- Artist:
Oxygen Thief
- Title:
Mestle and Portar
- Format:
digital download
- Released:
Monday 5th
March 2012
Nearly
a year on from his debut album Destroy
It Yourself,
Bristol's favourite (only?) acoustic metalhead returns with a
headline tour and free single this March.
BAM!
Just when you thought it was safe to emerge from the shadows without
a long-haired Bristolian in brightly-coloured DMs shouting quotes
from The
Wire at
you (“you
can't lose if you don't play”),
Oxygen
Thief
lifts a fresh single from his acclaimed 2011 debut, Destroy
It Yourself.
Arguably
the album highlight, 'Mestle
and Portar'
is typical of Destroy
It Yourself's
brash staccato sound; the frontline of heavy-hit guitars filed to a
point alongside part-spoken part-sung part-yelled vocals that leave
critics struggling for direct comparison. Hard rock played out on an
acoustic guitar, this confident rarely-heard sound earned him a
regular slot at 2000Trees
festival
and support to Hold
Your Horse Is,
Chris
T-T,
[Placebo
side-project] Planes, and Ben
Marwood
alongside
his numerous headline shows.
Catch
Oxygen Thief stomping around the following venues:
MARCH
1
LEEDS
Royal
Park Cellars
2
MANCHESTER
The
Garrett
3
BIRMINGHAM
The Brighthouse
4
BRISTOL
The
Mother's Ruin
7
DEVIZES
The
Bell
8
BATH
Green
Park Tavern
9
OXFORD
Port
Mahon
10
LONDON
Slaughtered
Lamb, Clerkenwell
11
CAMBRIDGE
The
Cornerhouse
Praise
for Destroy
It Yourself:
“like
a Dave Grohl solo brainstorming session”
god
is in the tv
“impressive
win for originality in an oversaturated musical market”
the
405
“an
album that transcends genre.. adopted by punks, indie kids and
metalheads alike”
moon
and back
Originally the solo project of Paul Smith, he of
Reading's rock never-rans Heartwear Process, Quiet Quiet Band grew from
an initial idea of basic solo home recordings of whisper-quiet songs with a revolving
roster of backing musicians into an intense six-piece collective, of which 'Flatlands'
is the first true taster. We're not quite sure exactly how it evolved in such a
way, and we're not sure that Smith is either, but after roping in a couple of previous
bandmates, some work colleagues and a former death metal bassist, the QQB
project was eventually transformed from a collection of hissing tape demos to
rousing folk songs.
But this isn't the am-dram, bright-eyed epic pop
of Arcade Fire, and it packs more punch (for us) than the likes of Fleet Foxes.
This sound has probably seen too many Irish drinking songs, or harks to the
blues-folk storytelling drama of Johnny Flynn's circa 2008, and maybe the
broken, ill-intentioned parts of every great Modest Mouse song more than it
does to any of the other folk collectives of recent years, and whilst 'Flatlands'
is probably the most morally-peaceful offering possible for a band whose love
songs normally consist of someone's demise, even that's promptly followed by a
lounging tale of icy death (see b-side 'Fingers').
