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| ARTICLES |
| LIVE REVIEWS |
| RECORD REVIEWS |
THE HYPE: This month’s local heroes Custom
Made: Originally from Devon, The Customers' current incarnation was born
here in March (2002) Defiantly anti-image, they pride themselves on well-crafted
songs and meaningful lyrics. When a band cites early American folk and
tragicomedy as influences you know they’re a cut above your average
meat 'n' two veg indie outfit. The Customers - Freebutt These rock solid Brighton favourites are cast in the great English tradition of melodic kitchen sink indie that is apt to get a bit dramatic around the edges. They sound like a darker, less whiny version of the Delgados and have a great repertoire of slow songs – always a welcome change from the plethora of three chord punk rock meat-handed bands. Their new monthly residency at The Freebutt will surely secure their place at the very top of the premier division of Brighton’s greats.
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Purr Night at Moles, Bath The Customers made the other bands look,
as we used to say from the top of the world trade towers, like ants.
The others are trying to get to something: The Customers exude the authority
of someone already there. Unafraid of playing slow, atmospheric songs,
they do it with searing force and it is riveting. It's a style rooted
in earlier Cure, but taken to an entirely different place.
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The Customers/New Rhodes What looked to be one of the strongest Purr bills of the year – not coincidentally, three bands signed to the Purr label - turned out to be exactly that, a night with no losers. The Customers played a blinder last time at Moles, but this time they offered a curiously paced, inward group of songs. It may have been an ill-chosen set on a night of energetic pop and hyper-energetic garage rock, but the truth is, the songs were of such quality that they still held the crowd’s attention. The Customers have an embarrassment of riches in talent with three singer-writers, each one different, all good. On this night, Gregg, who made but a brief showing last time, sang four songs in a row. Delivered in his Lou Reed monotone, they were all relatively slow and probably should not have been grouped together, but his lyrics are absorbing enough to make this complaint minor. Bassist Gabriel opened the set with a gorgeous and, yes, slow ballad that commanded rapt attention. He is, judged by traditional standards, the best singer of the band (the Paul McCartney of the group! — sorry, anything for a joke) and it showed on that first heartfelt song. Will, the man who elicits all the Pavement-Will Oldham comparisons, stylewise somwewhere between Gregg and Gabriel, had a subdued vocal presence on the night with just a couple of songs, though his guitar is integral to the Customer sound. This is perhaps the most… I hesitate here to find the right adjective… sophisticated? mature? complex? group in Purr World, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the same things to work out that all bands do: consistency, focus, pace, image, the things that make a bunch of people a band. But, boy, do they have the tools.
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LOGO's patronage of Brighton's Customers is well known, and deserved. Our own Eamon Hamilton, keyboard player with fellow Brighton band British Sea Power, reckoned that theirs was the sound of an open heart. He was right. The Customers lurch between art-rock stools like method actors playing at drunks, yet there's no pretence here, simply a collection of finely honed not quite indie, not quite rock, not quite folk - not quite bloody anything actually. That's not really a sentence back there, and THAT is what The Customers most resemble: a question left hanging, an air of nagging familiarity that keeps you thinking about them long after they've left the building. They don't fit into any pigeonhole, save that labelled 'Brighton', so file them alongside the rest of the beautiful freaks from London-by-the-sea.
