thing.

Their songs have fine lyrics - in fact, they work best as sort of sung poems with minimal accompaniment. They tend to be all at the same medium-slow tempo, which I think works well - it's hypnotic - as long as you didn't come to dance. It's a thing that needs the visual impact of Tim and Stuart, and why Tom should get a nice old 50's suit.

Kerterver Cartzo is new, a work in progress. They could use a sound engineer with a big reverb unit too, but they have a great start going. Keep the faith, boys.

Modernaire. Hmmm... many people liked 'em, but I fail to see it. It's like creating a band from the influences of Bananarama and the two girls from the Human League. One wonders why.

It's a guy and two girls; they sing and he provides the electro backup something between disco and 80s pop. The girls sing in a bland, artless fashion after the Teddy Bears or maybe two Mary Hopkins. They're probably better than I think - like I said, other people liked them.

No one questions the mighty Hot Puppies, who conquer all before them. They are a perfect band. They have a great drummer, a great bass player, a terrific multi-keyboard player and harmony singer in Beth, an elegant guitarist and fine songwriter in Luke, and Becky, a dynamite singer. And now, with five years of pretty constant touring, they have a level of professionalism few bands can match. And they are exciting with their classic Pop, experience has not withered that.

The Pups have a new album coming out and the songs from this show indicate a direction of greater sophistication and complexity, not in a Joanna Newsom way; more like Brian Wilson with Van Dyke Parks. Their catchiest song remains Green Eyeliner, so whether the new music translates into bigger popularity, we'll see, but it's nice to see a good band grow.

And we have seen them grow at Purr shows through the years, so it's a shame that Purr has lost its home at Fopp, where they were doing quite well - until the entire Fopp chain unceremoniously shut down - and is struggling with summer daytime shows (we knew that would be difficult, didn't we?) at Moles. Wake up, kids, and treat yourself to rare musical treats on a Saturday afternoon!



Charley Dunlap

I've just decided i ought to try and paste reviews of Purr shows up here....if any of you have seen any let me know and i'll go and stalk and steal them...
anyway - this one from ghdio...

this was Purr's first show at Fopp with Catweasels, Dead Disco, Dead Spies and Panther girls

So here we are then. Saturday night at Fopp. In the café. The band merchandise is set up on CD racks not masked tape to walls, the toilets are ungraffitied, the bar offers bottles and food… It seems very ungig like, it doesn't feel right. Still Purr are promoting and they've always kicked life into the most moribund situation. ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

And the in house dancing troupe the Panther Girls begin the evening with moves worthy of an Avengers title sequence. It something that shouldn't work but somehow does. And then enter Dead Spies. Their ok, they begin like the Wombats, and, yup THE BOYS CAN SING! THE BOYS CAN PLAY! But given their the only band on tonight who have an album out its surprising they don't have enough songs that hold your attention and its not long before your reading the flyers for the following weeks line up.

There is no danger of attention being diverted from Dead Disco though. Not only do they look fantastic, a glamourous cross the Belle Stars, Visage and early Kim Wilde, but they have tunes a plenty to keep you hooked. Singles "The Treatment" and "Automatic" are utterly fantastic and their unique sound of early B52's mixed with Blondie and a little bit of the Organ is spellbinding.

Little need then to stay for Catweasels. Well that's the judgement some make. Shame. Their self depreciating humour and crowd banter is genuinely funny, and though the sound will be compared with fellow North Easterners like Kubichek! & Futureheads there's enough cuteness and depth to the songs to make them just that little bit cleverer and your left wanting to see them again which having followed a band as good as Dead Disco is some achievement.

Hurray!
The second Purr show has been and gone! it was on (gasp!) the opening night of the Purr student festival and it was raining and and and but it was cool - the shiny peopl eof Bath and Bristol and Reading and Midsummer Norton dragged themselves to the hallowed halls of Invention to see some Pop! Those clever enough to show up in time for the first band would have seen the EXCELLENT! Look Look Dancing Boys! Two ladies in tashes leaping to pop with rude lyrics galore. Totally aces. Manic Cough and Pete And THe Pirates are old Purr favourites and played accordingly accompanied by mucho dancing from the joyous crowd. Hanger-arounds would have witnessed an arty beer fountain as an Invention employee inadvertently splooshed a crate of beer down the stairs. No we didn't lie at the bottom letting it cascade into our mouths tho sorely tempted...there was glass in them thair fountains of fortune...

Come and see Hot Puppies, Bucky and Mentalists on 16th June!

Hurrah!