image courtesy of wearetusk.bandcamp.com
One of the best places to discover new music at the moment is Newcastle
and one of the brightest bands to emerge from there are the four piece
self styled “indie math-pop” band TUSK. They’ve just released their
third single and with it launched their very own recording label “Into
The Blue” records, too. The band comprises Thomas Robertshaw, Jonathon
Evans, Andy Cutts and Sam Hodgson and they’re one of the most exciting
new bands you could hope to hear.
New single
Following
on from the critically acclaimed success of their first two EPs,
“Before The End/As You Begin” released in August last year and April
2012’s “Lloyd Fleet”, as of August 27th the band have just
put out their third single, a double A-Side release called “Boy Bruce,
The Mighty Atom/Subtle Fun”. You can download all three releases from
their bandcamp.com page and it is definitely well worth a listen.
Trying
to find another band past or present to compare TUSK to is very
difficult indeed as they seem to defy pigeonholing. Their sound is very
unique and they mix intricate guitar parts with storming bass lines and
really assured vocals. This is the video for one half of their new
single “Boy Bruce, The Mighty Atom”
They create a wonderful musical atmosphere, quite ethereal in places and
remarkably fresh sounding considering the dearth of guitar-by-numbers
bands there are out there at the moment who all seem to want to look and
sound like each other. Listening to these guys is a breath of fresh air
in a quite frankly, stale, sweaty, rehearsal room, smelling of
cigarette ash and beer dregs, that have been there mouldering since
Britpop tailed off in the late 1990s. At their heart is a good, solid
guitar band and one that could really deserves to go places if the music
buying public could be persuaded away from all the identikit groups
that are out there.
Previous releases
This is the band’s second single “Lloyd Fleet” which was released earlier this year:
Again, this is another prime example of how they combine really
intricate guitar rhythms with strong vocals. If you didn’t know any
better you’d say they’d been around for years, honing their craft and
gigging. There’s something very shy and unassuming about them too,
they’ve none of the cocky “we’re ace” swagger that some groups with much
less talent have.
Critically acclaimed
They’ve
had a lot of critical acclaim and praise from those who are really in
the musical know. BBC Radio 6’s very own Tom Robinson has singled them
out for a few mentions and they’ve had a number of really successful
sessions on BBC Radio Tees, too. Some of the videos for those sessions
are accessible on their YouTube subscription page here, WeAreTusk.
They
sometimes like to throw in a few unexpected covers; highlights so far
have been a version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Wham’s “Club
Tropicana”. These are done with their own typical brand of quiet
enthusiasm and really show off their considerable style and talent.
image courtesy of wearetusk.bandcamp.com
Difficulties of student life
If
you’re in the position of living the difficult student life at the
moment and thinking about having to do everything on the cheap, from
food shopping to clothes purchases and making all sorts of cutbacks
from stopping smoking, buying Chantix online or finding other ways to kick the habit, then
it’s sometimes nice to try and use a bit of really good music as
therapy to make tailing off cigarettes much easier and relaxing. One of
the best ways to get your music for a reasonable price is from bandcamp
and when you look at TUSK’s page, you’ll see a whole host of other bands
that they recommend. Sometimes the downloads are available for free, so
while you’re there, check them out too and maybe make yourself up an
old style mix tape for literally next to no money at all.
You
might also want to think about putting the saved cash towards going to
see TUSK play live somewhere, which is highly recommended. They’ve got a
few gigs coming up in Newcastle during the next couple of months or so,
details of which can always be found at their Facebook page which you
can find here.
The band’s next gig is coming up on 21st October
as part of the Oxjam Music Festival where they’ll be playing alongside
lots of other local acts. At the very least, downloading their singles
from Bandcamp is definitely the way to go, you seriously won’t regret
it.
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Thanks for taking the time to write :)