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The Customers Live @ Pressure Point, Brighton There has always been a shit-load of good bands in Brighton. You are only hearing about them now because swarms of media luvvies have moved down here in the past few years, trying to escape the London rat-race. Once they arrived, they found bands like the Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, to name but a few, then got all excited and rang their friends in London to tell them about it. Keep your eye on the Customers, who are releasing their debut EP, 'Days for Hoisting Flags on Government Buildings', on Purr Records in March. The five-piece have been drawing bigger and bigger crowds in Brighton, and by the time they take the stage the place is almost full. Like the Brazilian football team The Customers play slow, slow, quick, slow. Just when you think you're getting the hang of them, they feed you a dazzling shimmy and leave you on your arse. One minute they sound like Pavement, then it's more Belle and Sebastian, before you suddenly get a flash of the Delgados. They do a winsome number called 'I'm Good When I'm With You (But Without You I'm Fine)'; then there's a crunching change of gear and a song called 'Black Water', which is strangely enough about black water. What's best about the band is their warmth and poignancy. Somehow they manage to tug your heart strings, without you feeling emotionally manipulated. With lyrics like: "Here's one for the people that we've left behind/ Here's one for the people that we're yet to find", it's hard not to love this band. The Customers can give you that rare flood of elation that only comes when a song's lyrics actually mean something to you and your life. And you can't really ask for much more than that. Patrick Mcguigan
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The Customers + Electric Soft Parade @ Pressure Point, Brighton In a secret support for deadpan balladeers The Customers, Brighton's break through indie duo Electric Soft Parade will tonight be previewing material from their recently recorded album. The Customers and Turncoat also enjoy hefty followings locally, so prepare for a very busy evening. The Customers' Club – Freebutt, Brighton The Customers host their
monthly night at which you can catch short films, animations as well as
bands and DJ’s. Supported by the pop vignettes of Miles Poppycock,
Supergroup The Brakes are this month's guest band.
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The Customers…..more than redeem Purr's historic own label showcase. Distributing vocal duties between band members may not always prove 100% successful (hello, Noel) but in the case of this Brighton based ensemble, a diverse range of Chemical Underground inspired soundscapes combined with the subtlety of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy has been formed.
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Cable Club Volume 2 by Various. Release date: 19th October 2004 It’s followed by 'Sugar The Pill', a vari-speed guitar masterclass by The Customers in how to write an anthem and yet be subtle about it, in a mumbling Cure sort of way.
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THE CUSTOMERS 'Days Of Hoisting Flags On Government Buildings' (Purr) The
Customers are the latest signings to the Purr label & unleash a 4-track
7" of scratchy indie with shades of classic pop & cool harmonies!
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THE CUSTOMERS 'Days Of Hoisting Flags On Government Buildings' (Purr) Purr is a label rather quickly establishing itself as one to watch - not heard a disappointing release thus far. The Customers are from Brighton, they deal out a clever (but never too clever) set of slightly lo-fi Delgados/Will Oldham style songs that are well worth your time. The lead track 'When It Comes' with it's infectious edgy guitar drive/caress is balanced well by a meanderingly delicate and rather beautiful melancholic second called 'Song For 17/12 & 5/2'. All four songs on this rather fine EP are worth checking out, any one of them could have been a strong lead track.
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SINGLE OF THE MONTH The Customers “When It Comes” (White Label) When you next get someone whinging on about how there's no good, original music coming through, strap them into a chair and put this one on, loud. First up is the cunningly decorated and exuberant chugger, 'When It Comes', nearest reference being a snappy n' speedy Blur on a good day, 'Stockholm Syndrome' puts the metal core into the 80's Joy Division drawling, but the bursts of greasy spoon style 50's guitar are a joy, but…'Fifty Eight' is one of the best white label tracks we're going to get in here this year, Nick Cave can carve his black heart out, this is a wry n' stunning murder ballad, "I'm gonna find ya, kill ya and move on", all on a backing track that is pretty much the kind of superior contemporary music that The Bonzo's used to flash when at the very peak of their form. Get on to www.thecustomers.co.uk and do it now please.
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The Customers - Days For Hoisting Flags On Government Buildings (Purr) The Customers hold quite a lot of truck for lo-fi quiet/loud dynamics as lead track 'When It Comes' powers to an invigorating conclusion. They are far from I-D though, as 'Song for 5.12 And 17.1' follows a more Bonnie 'Prince' Billy-like path, with the spirited melancholy of Tindersticks. My particular favourite, 'I'm Good When I'm With You But Without You I'm Fine' begins with a sound akin to that of a colliery band member walking home in a daze after a pit closure, sounding his instrument in a fit of estrangement, gradually being accompanied by other disaffected ex-colleagues as they stroll up a hill, lit only by the moon. Yes, Vanity Project's most convoluted comparison yet (pretentious would be your call) but any band that can jemmy that much in to my mind's eye deserves a thank you, at the very least.
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