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October Drift


Crazyfool01
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  • 1 month later...

think I might have mentioned good things about the energy of this band ... here is a review posted by someone on this forum who isn't as biased as me :) 

The Slow Readers Club, October Drift

Norwich Arts Centre on Saturday 19 May 2018

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The days when chart success really meant something are long gone, but no one would begrudge the Slow Readers Club feeling chipper as they came on stage, their new album having just entered the top 20. The Reee-derrrs, as a group of committed fans insisted on chanting between every ruddy song, have been plugging away for a few years now, and were clearly genuinely flattered and touchingly grateful that folk had been sticking their hands in the pockets and voting with hard earned cash.

Before them, however, we had October Drift, and what an unexpected and delightful bonus they proved to be. Starting with a cacophonous racket of guitar distortion and feedback straight out of the Jimi Hendrix song book, they turned their amps up to eleven, and charged fourth, hardly stopping for breath in a blistering half-hour set that flew by. They weren’t better than the band they came to support, but they were the bigger surprise, and therefore arguably the greater pleasure, as any support that defies expectations can be. Flanked by Alex Bispham and Daniel Young chopping away at their respective guitar and bass with almost parodic ferocity, lead singer Kiran Roy proved a commanding presence from the outset. He even went walkabout, hugging folk and high fiving as he meandered about, all the while singing with a sonorous voice and spirit that put me in mind of Ian Curtis. Granted, the absence of a radio mic meant having to gingerly wind his way back the way he came, but you can’t fault his chutzpah. What remains in the memory, despite a very strong set list, is every time the whole band went off on one, with only Chris Holmes’s solid drums keeping the ship on course, to marvellously chaotic effect. They put everything into this performance, to the extent I had to keep reminding myself this wasn’t the headline band. Speaking to Kiran Roy in the break I learned that they are due to open the Main stage, next week at the Bearded Theory Festival. I hope people get up early to see them - on a big stage, in front of a big crowd, I think they might just pull off something truly astonishing.

So follow that, Slow Readers Club!

Fortunately they did just that, with a combination of a healthy back catalogue of great songs, a bright, shiny new album to play with, and some straightforward fine musicianship. In the interval, we had been treated to checklist of retro classics – it’s a brave band that reminds you how good Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Donna Summer were before going on. A few songs in, however, and it all sort of made sense. The Slow Readers Club may have cornered the Indie electro doom pop market, such as it is, but they’ve been clearly influenced by some of the finest acts of the last century, mixing up a cocktail of sounds in a way that is both discriminating and imaginative.

For those of us with a mental play list going back far enough to notice, there were snatches of Blondie its Kurtis Starkie’s exquisite nimble-fingered guitar work, while the drum and bass of James Ryan and David Whitworth harkened back to the magnificent thump, thump, thump of Joy Division. Best of all, gifted with an extraordinary range, Aaron Starkie’s heavenly vocals, along with his synth, impressively called to mind both Andy Bell and Vince Clarke of Erasure. There was even - Lord help us - shades of Flocks of Seagulls in there somewhere, but perhaps we can forgive them that, and discreetly move on. Somehow the band managed to snatch at all these influences, boil them all down, and produce a mighty sound entirely their own. Rarely have I seen so many and so frequent hands raised aloft as one anthemic sing-along followed another. From the opening new song Lunatic to the faux encore of set favourite Cavalcade, the ramshackle all-ages mix of folk you only get down the Arts Centre went increasingly nuts – these were proper fans, worshipping at the temple.

It’s a long way from Manchester to Norwich along some narrow, winding roads - as some good natured whinging from the band made clear. As first time visitors to Norwich they seemed mildly surprised the place actually existed and certainly surprised to be met by such a fervent and loyal fan base. To my mind, the Readers have an almost infuriating knack for turning out one earworm after another, and yet outside of Manchester, they are inexplicably not nearly as big as they should be. The Arts Centre was full, and absolutely the best venue to see them, but you can’t help wonder why one of the city’s bigger venues wasn’t needed. That said, the band seemed happy enough – Starkie amusingly asked the crowd’s permission before taking a photo of the throng – and it was no surprise that the audience responded with the raising of hands one more time. Perhaps it’s better to be loved by the few than liked by the many. Perhaps the one eventually leads to the other.

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  • 5 months later...
 
 

New track is up! Hope you like 1f642.png:) Would be forever grateful if you could give it a share

 
No automatic alt text available.
OCTOBER DRIFT

N E W . T R A C K 

Over the moon to release our new single 'Come and Find Me' to the world! 

https://open.spotify.com/album/6ne2IgaxOsqj3e03A8edq8…

http://smarturl.it/octoberdrift_cafm

A song about being young and feeling invincible. When life stretches out beyond the horizon and you truly believe that nothing you do, or take, will have any consequences.

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13 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

have a listen to the new track and see what you think :) 

That’s really good. 

Quid pro quo or something; not mates or anything but I’ve seen this lot a few times (once at Liverpool Sound City and a couple of gigs in Manchester) and they are really good live. They say absolutely nothing at alll, but just have this weird presence. Someone said they were all brothers. 

 

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9 minutes ago, Blisterpack said:

That’s really good. 

Quid pro quo or something; not mates or anything but I’ve seen this lot a few times (once at Liverpool Sound City and a couple of gigs in Manchester) and they are really good live. They say absolutely nothing at alll, but just have this weird presence. Someone said they were all brothers. 

 

will pass that on :) ... they are touring at the moment and have supported editors and slow readers club and played john peel at Glastonbury last year ...I think they are going to do well ... have a look for them on social media if you are interested :) 

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4 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

will pass that on :) ... they are touring at the moment and have supported editors and slow readers club and played john peel at Glastonbury last year ...I think they are going to do well ... have a look for them on social media if you are interested :) 

Will do. Just noticed that SRC review. Strangely I watched Oranj Son with Aaron out of SRC at Sound City; he had seen them in Bristol and had come looking for them before their own set. There were only about fifty people in there and I think I was the only one who recognised him! 

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  • 4 weeks later...
3 minutes ago, Gucci Piggy said:

@the wonderwhy wants to know why these guys have their own thread.

several  reasons ... 

1) im friends with the drummer and they are nice guys hopping to make it 

2) they played Glastonbury john peel 

3) there are quite a lot of random threads on here 

4 ) There are other bands with their own threads 

and 5 ) I like the music 

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6 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

several  reasons ... 

1) im friends with the drummer and they are nice guys hopping to make it 

2) they played Glastonbury john peel 

3) there are quite a lot of random threads on here 

4 ) There are other bands with their own threads 

and 5 ) I like the music 

Cheers, I'll give them a listen.

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Just now, Mash011 said:

it's gonna take more than hopping to make it in this competitive world

I think hoping rather than hopping is a good start ... along with playing Glastonbury john Peel , Reading and leeds , and touring as support for Editors and Slow Readers Club and getting a lot of bbc introducing airtime ... is quite a good recent record 

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Just now, crazyfool1 said:

I think hoping rather than hopping is a good start ... along with playing Glastonbury john Peel , Reading and leeds , and touring as support for Editors and Slow Readers Club and getting a lot of bbc introducing airtime ... is quite a good recent record 

Ignore Mash, he's an English graduate who can barely write a sentence on here without making a mistake.

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