Wednesday 11 January 2012

Blaenavon - New Waves

Blaenavon are an entertaining lot. From their playful WU LYF referencing posts on Facebook where they state “B L A E N A V O N. WORLD HERITAGE UTD” to announcing London gigs in German, this so-called Brighton group seem to be having a bit of fun. We say so-called because Blaenavon are actually closer to Breaking More Waves HQ in Portsmouth than ‘the cooler city down the road.’ Their real home appears to be the sleepy Hampshire environs of Liphook and Liss, two places where golf courses and Jane Austen’s house are more in keeping with the vibe than sleazy rock ‘n’ roll oblivion. “Brighton for the brothers; Liphook for the lovers,” the band state showing a self-deprecating sense of humour.

Of course today location location location is less and less important. This is the internet and everything’s global.

So wherever you are in the world take a listen to Blaenavon. It’s early days for this very young band who have a bunch of demos up online for your listening indulgence. Swans is probably their stand out track at the moment, an impressively thought-out 7 minute rustic folk rock pilgrimage where guitars interlock with the Wild Beast’s school of falsetto. Denim Patches continues the world-weary organic pastoral feel of their music and fully justifies that old cliché of ‘mature beyond their years’, whereas another track Foes demonstrates a more indie picking nature that has a vague kinship to early Maccabees output. It’s the gentler subdued tracks that we prefer to the more generic indie tracks, but take a listen and see what you think.

Further tracks from Blaenavon can be downloaded for free from here. 

Blaenavon - Swans



Blaenavon - Denim Patches



Blaenavon - Foes

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