Record company’s bands pay a visit

Over the past eight years Upset The Rhythm have sought out the best underground sounds from all over the world.

Spokesman James Wallace said: “February 2012 sees the label hit the road with three inventive bands from their native soil to bring their pastoral punk, junked rhythms and tribal synth dance parties to the near and far of the United Kingdom.

“Upset The Rhythm’s Kingdom Tour sees Gentle Friendly, Way Through and Peepholes team up to present a revolving line-up that resonates deep within landscape, drawing on forgotten pasts and remembered futures in equal measure.

“Gentle Friendly are a duo from London, comprised of David Morris and Richard Manber, who have a penchant for circular melodies, tidal fuzz and rapid junked rhythms. With an austere setup of Casio keyboard, vocals and drums (sometimes electronic) the band push against the pop boundary, trapping their songs on record like a continuous sun-warped field recording.

“Way Through are a pastoral punk duo originally from Shropshire, now residing in London. Informed by the field as much as the flyover, Way Through write songs which phase in and out with guitar, tapes, damaged drums and vocals. Using wrong-footed repetition, rapid interplay and free-looping happenstance the band create a ragged yet intuitive tapestry of sound. Way Through find great resonance with the spirit of place and try and channel its feeling into their music, joining the dots between lost places and deteriorating histories.

“Peepholes are Katia Barrett (drums, vocals) and Nick Carlisle (keyboards). The Brighton/London duo formed in 2006 after bonding over a Chinese violin and the quietest of music. Pretty soon they turned the volume up and hit on their winning strategy of soaring, stammering synth lines, tribalised drumming and low-slung vocals.

“Walking a tightrope between underground punk and dance music, Peepholes write cloaked anthems as likely to open celestial gates with keys of repetition as to soundtrack a slow motion fairground accident.”